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

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Song: An Open Heart/Gonna Let Life Move Me
Music by: Scott Grace

Notes: Learning songs in an oral tradition can be a little like playing telephone, as they take on a life of their own, responding to the people singing them, growing, evolving... I learned "Gonna Let Life Move Me" in a song circle, and loved it. Eventually, I wanted to share it with my Pocket Song singers. So I tried to find out who had written it, so I could ask their permission/blessing and send some financial exchange their way.... and it took a quite a bit of searching before I turned up Scott Grace (Kalechstein)'s original song. This one had shifted quite a bit, so I got in touch with Scott directly to ask how he felt about the changes... I quote his generous answer directly in the episode. Enjoy two songs this week, and see which one lands for you!

Songwriter Info:
WARNING:  Scott Grace, who has been described as a cross between John Denver, Robin Williams and Dr. Seuss, is wanted by the authorities for creating the peace, as well as defying the law of gravity with levity.
Contact with Scott is likely to be hazardous to your misery, as he has provoked outbreaks of joy in four out of five laboratory humans. 
It is alleged that Scott’s work has so threatened to cut into the sales of anti-depressants that pharmaceutical companies have offered him millions to retire. 
Scott gives keynotes using a stolen identity, a.k.a. the Spiritual Dr. Seuss. His feel-good viruses on YouTube have infected over 2.5 million people with just four of his Seussian videos.
Scott has been known to practice life coaching without a license, eluding the police by working over the phone, Zoom, or FaceTime. He fancies himself an intuitive, and smuggles wisdom and guidance over the border from beings he calls spirit guides, who are also not licensed, and who have allegedly not filed a tax return in several lifetimes.
As a front, Scott does do various legal, above the board activities. He has written four books, his latest being Mindful Masculinity.
Scott also has recorded nine CD’s (remember CD’s?) of his original music. He presents as an inspirational guest speaker and singer at churches, non-profits, schools, and corporate events. As an occasional stand-up comedian in the Bay Area, he has shared the stage with Dana Carvey and Robin Williams. 
But don’t be fooled. His rampage of Song Portraits, custom-made personalized song-gifts that honor people for their birthdays, anniversaries, or for no reason at all, have been killing people softly with their song since 1987.
Authorities would very much like your help in apprehending Scott. Try catching him on the web at https://www.scottsongs.com, or on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/user/skalechstein

Sharing Info: The song is free to share in oral tradition groups, but please contact Scott for recording and/or performing permission. Scott says, "This song is my deepest prayer from my heart of hearts."

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching, song 1: 00:04:26
Start time of teaching, song 2: 00:08:51
Start time of reprise: 00:12:16

Links:
Scott's website: https://www.scottsongs.com 
Scott's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/skalechstein

Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, minor, 3 layer or unison

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Song: Over/Under
Music by: Lyndsey Scott

Notes: Lyndsey Scott talks about her radical trust in life, how she perceives energy, the playfulness and generosity of cyclical wisdom. She shares the origin story of this song, Over/Under, and wisdom from her co-creator, Anthony R. Rhodd about gratitude. We were recording the Thursday after the US elections -- as I listen to the focus on how to find resources and energy, I realize how depleted I felt in the moment of recording. And yet talking with Lyndsey buoyed me -- the deep attunement that she practices shines through our conversation -- I feel like I can really feel the truth of "I am the love that doesn't leave..."

Songwriter Info: Lyndsey Scott is a multimedia artist, songleader, songwriter, and ritualist committed to exploring community singing as a technology of belonging and a strategy for mutual liberation. She currently co-facilitates the yearlong cohort of emergent earth-based ceremonial study with Earthkeeper Wisdom School (Hartsburg, MO), leads song for politicized somatics practitioners in Embodying Racial Justice’s yearlong program, Opening to Freedom (Millerton, NY), and teaches "Community Singing as Collective Power" at the University of Iowa School of Music's Grant Wood Fellow.

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

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:05:15
Start time of reprise: 01:06:15

Links:
Lyndsey's website: https://www.lyndseyscott.earth/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lila.gaia/ 
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/lyndseyscott 
We Do This 'Til We Free Us by Mariame Kaba: https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/1664-we-do-this-til-we-free-us 
What It Takes to Heal by Prentice Hemphill: https://prentishemphill.com/book
The Wild Edge of Sorrow by Francis Weller: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/250673/the-wild-edge-of-sorrow-by-francis-weller/ 
Song Carrier Toolkit by Liz Rog: https://www.centerforbelonging.earth/store/p/song-carrier-toolkit 
Earthkeeper Wisdom School: https://www.earthkeeperwisdomschool.org/ 
Rebeccah Bennett, Root Teacher, The InPower Institute: https://inpowerinstitute.com/ 
The Milk-Eyed Mender by Joanna Newsom: https://joannanewsom.bandcamp.com/album/the-milk-eyed-mender 
Meredith Monk: https://www.meredithmonk.org/ 
Emma Koeppel: https://soundcloud.com/emma-koeppel 
Anthony R. Rhodd: https://substack.com/@anthonyrrhodd 
Woman Stands Shining (Pat McCabe): https://www.patmccabe.net/ 

Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, minor, unison or harmonized, call & response section

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Song: Breathe
Music by: Batya Levine

Notes: This was the song I needed to sing to help myself through the pre-election moment... building trust in myself to navigate whatever comes next, tap into the energy to work up to the last moment to effect the change I hope for. Batya Levine is an incredibly heart-sourced song composer, and they'll be releasing a new album in December... check out their website and get on the list to know when it appears -- it's sure to be wonderful, and "Breathe" will be on it -- and you'll know it!

Songwriter Info: Batya Levine (they/them) uses song as a tool for cultivating healing and resilience in their work as a communal song leader, shaliach tzibur (Jewish prayer leader) and cultural organizer. Batya is a co-founder and Director of Programs at Let My People Sing!, and they compose original music made of Ashkenazi yearning, queer heart-medicine, and emunah (faith). Batya is releasing their second album, Yivarechecha, in December 2024 through Rising Song Records.

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

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:03:34
Start time of reprise: 00:20:13

Links:
Batya's website: https://www.batyalevine.com

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

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Song: Good Friend
Music by: Jan Harmon

Notes: Both harbor and freedom, connection and release, seasons and timelessness. Jan Harmon's song, written in 1985, has generous space for harmonies, and impels us singers forward, as though we were the sail catching the wind. I love the feeling of holding and letting go as I sing this song -- it helps me grieve, helps rejoice, helps me open, helps me curl up... I wonder what you will experience as you sing it with me?

