Song: The River
Music by: Coco Love Alcorn

Notes: Coco is entering a long and challenging journey with an aggressive cancer diagnosis. She’s hopeful and grounded, but as an independent musician, she doesn’t have access to benefits like employment insurance or sick leave. With her treatment schedule, she’s had to cancel every concert, every tour, and even postpone the recording of her new album. She also had to pause her local choir until further notice. This means she’s facing at least a year ahead with almost no income — while focusing all her strength on healing. Supporting her directly through buying her music, or donating to the GoFundMe will make this time easier. In the meantime, you can sing this song of Coco's, bringing river healing energy into the world!

Songwriter Info:
“Coco is the ultimate musical spark plug... an electrical connector through which the creative energy flows. In my 30 years of touring around the world, I have never seen another performer able to bring people together like Coco does.” ~ James Keelaghan - Artist Director, Summerfolk and renowned Canadian singer/ songwriter
The first thing you notice about Coco Love Alcorn, is the voice. It's a rich, dynamic, supremely soulful instrument – hailed by the press as extraordinary, beautiful, and stunning – that has a way of touching your heart and making you care. 
As a performer, Alcorn is always in the moment, joyful, and genuine. She combines diverse musical influences including jazz, R&B, pop, folk, and Gospel. Her playful and witty character, love of improvising, and willingness to engage fearlessly with the audience has made Alcorn an established presence on the Canadian music scene. 
Born in Antigonish, Nova Scotia and now based in Owen Sound, Ontario, Alcorn’s career has spanned more than 20 years, 12 (9 solo) albums, cross-Canada tours, collaborations, festival appearances, award nominations, and notable success in TV and film licensing. And it took someone with a spirit like Alcorn's to navigate this path. 
"Throughout my career I have explored across many genres, collaborations and projects, taking a winding path to get to here,” she says. “But I’ve loved every step of my journey and trusted my inner curiosity to take me where it wanted to go.” 

Sharing Info: Please support Coco directly if you are sharing this song, either by buying the music on her website here: https://cocolovealcorn.com/store or supporting her GoFundMe here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/SupportCocoThroughCancer 

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:02:49
Verses taught slowly: 00:11:55
First run through: 00:15:50
Start time of reprise: 00:20:53

Links:
Coco teaching the song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgmg1K7BFxo&t=133s 
Coco's GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/SupportCocoThroughCancer
Lisa Littlebird teaching tracks: https://thebirdsings.com/the-river/
Sheet music for The River: https://cocolovealcorn.com/store 

Nuts & Bolts: 2:2, major, verses & chorus, harmonize

Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely:
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Song: Estrellitas
Music by: Ana Lucia Divins

Notes: Singing this song of grief and the lifting of grief connected deeply with my heart this week. No matter what grief is in my heart at the moment, the wordless "O", followed by the shaping of Spanish words for sorrow, doubt, and fear as well as let go and little stars -- letting all the grief light the fire and then the sparks carry it away -- oh, it felt good to sing this. Soft and strong, velvet and spark, ache and motion. I'm grateful Ana Lucia gifted us this song to sing, and excited that once you've learned the core of the song with me, you get to sing all of it with her if you follow the Bandcamp link! 

Songwriter Info: Music has been a lifelong companion for Ana Lucia Divins, who has witnessed its healing power and the strength of community connections. This journey led her to explore sound and therapeutic music studies. She is a Certified Music Practitioner by MHTP and a Holistic Voice Therapist with the British Academy of Sound Therapy. Since 2022, she has integrated healing music into her offerings, singing by patients’ bedsides and sharing therapeutic music in the community for restoration and relaxation. In 2023, she received the Arts and Science Council Creative Renewal Fellowship and in 2024, the Arts and Science Council Artist Support Grant, enabling her to delve deeper into music’s healing potential and produce new works. Ana Lucia’s exploration of her voice has taken her to national and international workshops and retreats in Greece, Spain, the UK, and Colombia. 
In the summer of 2024, Ana Lucia and Carlos Crespo, an Ecuadorian guitarist, released their debut healing music album, “Emerging,” in collaboration with other talented musicians. Available on all digital platforms, "Emerging" offers a deeply relaxing and uplifting sound bath of original new-age world music. It is a sonic journey mirroring life’s ebb and flow, from dawn’s gentle awakening to night’s tranquil embrace, remembering the cycles of healing, new beginnings, and transformation.