Songwriter Info: Jan Harmon (1940-1993) was a published poet, a writer of short stories and biographical non-fiction, as well as a prolific composer of choral music, topical songs, ballads, rounds, musicals, and instrumental pieces. She was born in Saginaw, Michigan and lived in many places from southern California to Maine.

Sharing Info: When sharing in a money-making venture, like a workshop, class, or performance, please contact Scott at Harmon Publishing for permission and rates: https://harmonpublishing.com/contact.php

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:02:47
Start time of reprise: 00:16:25

Links:
Song info on the Harmon Publishing website (including a sheet music PDF): https://www.harmonpublishing.com/jan/music/library/good-friend

Nuts & Bolts: 2:2, minor, round

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Song: (O Spirit) Guide Me to Those I Need
Music by: Aimée Ringle

Notes: If you've run across Aimée Ringle's work, you know her wicked musical skills, her exuberant, high-energy presence, her huge heart and desire to be of service... and you may not yet know how she grew into her voice, the questions she asks herself around how best to contribute to songcircles, her deep desire for village community, and questions about how to make that real in the here and now. We dig a little into one of the hard conversations in songcircles or any group situation where people bring varying skill levels -- how can people of varying skill levels feel welcome and find space and satisfaction as they are? We talk about what Aimée finds she needs to be able to let songs come through and more! Aimée shares the story of how O Spirit came through and we sing it both with guitar and in an up-close and personal way. It's a big episode because we let our conversation spread out, enjoying the end of summer and a sense of expansiveness. I hope you, too, find that pleasure of connection when you join us.

Songwriter Info: Aimée Ringle is a singer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, song-leader, and storyteller. She has an invigorating teaching style that is enriched by her capable percussion and guitar skills. Aimée’s work as a song-leader and storyteller have woven her into an ever widening community of cultural shifters around the country in the realms of sustainable agriculture, alternative education, community living, healing, creativity, and spiritual exploration ~ all of which are reflected in the songs she carries. As a song-leader, Aimée’s work and example have become a valued part of several Ancestral skills gatherings including Winter Count, Spirit Weavers and Sharpening Stone.

Sharing Info: The song is free to share in oral tradition groups, but please contact Aimée for recording and/or performing permission. She says: "For now, the song is just the chorus, but I am paying attention to its evolution and leaving space for the possibility of verses, etc. But this will not be a group process and I'm not inviting unsolicited creative ideas in this process."

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:03:53
Start time of reprise: 01:34:28

Links:
Aimée's website: www.aimeeringlemusic.com 
Aimée's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/AiméeRingle
Aimée's O Spirit video on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/C8wzISTpTsh
Aimée's Bandcamp: https://aimeeringle.bandcamp.com
Earth Practice: https://www.instagram.com/earthpracticemusic/
Tone Home by Elijah Ray: https://soundcloud.com/entheo/tone-home?in=l29rjc61w9os/sets/the-upload-1
I'm My Own Walkman by Bobby McFerrin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8DUi9RCTiQ
Samara Jade: https://www.instagram.com/samara_jade_music/
Three Wheels Turning: https://threewheelsturning.com/
"We are what we repeatedly do." Aristotle interpreted by Will Durant: https://blogs.umb.edu/quoteunquote/2012/05/08/its-a-much-more-effective-quotation-to-attribute-it-to-aristotle-rather-than-to-will-durant/
The Sharpening Stone: https://www.instagram.com/thesharpeningstone/
Laurence Cole: https://www.laurencecole.com/
Liz Rog: https://www.facebook.com/liz.rog1/
Shireen Amini: https://shireenamini.com/music
Song Village: https://www.songvillage.net/
Emergent Strategy and Holding Change by Adrienne Maree Brown: https://adriennemareebrown.net/book/emergent-strategy/, https://adriennemareebrown.net/book/holding-change-2/
Billie Eilish: https://www.instagram.com/billieeilish/
Ganavya: https://www.instagram.com/ganavya 

Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, Aeolian, unison chant

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Song: The Ambulance Song
Music by: Aimée Ringle
"Ooo Love" part by: Laurence Cole

Notes: We live on a busy road, not far from a fire station -- an ambulance is not an unusual sight -- and thanks to Aimée Ringle, I have the perfect song to wish the people involved well... and now you do, too! Next week, Aimée and I talk about the tender place music is able to open up, how someone with considerable musical skills and experience finds how they, too, can be included in community singing... how we are what we repeatedly do, and what that means for Aimée. She is generous, vulnerable, clear-sighted, and willing to name her own challenges. I hope you can join us... but before that, please enjoy adding this song to your personal repertoire!

Songwriter Info: Aimée Ringle is a singer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, song-leader, and storyteller. She has an invigorating teaching style that is enriched by her capable percussion and guitar skills. Aimée’s work as a song-leader and storyteller have woven her into an ever widening community of cultural shifters around the country in the realms of sustainable agriculture, alternative education, community living, healing, creativity, and spiritual exploration ~ all of which are reflected in the songs she carries. As a song-leader, Aimée’s work and example have become a valued part of several Ancestral skills gatherings including Winter Count, Spirit Weavers and Sharpening Stone.

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

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:04:12
Start time of reprise: 00:17:38

Links:
Aimée's website: www.aimeeringlemusic.com 
Aimée's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/AiméeRingle
The Ambulance Song video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7b6WxqtlIbo 
Aimée's Bandcamp: https://aimeeringle.bandcamp.com
Laurence Cole's website: https://www.laurencecole.com

Nuts & Bolts: 3:4, Aeolian, 4-part
​
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​
Help us keep going: reviews, comments, encouragement, plus contributions... we float on your support.
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Song: Deeper
Music by: Meg O'Dell Chittenden

​Notes: I was stymied when I came to the point in the podcast where I explain why I chose this song... because to me it simply is exactly the way I'm trying to live. It's like Meg O'Dell Chittenden went in my brain and named what was happening! Do you find songs like that -- ones that simply speak your truth so clearly that singing them feels like naming your very own core? It reassures me that I am not alone...

Songwriter Info: Meg loves helping people access their innate capacity for healing, connection, and joy. She is a somatic coach, supporting individuals and couples in growth, transformation, and healing. Because she's always found the voice, and especially singing in harmony with others, to be a particularly powerful pathway for connection with ourselves and the world around us, she delights in serving as a music teacher, song leader, and vocal mentor. She hosts an annual adult and family singing retreat on the coast of Maine called SongWeavers. In addition, Meg is an Adjunct Professor for Antioch University's Graduate Program for Waldorf Teachers and for the Center for Anthroposophy's Waldorf High School Teacher Education Program. Her sources of inspiration include the small, misty mountain that overlooks her home and singing with her children, Clancy and Celia.
​
Sharing Info: The song is free to share but Meg always welcomes financial and/or networking support if/when folks are so moved.
​
Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:03:03
Start time of reprise: 00:12:16

Links:
Meg's Website: www.singwaldorf.com
​Meg’s A Breath of Song songwriter conversation: https://www.abreathofsong.com/episodes--show-notes/135-what-would-it-take-with-guest-meg-odell-chittenden​

Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, minor with a major V7 chord, 4-layers

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Song: The Change
Music by: Mary L. Cohen

​Notes: “My dad played the copper fish mold.” — aren’t you curious now? Listen in as Mary Cohen and I explore family music, personal structures for improvisation, creating connections between incarcerated and not-incarcerated people, and more… We wander a bit through grief and disconnection and finding what is, in a conversation that’s real and messy and touches on fear and joy, building a caring community for ourselves, our neighbors, the global world… living with regret and streaming grace to the person we were when we made a mistake; restoring connection. It’s a glimpse of the rich variety of resources Mary draws on as she shapes her life… I hope to add some into mine.

Songwriter Info: Mary L. Cohen, Professor of Music Education at the University of Iowa, is lead author of Music-Making in U.S. Prisons: Listening to Incarcerated Voices (2022). She co-founded the International Music and Justice Network: IMAJIN Caring Communities, a group of researchers from 18 countries who study music-making in prisons, and you are welcome to join by contacting Mary to get on the group email list ([email protected]). From 2009 to 2020 she led the Oakdale Community Choir with incarcerated and non-incarcerated participants where participants have written over 150 songs, and the Oakdale Choir performed over 75 of these songs, available with the Creative Commons License. To continue working toward the choir’s goals of building communities of caring through singing and songwriting, she founded the Inside Outside Songwriting Collaboration Project where partnerships between incarcerated and non-incarcerated songwriters create original songs, build relationships, and learn about transformative and generative justice. She has been a keynote for conferences in Germany, Canada, and Portugal, interviewed by the BBC3 Music Matters, and has over 40 publications in journal articles, book chapters, and conference proceedings. She leads weekly music groups inside the Juvenile Detention Center of Linn County.
​
Sharing Info: The song is free to share, and Mary welcomes networking support and invites you to further your education and activism regarding environmental justice, restorative/transformative/generative justice, and simply acting with kindness to all you encounter.
​
Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:05:45
Start time of reprise: 01:07:58

Links: 

• Oakdale Community Choir website: https://oakdalechoir.lib.uiowa.edu/
• Dave Camlin's new book is Music-Making and Civic Imagination: A Holistic Philosophy. His website: https://www.davecamlin.com/civic
• There is a new 30 minute documentary film by Daniel Kolen about the Oakdale Community Choir called "The Inside Singers." The 3 minute preview of the film is available at https://vimeo.com/169192145.
• Iowa PBS did a short 8'30" video story on the Oakdale Community Choir. Find it here: https://www.pbs.org/video/the-oakdale-community-choir-coralville-iowa-bfe7bd/
• Andy Douglas, local Iowa City nonfiction & spiritual author wrote Redemption Songs: A Year in the Life of a Community Prison Choir about his experiences singing in the Oakdale Community Choir
• Forthcoming (fall 2024) book by mother of filmmaker Daniel Kolen who created "The Inside Singers", Amy Kolen wrote Inside Voices: A Prison Choir, My Mother, and Me
• For people interested in abolition of the prison industrial complex, here are some good resources:
  • Mariam Kaba's We Do This Til We Free Us
  • University of Santa Cruz's Visualizing Abolition resources (including the Music for Abolition collection)
  • Critical Resistance online at https://criticalresistance.org/
  • The book Mary wrote with Stuart Paul Duncan Music-Making in US Prisons: Listening to Incarcerated Voices
• To hear two versions of the Oakdale Community Choir performing "The Change" visit https://oakdalechoir.lib.uiowa.edu/original-works/
  • Most recent one was December 14, 2016 concert themed "Look on the Bright Side" track 13
  • The first version was Fall 2014 and is available under "Original works" link (scroll down a bit) along with the Fall 2016 version. The simple score of the song is available on that link too.
• Voice Science Works with lots of tools for voice habitation: https://www.voicescienceworks.org/
• "The Real Work" (song) by Gretchen Sleicher, words by Wendell Berry https://songsforthegreatturning.net/originals/therealwork/
• InterPlay: An active creative way to unlock the wisdom of the body founded by Phil Porter & Cynthia Winton-Henry
• Music for People: A free improvisation program founded by David Darling (whose niece Emily Darling was Mary Cohen's first yoga teacher & owns Darling Yoga in Overland Park, Kansas)
  
• Sandy Kemp: Sending Healing streams of Grace. Sandy is an educator, healer, intuitive, mentor, and nurturer.
  
• Plantiful Pantry 

​
Nuts & Bolts: 6:8, minor, round

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Song: Hold On
Music by: Rev. Cleophus Robinson, Jr.
Composed in: 1980
​
​Notes: Aaron shares his close personal connection with this song: after the horrible accidental death of his father, "“It was the first inkling, the first kind of hint that this kind of grief might be bearable.” We dove into how to bring anti-oppression work right into songcircles, or any other kind of work you might do. Aaron helped me consider how I, as a white person with financial stability, could practice persistence in anti-racism work... looking for ways to move beyond the crash-and-boom cycle of support that's triggered by a disaster. How do you hold grief and joy at the same time? Aaron invites us into an exploratory "jamming out" section into the song, and talks about touch and connection as self-care. Lots to celebrate, lots to grieve... and while I was sick at the time of recording, (I don't have Aaron's robust immune system!), I'm so grateful to have had the chance to listen.