Sharing Info: The song is free to share but Ana Lucia always welcomes financial and/or networking support if/when folks are so moved.

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:02:39
Start time of reprise: 00:13:14

Links:
Ana Lucia's website: https://www.adivins.com 
Divins Music Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/divinsmusic/ 
Azul Healing website: https://www.azulhealing.com 
Azul Healing Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/azulhealing/ 
Emerging album on Bandcamp: https://divins.bandcamp.com/album/emerging 

Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, minor, unison

Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely:  https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share

Help us keep going: reviews, comments, encouragement, plus contributions... we float on your support.  https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html

Song: Towo Kalona
Music by: Alix Thorpe

Notes: I did something a little different in the way I shared this -- I took time with the proto-Celtic, so you could be comfortable singing in a Bronze-Era language... and then there's the usual looped section, with a harmony above and below -- but then at the reprise, I sing just the melody with piano, and then just the piano so you can sing the melody yourself, and allow me to accompany you. I find this song of Alix Thorpe's beautifully addictive, and there's something about singing in a bone language that feels like healing perspective to me. After you are snagged by the melody and parts on the podcast, buy it from her on Bandcamp, where you can hear the full English lyrics! 

Songwriter Info: Alix is a mother, a birth doula and a shiatsu practitioner who lives in Devon in England. She found her voice and began writing songs only a few years ago. Song for Alix is a way of prayer and an expression of soul.  She has written several songs in proto-Celtic; a kind of "spirit language" and ancestral mother tongue made of the earliest traceable fragments of the Celtic languages, dating back around 4000 years. Dreaming with proto-Celtic has been a powerful vehicle for kindling connection with her ancestral roots. Alix's songs are particularly inspired by whales, the spirit of the rose, Buddhism and honouring sacred rites of passage.

Sharing Info: The song is free to share but Alix always welcomes financial and/or networking support if/when folks are so moved.

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:03:01
First full singing: 00:10:40
Start time of reprise: 00:20:16
Just piano: 00:21:20

Links:
Alix's Bandcamp: https://alixthorpe.bandcamp.com/track/towo-kalona 

Nuts & Bolts: 3:4, melody with 2 harmonies

Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely:  https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share

Help us keep going: reviews, comments, encouragement, plus contributions... we float on your support.  https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html

Song: Hearth
Music by: Yuri Woodstock

Notes: Yuri Woodstock knows how to start and tend fires -- and this song sings the magic of smoke and spark. He's managed to make it feel dark and joyous, with a sinuous, smoky sound to remember the mystery, the dream of being alive. Next week is a conversation where Yuri brings his high energy take on community singing and how he found his way into the world through a combination of friends and mentors and skills so deeply embedded it's hard to remember how he got them. By the end I was wishing I could visit his song groups -- I may have to plan a road trip!

Songwriter Info: Yuri Woodstock is a community song leader based in Asheville, NC, who has run the now 180-member Hark! Community Choir for the past seven years. It is a non-performing, non-auditioned group that sings for joy and connection. He specializes in quick teaches of layer songs and SATB bangers that are easy to learn and fun to sing. Often Hark! feels like a singing dance party.

Sharing Info: Free to share!

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:02:53
Start time of reprise: 00:13:08

Links:
Yuri's website: https://www.weringlikebells.com/ 
Yuri's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/weringlikebells/ 

Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, minor, 3-layer, one layer harmonized

Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely:  https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share

Help us keep going: reviews, comments, encouragement, plus contributions... we float on your support.  https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html

Notes: Chandler Yorkhall has written one of my favorite full moon songs, as I rarely sleep well during a full moon! I am delighted to have gotten to record this with my daughter, Rebecca -- laughter ensues, and we ended up including an "outtake", where we experiment with rounding the song much more closely than usual... just to see what happens (and okay, yes, maybe it's a train wreck, but then we tried again!) I love the dancing rhythms of this, and appreciated Chandler's willingness to listen to how I'd learned to sing it. He pointed out a few spots which differed from his original so we could bring you a fairly accurate rendition of his original. As good songs travel, they sometimes morph...