Songwriter Info: Aaron Johnson (he/him) is a facilitator, public speaker, and touch specialist working to identify and interrupt barriers between people. As co-founder of both Holistic Resistance and Grief to Action, Aaron takes the time to hold the stories of black people around homophobia, transphobia, internalized racism, and those that are Chronically UnderTouched. Because oppression is a part of historical and present American culture, the long-term impact of those trauma stories should be acknowledged and held as a map for our collective healing. Aaron Johnson practices and invites various methods of moving through these stories, such as the communal listening ear, sound healing, meditation, and closeness to the earth.
​
Sharing Info: When sharing in a money-making venture, like a workshop, class, or performance, please contact Aaron for permission and rates.
​
Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:04:42
Start time of reprise: 01:13:45

Links: 
Bliss is Ordinary podcast episode with Yam and Jessi: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/aaron-johnson-invites-you-to-risk-something/id1614727245?i=1000641691263
Holistic Resistance podcast with Lisa Littlebird: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/holistic-resistance/id1368705035
Rev. Cleophus Robinson, Jr.’s recording of Hold On : https://youtu.be/awyHHZ44YDU?feature=shared
Aaron's link tree: https://linktr.ee/HolisticResistance
Holistic Resistance website: https://www.holisticresistance.com/
Holistic Resistance Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/holistic_resistance
Grief to Action fund: https://www.grieftoaction.com/
Chronically Under Touched (CUT) project: https://www.cutproject.org/
CUT Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cut.project/
Rescue (album by Acappella Company): https://store.acappella.org/acappella/rescue/
Alillia Johnson's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alillia.sound/
and Bandcamp: https://alillia.bandcamp.com/album/fragments-2
Fivacious, Aaron’s family group: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvh0HKHo5jE

Nuts & Bolts: 2:2, Minor, unison with opportunities to harmonize, zipper

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Song: Roadblock
Music by: Debbie Nargi-Brown

​Notes: Debbie Nargi-Brown has written a powerhouse of a song, beloved by anyone who has gotten to sing it with her... it builds the energy to get up again, and again, no matter what the fall. Sometimes I need to temper this with the reminder to myself to be attentive to what I need as I'm getting up -- it can be done slowly, and that's still a getting up worth celebrating. At the same time, the sheer tenacity of this song, combined with the acceptance that life is unpredictable, unknowable, and our job is to stay in the arena -- I love this for all of that! This song has a potent backstory, as Debbie caught it shortly after her life partner had received a very frightening diagnosis, and they began the unpredictable, unknowable path of treatment.

Songwriter Info: Debbie Nargi-Brown is a gifted community song leader, an award-winning dance teacher, and a talented songwriter, who resides in the Santa Cruz Mountains in CA. She offers her songs with love, compassion, and the hope of bringing joy and healing to others. Debbie’s lyrics and melodies are sung all over the world. She writes songs for the heart, healing, transformation, love, grief, and all that connects us as human beings. Bringing people together in dance and song is one of her greatest joys in life!
​
Sharing Info: The song is free to share in oral tradition groups, but please contact Debbie for recording and/or performing permission.
​
Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:03:33
Start time of reprise: 00:15:05

Links: 
To listen or purchase her music: https://www.debbienargi-brown.com/albums/
You can also sign up for her newsletter through her website to find out about upcoming retreats or follow her on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/debbie.nargibrown​
There is a great live version of Roadblock on her soundcloud page: https://on.soundcloud.com/gSDc2
Debbie's music is also available on all streaming platforms now.
Debbie also offers a great opportunity: Private lessons online!
She says: Schedule a session with me if you would like help with: writing a song (this could be your very first song), finishing a song you are working on, adding harmonies or parts to one of your songs, strengthening your song leading abilities, teaching harmonies or multiple parts, connecting to your voice and feeling good about your singing, using garageband as a songwriting tool and/or to record your song. You can schedule a single session or we can work together multiple times. Each session will be tailored to what you want to accomplish.
Email me if you have any questions or to book a session: [email protected]

Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, Aeolian, 3-layer

Join the A Breath of Song Mailing list
(https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share)  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
(https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html) (whoo-hoo!!!!), or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!

Song: Suis ton rêve
Music by: Rafaela Carlier

​Notes: Rafaela and I struck up a friendship when we were both fortunate enough to spend a week exploring vocal improvisation together at Le Cercle Enchantée in the summer of '23. Now, Rafaela thinks of herself as a visual artist -- but listen to what came through her as she was freely exploring song a few months later. Wow! And then she shared it with me over WhatsApp -- and so I could sing this song first heard by a friend of mine, in the language that was speaking to her. I love singing the heart songs of friends -- I wish sharing them with each other could be as ordinary as texting a heart emoji! You'll hear me "duetting" playfully with her song -- making up lines -- I hope you'll try, too...

Songwriter Info: Rafaela says, "I am a handycrafter and an artist, without distinction between the two. I hope to have more lives to learn and practice all I would like to: tango, ceramic, botany, muralism, circlesinging... yet I feel lucky to have followed a lot of my dreams... and to keep on it!"

Sharing Info: The song is free to share in oral tradition groups, but please contact Rafaela for recording and/or performing permission.
​
Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:03:19
Start time of reprise: 00:12:39

Links: 
Rafaela's website: www.rafaelia.com
Rafaela's Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RafaeliaHandmadeDesign
Rafaela's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rafaelia_handmadedesign/

Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, Aeolian, unison (with made up harmonies)

Join the A Breath of Song Mailing list
(https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share)  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
(https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html) (whoo-hoo!!!!), or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!

Song: The Feast
Music by: Heidi Wilson

​Notes: A lively songwriter conversation about gratitude, helping, useful questions, tending a group, getting traction with things we're passionate about, collaboration, caves & crankies and so much more! Heidi shares The Feast -- a gratitude song that intermingles the elements and us, and we get a special glimpse of 7-year-old Heidi songwriting and going big.

Songwriter Info: Heidi Wilson has a passion for sharing songs in service to community and the wild world; songs that celebrate the seasons, bring groups together, offer thanks, muster courage, and make room for healing. She is drawn to the potent and surprising journey of deep-listening and collaborative emergent music making. Heidi has been leading community singing groups in Vermont for the last 15 years and currently sings with the vocal trio Heartwood.

Sharing Info: Heidi says: "I’m on an ongoing journey figuring out how to share songs (that feel like generous gifts from the world) while also making a living as a songweaver. I am happy for the songs coming through me to be shared! If people are singing them in informal, community, or ritual settings that’s awesome, sing away! If people are sharing them in a setting where they are making a bunch of money or there is a budget for educational/repertoire materials and they are able to pass some of those resources my way I appreciate that. I would feel good about that reciprocity coming in the form of a one time donation, or by joining me on Patreon and supporting my songweaving work at any monthly level. And if you are interested in recording any of these songs let’s talk!

Looking for recordings of more songs? I mostly share music through Patreon, an online platform to support artists. On my Patreon site I’ve posted 80+ songs. Each post has downloadable practice recordings of the harmony parts. And through Patreon I also link to a spreadsheet where the songs are organized into categories, so you can listen through and find just the right song for Spring, or Gratitude, or Trees."
​
Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:04:00
Start time of reprise: 01:01:08

Links: 
Heidi's Website: www.heidiannwilson.com
Heidi's Patreon: www.patreon.com/HeidiWilson
Heartwood Trio's Website: www.Heartwoodtrio.com
Sarina Partridge's Website: www.sarinapartridge.com
Heinavankar: Songs of Olden Times -Estonian Folk Hymns and Runic Songs: https://www.discogs.com/release/17138368-Heinavanker-Songs-Of-Olden-Times-Estonian-Folk-Hymns-And-Runic-Songs

Nuts & Bolts: 2:2, Aeolian, (harmonic minor in the harmonies), unison harmonized optionally

Join the A Breath of Song Mailing list
(https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share)  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
(https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html) (whoo-hoo!!!!), or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!

Song: My Thoughts Make A Difference
Music by: Chandler Yorkhall

​Notes: The energy and determination that this song funnels into me can be formidable. It steps from naming that our individual thoughts, feelings, words, and healing matters; next stop is a determination to pay attention to the struggle, because time is short; and then the question -- what can I do for this broken world? It's a vital progression and gathering of force. I sing it at two very different tempos (well, the second, faster one I don't QUITE manage, but, you know, I'll get better at it!) One of the things that stopped me from singing for a long time was feeling like I wasn't good enough, even to sing to myself, because I didn't sound like the albums I had. That's why I leave mistakes in this podcast -- I'm reclaiming my right to not be perfect, and the playfulness and energy that comes from that... and I hope hearing me mess up frees space for you, too.

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: 00:03:07
Start time of reprise: 00:12:50

Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, Aeolian, 3 layer

Join the A Breath of Song Mailing list
(https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share)  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
(https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html) (whoo-hoo!!!!), or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!

Song: Kick Up Your Heels!
​Music: ​Patricia Norton

​Notes: You know how sometimes happiness just bubbles up inside you and it feels like the world is unbelievably sweet? And then maybe, you get a little voice that says, "If you notice it, it's gonna disappear!" Or, "Don't be too happy, it attracts bad luck!" Or any other little fear message that says it's not okay to be purely happy for a moment? This song was my way of letting that go, dancing crazy around my living room and kitchen, lifting my hands high, high and releasing into the glow! On February 24th, 2024, A Breath of Song reached 51.5k downloads and we opened registration for our first-ever retreat... and we sang this song in a crowded Zoom room to celebrate big.

Songwriter Info: In addition to hosting this podcast and an online singing program, Pocket Songs, Patricia is excited to be developing an in-person community singing program in Burlington, Vermont. You can find more details about that at the Juneberry Music site. Patricia believes in singing as a part of vibrant well-being, experiencing wholeness, courage, connection and joy along with brokenness, fear, loneliness, and despair... trusting the whole messy catastrophe! She lives with her long-time beloved, Tom, in a small townhouse close to their daughter's family (the better to play with their grand). Patricia reads widely, and also spends time exploring the natural world on these Abenaki lands, knitting, and reluctantly strength-training.

Sharing Info:  You are welcome to share this song; please contact Patricia directly for sheet music or permission to record or perform. She always appreciates hearing about how the song travels.

Song Learning Time Stamps: 
Start time of teaching:  00:03:37
Start time of reprise: 00:12:34

Links: 
Patricia's Website: https://www.juneberrymusic.com
A Breath of Song on Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/juneberrymusic
A Breath of Song on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/abreathofsongpodcast

Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, aeolian with some chromaticism, round
​
Join the A Breath of Song Mailing list
(https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share) 
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!!!!)
(https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html)
or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!​

Notes: I love the way Steph Drouin's song reminds me to be right here, right now... which was useful during recording, as my voice is still recovering from a bad cold, and as I sing with it, right here, right now, it feels unpredictable! So I decided to play with range a little -- I teach the four parts of the song in the original key that Steph shares it in. It's a longer teach than some, because there are so many different unique parts -- and you can see in the song stamps when the song as a whole starts running, if you'd like to come back for just the song. Then for the reprise, I shifted the song several steps lower, which might be more comfortable for some people, and too low for others... one of the openings of singing practice is noticing where your voice feels comfortable, and where it feels stretched; this song gives you a chance to explore that if you'd like... right here, right now!

Songwriter Info: Steph Drouin is a community song leader based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She has been facilitating song circles in Toronto for over 7 years with groups such as Sing for Joy and Fiercely OK, which she founded in January 2019. Steph is a community builder and mental health advocate with a strong belief in the “Fierce OKness” in all of us. Informed by a life-long relationship with anxiety, she writes and teaches songs to help participants embrace their messiness and stay connected to their sense of being OK. Playful and strong, she has a knack for bringing light into dark places. She graduated from the Community Choir Leadership Training program and Lisa Littlebird’s Flight School in 2018, and is now in the process of completing a three-year training program in Expressive Art Therapy with the CREATE Institute. Steph sends a big thank you to all who have helped her share her gifts with the world!

Sharing Info: The song is free to share but Steph always welcomes financial and/or networking support if/when folks are so moved. Please contact her if you hope to perform or record the song. Steph offers her songs in the spirit of the gift, meaning you choose if and how you give a gift in return. While monetary gifts make her work possible, they are not a requirement to enjoy, sing or share her songs. You are welcome to receive the gift of song! Reciprocity in the form of monetary contributions, networking, or permission to sing and share the songs of others is always received with gratitude.