Songwriter Info: Chandler grew up singing with his family and can’t remember a time when singing wasn’t part of his daily life. He has been writing, leading, and getting inspired by songs since he was a teen, and songs have saved his sanity more times than he can remember. He is so pleased to be able to share his joy through sharing his songs. Chandler lives in Minneapolis with his wife and 4 children, who also love to sing! He's never really settled on a parenting “philosophy” per se, until his two teen daughters returned from their first Village Harmony camp, singing lustily in praise of everything good. At that point he said to himself, “Well, if my children leave my home knowing how to sing, I guess I’ll have done them, and the world, a great service.”

​Sharing Info: Yes -The song is free to share in oral tradition groups, but please contact Chandler for recording, performing, or publication permission.

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:03:50
Start time of reprise: 00:17:37
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Nuts & Bolts: 3:4, Aeolian minor, round

​Join the A Breath of Song mailing list to receive a heads up as a new episode is released, plus a large version of the artwork, brief thoughts from my slightly peculiar brain... and occasional extras when they seem vitally important! No junk -- I will never sell your address. I read out all your names into my living room when I send new mailings... I appreciate the connection to you who are listening and singing these songs with me.

Exchange energy with A Breath of Song with dollars at the Gratitude Jar (whoo-hoo!!!!), or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!​

Notes: A sweet short song like this brings me deep rewards -- the chance to drop into the joy, the preciousness, the abundance of simply being alive. For me to learn it, Jane sent me "a just rough off the looper" recording -- and it was so, so beautiful! Don't miss the links to Jane's recorded music -- her voice is like flavored butter -- smooth with an extra kick -- and the sense you get of her self that infuses her singing is generous and gentle and joystruck. My version doesn't sound nearly as good as her's to me -- and yet, it was such a pleasure to get to sing the song, and I think it'll work so you can learn the song and take it on into your own life, with your own voice. If Jane ever records it, or you get a chance to hear Jane live, maybe you can sing it along with her!

Songwriter Info: Jane Lewis is a singer-songwriter, workshop facilitator, and community music instigator. She is a strong believer in the power of music to bring people together. When not performing with her folk/roots duo Gathering Sparks, she can be found leading vocal & harmony workshops, Circle Singing, Vocal Meditation, and Women's Music Weekend retreats.

​Sharing Info: Yes — The song is free to use/share, but Jane always welcomes networking support. A financial contribution when folks are able is also appreciated!

Links: 
Jane's Website: http://www.janelewis.ca
Women's Music Weekend, facilitated by Jane: https://www.womensmusicweekend.com
Jane's YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/JaneLewisMusic
Jane's duo with Eve Goldberg: Gathering Sparks YouTube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/GatheringSparksMusic

​Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:02:59
Start time of reprise: 00:13:29
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Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, Mixolydian with a twist, 3-part harmony

​Join the A Breath of Song mailing list to receive a heads up as a new episode is released, plus a large version of the artwork, brief thoughts from my slightly peculiar brain... and occasional extras when they seem vitally important! No junk -- I will never sell your address. I read out all your names into my living room when I send new mailings... I appreciate the connection to you who are listening and singing these songs with me.

Exchange energy with A Breath of Song with dollars at the Gratitude Jar (whoo-hoo!!!!), or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!​

Notes: I love the way Emma's song ushers in the darkness and turning of the seasons with a lilt that includes a trust that the light will return. There's a softness and acceptance to the song that makes it easier to be present with the turning. Emma says the song "was born on a winter walk during Covid restrictions in the UK. I was finding some comfort in the unruffled flow of the seasons - 'time's soft unfolding'. 21st December is my late father's birthday as well as winter solstice, so this song is dedicated to him - I think he would have liked the words and the structure." 