Links: 
Fiercely OK Website: www.fiercelyok.ca
Fiercely OK and Steph on Instagram: @therestlessinchoirer and @fiercelyok
Fiercely OK on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FiercelyOK/
Fiercely OK Mailing List: https://www.fiercelyok.ca/home-join-the-mailing-list

Giving Options:
1) Send an e-transfer to Fiercely OK: [email protected] (no password required) *PREFERRED*
2) Make a contribution via PayPal to [email protected]
3) Become a monthly donor via PayPal HERE:
https://www.paypal.com/donate/?business=8FGN3GPS69BNU&currency_code=CAD&item_name=Thank%20you%20for%20helping%20us%20nourish%20wellness%20and%20resilience%20through%20song%20and%20belonging%20in%20our%20communities%21&no_recurring=0
4) Make a cash contribution at one of our in-person events

Steph's own recording of There Is Only Now: https://www.fiercelyok.ca/song-recordings-there-is-only-now

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:04:10
1st song run through: 00:11:55

Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, minor (a little Dorian, a little Aeolian), 4-part layer song

Join the A Breath of Song mailing list (https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share)  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 (https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html)
 (whoo-hoo!!!!), or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!

Notes: Every time I sing one of Alexa Sunshine Rose's songs with a group, people immediately want to sing it again -- they simply feel that good. I give a little extra help picking out the harmonies that are on the recording of this that Alexa Sunshine Rose released (buying it on Bandcamp is a great way to support her artistry)... and then I play around with making up harmonies of my own, as I hope you will if it appeals. There's also something very beautiful about centering in the melody of this song, and letting the harmonies develop around you.

Songwriter Info: Alexa Sunshine Rose is a singer-songwriter, mother and artist who has dedicated herself and her life's work to being a clear channel for peace on earth. Alexa plays in the tuning frequency of A=432 Hz to promote inner peace and deep sound absorption. Listeners worldwide utilize her music during pregnancy and birth, hospice, yoga and massage, community song circles, and inner-transformational journeys.

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

Links:
Website: www.alexasunshinerose.com
Instagram: @Alexasunshinerose
Facebook: www.facebook.com/alexasunshinerose
Support on Patreon: www.patreon.com/alexasunshinerose

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:03:25
Start time of reprise: 00:13:35
​​​
Nuts & Bolts: 3:4 minor, 4-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: 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
​​​
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: Sometimes I get so overwhelmed with the thought of death, I think I'm going to precipitate it by forgetting to breathe! And then somehow, something will help me back into the present, alive moment... and this song appeared just after one of those moments. I was absolutely delighted to record it with my son, Seth, who was visiting from Boston (you'll hear a little fangirl excitement in my voice)... and also surprised by how different it was for me to sing it with someone else rather than just my own voice on the looper! This voice music thing... it's always surprising me, delighting me, stretching me. And this particular song keeps coming back, insisting I sing it again.

Songwriter Info: In addition to hosting this podcast and an online singing program, Pocket Songs, Patricia is excited to be developing an in-person community singing program in Burlington, Vermont. You can find more details about that at the Juneberry Music site. Patricia believes in singing as a part of vibrant well-being, experiencing wholeness, courage, connection and joy along with brokenness, fear, loneliness, and despair... trusting the whole messy catastrophe! She lives with her long-time beloved, Tom, in a single bedroom apartment close to their daughter's family (the better to play with their grand.) Patricia reads widely, and also spends time exploring the natural world on these Abenaki lands, knitting, and reluctantly strength-training.

​Sharing Info: You are welcome to share this song; please contact Patricia directly for sheet music or permission to record or perform. She always appreciates hearing about how the song travels.

Links: 
Patricia's Website: https://www.juneberrymusic.com

​Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:03:25
Start time of reprise: 00:15:15
​​
Nuts & Bolts: 4:4 Minor & Major, unison or 2-part layer

​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: Abundance, gratitude -- words that can be so annoying when you're feeling scarcity and lack -- I think part of the reason for traditional festivals was to smush us together with other people who were celebrating so that we can't help but feel a bit of a lift, a bit of a reminder that oh, yes, there is plenitude in the world, and food tastes good, and even better with loved ones around us. I'm grateful to Flora Ware for her entire collection of chants for the year... grateful to you for singing with me -- to my mind, that makes us kith, and I'm so glad to celebrate abundance with kith and kin through this song.

Songwriter Info: Flora Ware is a Sacred Sound Priestess and founder of EarthSong Temple where she serves a global community through ceremony, singing circles, and earth magic. As a Vocal Coach, she helps spiritual entrepreneurs become confident speakers and get booked on podcasts and stages, so they can attract more clients and share their message with the world. In 1993, her mother brought 14-year-old Flora to a full moon women’s circle. She remembered she was a Celtic witch and has been on a spiritual path of devotion to the Divine Feminine ever since. She lives in Vernon, BC, Canada with her wife and young wizard-in-training.

​Sharing Info: Please sing and share! Flora has a free lyric booklet for all her Wheel of the Year chants available to download from her website (very helpful when teaching a group).

Links: 
Flora's Website: https://floraware.ca
Flora's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flora_ware/

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:03:09
Start time of reprise: 00:12:47
​​
Nuts & Bolts: 3:4, Aeolian, unison with 3-part harmony chorus

​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: It's been two years since Maggie Wheeler and I last talked on A Breath of Song. No one doubts these times are difficult. Maggie and I get into the grit here... how do you stave off despair? How do you show up in love? How can we, collectively, change the energy? How do we soothe hearts and souls so we are sustained to do the work? Can we give ourselves the same grace of forgiveness we give others? What happens after exhaustion? How can we stay longer in the space of not knowing? How can we stay longer in a song moment and let it develop? Can staying longer be its own practice?

This song Maggie shares, The Crow Calls, is an opening to the rhythm, the connection of the natural world, and how that can nurture and change us. This song is a reminder, a call, a resource, and incredibly satisfying to sing. As we talked, Maggie described her heart as "cracked open" from two intense back-to-back experiences that had just happened. I was feeling a lot of pressure, with looming deadlines and large to-do lists, preparing for a big trip. Editing the episode, I was struck by how we practiced showing up as we are, releasing expectations, and paying attention to what is present in the moment... and I came away from our conversation with a welcome sense of clarity and commitment about the next right thing -- and huge gratitude for Maggie's generous, genuine way of moving through the world. I wonder what you will hear that resonates or challenges or invites you?