Songwriter Info: Emma has been singing all her life and enjoys all styles of song and ensemble! When her daughter was born in 2018, she began an acapella singing group for local mums, and after joining the Singing Mamas network in 2020, was inspired to start writing her own songs, for herself, for her groups and songsharing colleagues. 

Links: 
Find Emma's album 'Light Returning' on Bandcamp https://emmamutter.bandcamp.com/album/light-returning
You can also find newer songs on her Facebook page www.facebook.com/emmamuttermusic
Contact Emma by email [email protected] to buy the score (suggested contribution up to £5) and/or purchase the song on Bandcamp if you'd like to share this song as a songleader. Please contact Emma directly for recording or performing permissions.

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:00:47 
Start time of reprise: 00:15:38 ​

Nuts & Bolts: 2:2, Aeolian (minor), harmonized melody with option of a round.

Join the A Breath of Song mailing list to receive a heads up as a new episode is released, plus a large version of the artwork, brief thoughts from my slightly peculiar brain... and occasional extras when they seem vitally important! No junk -- I will never sell your address. I read out all your names into my living room when I send new mailings... I appreciate the connection to you who are listening and singing these songs with me.

Exchange energy with A Breath of Song with dollars at the Gratitude Jar (whoo-hoo!!!!), or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!

Notes: You get to hear Kate and I in deep conversation -- complete with creaky chair, and me messing up as Kate teaches me her beautiful song, Go Dark. Do you ever have the experience of being solid on a part, as long as the leader is singing it, but then when they leave to teach another part, you lose it? You'll hear me doing just that! :) We talk about building a bank of nourishing words for hard times -- and Kate shares a story about something that shook her certainty and ease with life, and how that made her vow not to judge people. She observes how giving time and a safe place to make mistakes makes it possible for most people to learn to sing, like almost all people learn to drive eventually. And then there's the handpan, and learning Arabic, and... I guess you'll just need to listen in!

Songwriter Info: Kate Thomas is a singer, song leader, songwriter and instrumentalist (guitar, piano and handpan) and has been leading singing groups in Sheffield for over 20 years. She has produced two songbooks, 'Honey and Salt' (from which 'Be Yourself' and 'Scattered Seeds'. If you are interested in contacting her about these resources, her email is [email protected]. 

Links: 
Wendell Berry – Farming (counterpointpress.com) (Kate mentioned "Soul Food", but I think this ends up being the book with the poem in it.)
Barbara Brown Taylor – Learning to Walk in the Dark
Wanting Memories - Sweet Honey in the Rock
Handpan playing -- Kate suggests thishandpan duo, Mea
Raffi
The Singing Kettle
Tapestry – Carole King -- I'm pretty sure you can find the album, so here's an article that quotes many artists talking about the influence of the album on them... Talking about 'Tapestry': Musicians discuss the influence of Carole King's masterpiece - NJArts.net
Karine Polwart – Scottish Songbook, The Lost Words: Spell Songs -- and here's a bonus interview with Karine about the Spellsongs project
Youtube recordings of Kate’s songs -- here's her channel, where you can find all 10: Kate Thomas - YouTube
   And here are just a few links for specific songs:
  We Were Seeds: Kate's bold setting of the Dinos Christianopoulos quote, "They thought they could bury us; they did not know we were seeds.
  A Thousand Ways (with handpan! -- a beautiful meditation)
Kate's profile and choirs: Member profile - Natural Voice Network
Information about Honey and Salt (and Scattered Seeds is searchable there, too): Honey and Salt - Natural Voice Network

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:04:44 
Start time of reprise: 00:57:07​

Nuts & Bolts: 6:8, major, 2-parts here, (SATB in the Honey & Salt book) or works beautifully unison, too
​
Join the A Breath of Song mailing list to receive a heads up as a new episode is released, plus a large version of the artwork, brief thoughts from my slightly peculiar brain... and occasional extras when they seem vitally important! No junk -- I will never sell your address. I read out all your names into my living room when I send new mailings... I appreciate the connection to you who are listening and singing these songs with me.

Exchange energy with A Breath of Song with dollars at the Gratitude Jar (whoo-hoo!!!!), or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!

Notes: This is song is a taste of Heather Houston's creative, connecting powers -- Episode #75 will feature an intimate conversation with Heather. After she shares another of her songs, we'll delve into why song matters, why voices matter... and a really good soup! Meanwhile, I love this song for noticing the balance of shadow and light -- to me, it's a beautiful song to sing on cusps, like dawn or dusk. Recently, as I've been healing from tick-borne illness, I've hummed it to myself as I watch the shadows and light cross my bedroom wall, encouraging my body to find its way into balance.

Songwriter Info: Heather Houston is passionate about uplifting hearts, freeing voices, transforming lives, and building strong, loving communities through the power of singing. She spreads her magic through her 20+years of international song circle leading, private vocal coaching, and her online offerings - The Art of Mindful Singing, S.H.E. Sings, Singing as Sanctuary, and Sisters in Harmony Song and Chant Leader Training. You can now join her every Monday night on Zoom for a 2-hour Sisters in Harmony Global community song circle with guest artists!

Heather recently released her second solo album, Sisters of the Moon, which features the ethereal voices of her 40-voice women’s choir Yala Lati. Her first solo album, Prayers for the Water is a ZMR Top 10 album. You can find Heather’s music and her a cappella group SIRENZ on all of the streaming platforms and for download on her website.

Links: 
Website: https://heatherhoustonmusic.com
Albums
    Download: https://heatherhoustonmusic.com/recordings/
    Streaming on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4gw79r7NGOw6WF2bytPW5a?si=E0mvdKMpQ9ObjpRnhViDYQ
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/heatherhoustonmusic
IG: HeatherHoustonMusic
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPr_m3bi0-TqhBFvJlD4pFA

Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, Dorian, 5-layer song
​
Join the A Breath of Song mailing list to receive a heads up as a new episode is released, plus a large version of the artwork, brief thoughts from my slightly peculiar brain... and occasional extras when they seem vitally important! No junk -- I will never sell your address. I read out all your names into my living room when I send new mailings... I appreciate the connection to you who are listening and singing these songs with me.

Exchange energy with A Breath of Song with dollars at the Gratitude Jar (whoo-hoo!!!!), or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!

Notes: Penny includes us all into her circle of friends by sharing "First Light" -- a song she wrote for 5 close friends, including her partner. Then we have a rollicking conversation, covering big voices, purposeful singing, what a requiem might do, and a few little questions like, "What has singing taught you about life?" Also, how and why you might say "FTS"...

Songwriter Info: Penny Stone is a musician and activist based in Edinburgh, Scotland. She believes that everyone can sing and that every voice is valuable and beautiful. Penny facilitates singing groups and writes accessible music for community groups. She is currently working on a feminist requiem. 

Links: 
Penny's website (with a donation box)...: www.singlouderthanguns.com
Learn and Sing along song videos: www.singlouderthanguns.com/singalong-songs/
Sing this song with with Penny: First Light (learn and sing along) - YouTube
Twitter: @singovertheguns

The lullaby Penny describes that she wrote for the "wee girl": https://youtu.be/aG3OgCWd8c4
How to Write One Song by Jeff Tweedy:  An Excerpt from How to Write One Song by Jeff Tweedy | Penguin Random House
Two choices for Jaqueline du Pre Elgar cello concerto:
 Jacqueline du Pre & Daniel Barenboim - Elgar Cello Concerto - YouTube
or with Sir John Barbirolli: Elgar Cello Concerto / Jacqueline Du Pré / Sir John Barbirolli, LSO (ASD 655) 1965 - YouTube

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:03:57
Start time of reprise: 01:08:42

Nuts & Bolts: 3:4, Major, Harmonized, tune in the middle
​
Join the A Breath of Song mailing list to receive a heads up as a new episode is released, plus a large version of the artwork, brief thoughts from my slightly peculiar brain... and occasional extras when they seem vitally important! No junk -- I will never sell your address. I read out all your names into my living room when I send new mailings... I appreciate the connection to you who are listening and singing these songs with me.

Exchange energy with A Breath of Song with dollars at the Gratitude Jar (whoo-hoo!!!!), or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!