Songwriter Info: Maggie Wheeler is best known in the U.S and internationally for her work as an actress in film, television and voice-over and most notably as the character of Janice on NBC’s hit series Friends. Maggie is a passionate singer, songwriter, choir director and workshop facilitator. She has been teaching her vocal workshop "Singing In The Stream" for over 30 years at retreat centers, universities, communities and schools to provide the experience of creating interpersonal harmony and internal harmony through the powerful act of creating vocal harmony. Maggie directs the 100-voice Golden Bridge Community Choir in Hollywood, an inter-generational, non-auditioned choir now in its 17th year. She is a prolific songwriter with a catalog of powerful and timely songs that have been sung by choirs worldwide. Maggie’s original music for choirs and communities is available on Apple Music and other music platforms. To accompany her CD entitled 'Walk With Me’, Maggie created a songbook available by request through her website www.goldenbridgechoir.com Throughout this time of change Maggie continued the Golden Bridge Choir online producing virtual concerts and videos as well as hosting a weekly online community gathering called Together In Song, bringing together over 4000 people from around the world to join in the healing power of singing. 

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

Links: 
Find Your Way Home, ABoS Ep 5: https://www.abreathofsong.com/episodes--show-notes/5-find-our-way-home
Rising Appalachia: https://www.risingappalachia.com/
Song Village: https://www.songvillage.net/
Emile Hassan Dyer: https://www.eomega.org/workshops/teachers/emile-hassan-dyer
Song Village Collaborators: https://www.songvillage.net/collaborators/
Yam and Jessi: Bliss is Ordinary podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bliss-is-ordinary/id1614727245
Ebeneezer Finds a Reason children’s Book: https://ebeneezersneezer.com/
Meredith Scott Lynn & Write Brain Books: https://writebrainbooks.com/view_page.php?pageid=3/
M. Kyle Hollingsworth: https://www.kylecreativeart.com/
Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney: https://wimpykid.com/
Karly Loveling: https://eugeneweekly.com/2019/01/17/karly-loveling/​
Together in Song: https://www.goldenbridgechoir.com/together-in-song-video-archive
Flow Singing with Juneberry Music: https://www.juneberrymusic.com/sing-to-connect.html
Rhiannon: https://rhiannonmusic.com/circlesing 
Omega Workshop: 
https://www.eomega.org/workshops/singing-stream?itm_source_h=search&itm_source_s=search&itm_medium_h=tile&itm_medium_s=tile&itm_campaign_h=searchcr&itm_campaign_s=searchcr
Arnaé Batson: https://sivanandabahamas.org/presenter/arnae-batson/
Sivananda Ashram Retreat: https://sivanandabahamas.org/course/songs-of-sustenance-february-2023/
Aimée Ringle: http://www.aimeeringlemusic.com/
Heather Houston: https://heatherhoustonmusic.com/
Sweet Honey in the Rock, Live at Carnegie Hall: https://www.allmusic.com/album/live-at-carnegie-hall-mw0000652837
Aimée Ringle Human and Tender: https://aimeeringle.bandcamp.com/album/human-and-tender
Olivia Barton & Corook - “If I Were a Fish” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dx_vMONe3tM
Ahlay Blakely: https://www.healingattheroots.com/about
Golden Bridge Choir: https://www.goldenbridgechoir.com/
Maggie’s Instagram: ​​https://www.instagram.com/maggiewheeler_official/?hl=en
Maggie’s latest album that she was about to record after our interview: https://maggiewheeler.bandcamp.com/album/the-crow-calls
Go​​lden Bridge Choir’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/goldenbridgechoir/?hl=en
Maggie's Website: maggiewheeler.net

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:04:15
Start time of reprise: 00:54:54
​​​
Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, harmonic minor scale, call & echo and 3 or 4 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: This is a prime example of how on this podcast, there's lots of space for YOUR voice! This Is It is a deeply grooved song by Maggie Wheeler, and I did a super simple bass line -- so you could make it more complex -- a light variety of percussion sounds -- so you can add more -- the melody in one voice, so you can make it richer and rounder and groovier -- and one harmony on top, so you can add more in the middle, or even higher up. AND there's space for you to add extra calls! A Breath of Song is unique in that it's not about MY singing -- this is not for you to listen to and admire -- this is for you to sing with, to make yours. Because, as Maggie advises, "This is it. This is it! This is the place you wanna be, the song you wanna sing, the love you wanna feel.... the world is calling out to you -- this is it!" Next week, Maggie does the first ever return songwriter episode, and we get to learn where "this" is for Maggie right now... another chance to get to know a miraculous person a little better.

Songwriter Info: Maggie Wheeler is best known in the U.S and internationally for her work as an actress in film, television and voice-over and most notably as the character of Janice on NBC’s hit series Friends. Maggie is a passionate singer, songwriter, choir director and workshop facilitator. She has been teaching her vocal workshop "Singing In The Stream" for over 30 years at retreat centers, universities, communities and schools to provide the experience of creating interpersonal harmony and internal harmony through the powerful act of creating vocal harmony. Maggie directs the 100-voice Golden Bridge Community Choir in Hollywood, an inter-generational, non-auditioned choir now in its 17th year. She is a prolific songwriter with a catalog of powerful and timely songs that have been sung by choirs worldwide. Maggie’s original music for choirs and communities is available on Apple Music and other music platforms. To accompany her CD entitled 'Walk With Me’, Maggie created a songbook available by request through her website www.goldenbridgechoir.com Throughout this time of change Maggie continued the Golden Bridge Choir online producing virtual concerts and videos as well as hosting a weekly online community gathering called Together In Song, bringing together over 4000 people from around the world to join in the healing power of singing. 

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

Links: To learn more about Maggie’s work please visit: www.goldenbridgechoir.com and maggiewheeler.net

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:03:20
Start time of reprise: 00:13:50
​​
Nuts & Bolts: 12:8, Minor, unison with optional harmonies

​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: Singing this song settles me so deeply, reassuringly, into my body to be able to tolerate the discomfort of big feelings. When I was browsing for links about the Bengsons to share, the video, "My Joy is Heavy", drew my eye. I started it to see what it was about -- and couldn't stop watching. This podcast episode is about a fabulous song... and if you can go see "My Joy is Heavy", it will give you so much more. Abigail and Shaun Bengson are powerful storytellers, creating stories rooted in truths of their lives... this one in pregnancy and loss. Abigail says, "Honor the poetry that exists in each of our moments of crisis... when something big cracks your life, there is a kind of poetry that spills out -- details become important or disappear; it's an amazing time outside of time."

Songwriter Info: Abigail and Shaun Bengson have this to say on their Patreon page: "We've been working to create music and community online and releasing it, joyously and of course for free for a bunch of years. Lots of folks found us initially through our songprayer The Keep Going Song, and then stayed so we could get to know each other. We've been so moved and humbled by the incredible support of the folk who come to our pages and participate through listening, commenting, singing along or writing to us with their own stories of grief, joy, loss, rage and transformation. We've always been focused on releasing everything for free, and keeping our concerts affordable for all!"
​
Sharing Info: Yes -- The song is free to share but the Bengsons always welcome financial and/or networking support if/when folks are so moved.

Links: 
My Joy is Heavy on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMTBaFm5ibc https://www.bengsons.com/
Abigail singing "Don't Numb to This" https://www.facebook.com/thebengsons/videos/629432998893008
The Bengsons' Website: https://www.bengsons.com/
The Bengsons' Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebengsons/?hl=en
​The Bengsons' Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thebengsons
The Bengsons' Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thebengsons
The Bengsons' Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/artist/08VxLl1rmtFqsvoAmCVaNH?si=MxhG1JamRX6q_3C3a1ulbg&utm_medium=share&utm_source=linktree&nd=1

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:02:55
Start time of reprise: 00:13:30
​
Nuts & Bolts: 4:4 Minor (Aeolian), unison

​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 song of Hannah's rings so deeply true to me -- and it is reassuring to me to have heartbreak normalized. I'm not the only one who hears the news, reads the stories, looks around me, and feels heartbreak. What's beautiful and healing in Hannah's song is the turn of all that breaking into sacred -- something deserving of veneration -- something that blesses us and opens us to life in the most beautiful possible way.

​Longtime listeners (well, two years at least!) may notice I've shifted things up as we've moved into the second 100 episodes, in response to some ideas from you all. There's a clip of the song at the very beginning of the episode, and time markers for when I start teaching the song and the reprise in the shownotes. There's a little less talk at the beginning, but still the invitation to come into your body and breath and voice, which is part of this singing practice. Hope you find it ever more useful in navigating your own life, tending your own heart.... I continue to do it as my own tending, shifting work!

​Songwriter Info: Hannah Jeffery (She/They) is a songstress, composer, song-leader and mama living in the Upper Valley of Vermont (Abenaki land). Her creative venture, Deep Well Song, is a gathering vessel for people to come together in song, prayer and playfulness, to turn toward and embrace all that it IS to be human on Earth. The songs Hannah carries, catches and teaches are songs of the heart and soul, that touch joy, grief, gratitude, heartbreak, righteous anger, beauty, love and praise and connect us to each other, ourselves and the Beloved Mystery. Hannah leads song at the UU church in Norwich, Vermont and in the newly forming Well Song Choir. To learn more and get involved please check out their website and Patreon and be in touch!

Sharing Info: When sharing, please name Hannah as the song catcher and acknowledge the place where the song was caught, Upper Valley of Vermont, Abenaki land. And if you can pass on the story that accompanies the songs and how they were inspired, bonus. Thanks!

Links: 
Hannah's Website: www.deepwellsong.org
Hannah's Patreon: www.patreon.com/deepwellsong

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:03:42
Start time of reprise: 00:18:50
​
Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, Aeolian, 4-layer

​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 could think of no better way to honor the 100th episode of this podcast than to talk with Lisa G. Littlebird, my first mentor in the community songleading movement. We explore how she uses the power of songs for different purposes, including the one she shares during our conversation which helps bridge hearts during difficult situations. We talk about songs as sorcery to shift energy, and how exquisite it is to create a spell-song. How to find right-size in relationship with each other; how we woo each other into community and song, and "accompany each other in our walk toward liberation." The "inescapable confronting tenderness of inner listener" in relation to our own voices, "the power of the voice to unblock channels of energy." How responding to racial injustice grows out of relationship, not as a short-term response... "I'm not looking for your attention for a week, I'm looking for your love for a lifetime." What it means to have an open heart in both yes and no, when to harmonize with normative culture, and when to align with one's own truth even if it steps outside of the "normal." Grab something to drink or nosh on, take us on a walk or a drive, and let's talk about song and community! You'll hear me making up harmonies on the spot as Lisa and I are singing (she couldn't hear me, so it was all good! ?)

​Songwriter Info: Lisa G. Littlebird facilitates group singing as a transformational personal practice, healing art, and to foster healthy communities. She is the creator of Littlebird Flight School, a community song leader training program with more than 400 graduates worldwide. She also founded the 160-member Wholehearted Chorus in Big Sur & Monterey, CA and has been on the faculty at Esalen Institute for 15 years. 

Sharing Info: Yes -- The song is free to share in oral tradition groups, but please contact Lisa for recording and/or performing permission

Links: 
Chumash people: https://www.sbnature.org/collections-research/anthropology/chumash-life/
Ram Dass quote: “if you feel like you’re enlightened, go spend a week with your family”
https://www.gaia.com/article/who-is-ram-dass-the-wonderful-magical-be-here-now-guru
Songleader Flight School: https://thebirdsings.com/songleader-training/
Lisa's Website: https://thebirdsings.com/
Song-a-day project: https://thebirdsings.com/OLD/song-a-day.html
​Oprah Magazine, Jan 2019 “Sing, Sing a Song” Article:
https://www.magzter.com/stories/Lifestyle/The-Oprah-Magazine/Sing-Sing-a-Song
Denver Women’s Chorus: https://denverchoruses.org/dwc/
Esalen Institute: https://www.esalen.org/
Dr. Ysaye M. Barnwell: https://www.ymbarnwell.com/bio
Sweet Honey in the Rock: https://sweethoneyintherock.org/
Laurence Cole: http://www.laurencecole.com/
Peter Gabriel: “Passion”  https://petergabriel.com/release/passion/
Nightsong album: https://thebirdsings.com/nightsong/
Lisa's song library: https://thebirdsings.com/song-library/
Lisa's Patreon: patreon.com/thebirdsings

Nuts & Bolts: ​​4:4, Aeolian, unison with a little call and response

​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!