Song: Where the Moss Grows
Music by: David Ruffin

Notes: We get to sing David Ruffin's beautiful moss song in three different keys, so you can experiment with the range and how it feels in your voice in different ways -- and really feel like you know the song well by the end! So this episode is a little longer than sometimes -- but it's a great way to get a slightly longer song and harmony into your body, and still under 30 minutes. Next episode is a conversation with David, and we'll get to know this song carrier...

Songwriter Info: David is a performing artist, community song leader and teacher with a passion for authentic expression. He loves creating space for voices to emerge fully and freely. He calls Central Vermont home, where he’s grateful to be able to share his holistic approach to voice in community through lessons, workshops, community singing and performance collaborations. David’s work is inspired by a diverse background including studies with Roy Hart Center voice teachers, deep dives in vocal improvisation, explorations in Voice Movement Therapy and over 20 plus years of performing arts, teaching and counseling/ministry experience. David believes singing helps us remember who we really are, what we're here to voice and, how we’re, thankfully, so very bound up together in this. 

Sharing Info: The song is free to share but David welcomes financial and/or networking support if/when folks are so moved. Please contact him for recording and/or performing permission.

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:02:33
Start time of song in B-flat: 00:13:16
Start time of song in D-flat: 00:17:36
Start time of song in B: 00:23:38

Links:
David's website: www.davidruffinvoice.com
David's Venmo: @David-Ruffin-Voice 

Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, major, harmonized

Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely:
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Help us keep going: reviews, comments, encouragement, plus contributions... we float on your support.
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Song: Let Your Voice Be Heard
Music by: Sarina Partridge

Notes: Getting access to Sarina Partridge's catalog of songs was a beautiful moment for me -- SO many good things -- wise, accepting, generous, warm -- the songs reflect the songwriter, for sure! Join me today singing "Let your voice be heard..." -- I love the laid-back feel combined with the invitation to speak up -- and listen to next week's episode to hear Sarina's own voice, getting an inside perspective of how an educator might approach song leading with full heart. 

Songwriter Info: Sarina Partridge is a musician, song-leader and educator in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She feels most alive when learning, creating and sharing songs, and enjoys singing with a wide variety of music projects - Eastern European and Yiddish song, old-time music, community song-leading... and everything in between. Sarina has traveled around the world to study with master folk singers, and has toured with the traveling ensemble Northern Harmony abroad and in the USA.  She has a passion for connecting people with their own creativity and with community, and uses singing to help folks develop a sense of wonder for this wild world around us. Let’s sing!
Sarina performs and teaches with several music projects/ensembles (Heartwood, Nanilo) and as a solo artist and educator; teaches at music camps (Village Harmony, Songroots, Folklore Village); and leads regular community sings and workshops in and around Minneapolis.

Sharing Info: When sharing in a money-making venture, like a workshop, class, or performance, please contact Sarina for permission and rates.

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:03:05
Start time of reprise: 00:20:00

Links:
Sarina's website: SarinaPartridge.com
Sarina's Patreon: patreon.com/sarinapartridge
Sarina's Bandcamp: sarinapartridge.bandcamp.com

Nuts & Bolts: 2:2, major, harmonized melody with harmonized response

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Help us keep going: reviews, comments, encouragement, plus contributions... we float on your support.
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Song: Gratitude
Music by: Kate Munger

Notes: Recording Kate Munger's song for you was SUCH a treat for me!!! 15 members of our extended family gathered in a living room, and sang together about sinking into gratitude.... mmmm-hmmmm!!! You'll hear 5-year-old Claire proclaiming she is right here, and then the beautiful gathered sound of Beth, Peter, Will, Elyse, Edward, Carolyn, Patrick, Ruth, Tom, Rebecca, Forrest, Kathi, Claire, Seth and me. One of the most beautiful things about the whole experience was that the song itself kept reminding me to be present -- to soak into the moment.

Songwriter Info: Kate Munger has been passionate about community singing since she was 8 years old at Girl Scout Camp and has led community singing now for over 45 years. In 2000 she founded the first of now 200 Threshold Choirs around the world. Today at 74 she is retired from running the Threshold Choir and has returned to her passions of writing songs for medicinal use and singing at the bedsides of people who are dying, in coma and with folks who are incarcerated. She is a popular speaker among palliative care, choral singing and prison reform professionals and is a gracious, skillful musical host and choral director whose joy is reminding us that we are singing beings, bringing community singing back to "the community.” Kate knows that this work is deep and serious and she offers a fresh, lively, sometimes irreverent, always relevant perspective.

Sharing Info: Kate encourages the sharing of this song and its message; any donation that is generous, affordable and personally significant would be most welcome.

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:03:45
Start time of reprise: 00:12:57

Links:
Kate welcomes emails to [email protected]

Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, mixolydian, 3-part harmony

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

Song: Quiet At First
Music by: Eileen Webb
Lyrics by: Kai Skye

Notes: How often do you get to sing with a thrush? Eileen Webb has made that possible for us... and so we get full enjoyment out of it, singing the entire song twice after learning it. The song itself, with words from Kai Skye, is a succinct reminder to drop in to that sensation of connection to all living things and how good it feels. What could be better? Recording this was unusual for me, because instead of loops on Loopy (where I just have to get it sounding right once!), it's layered tracks because of singing with the thrush... so I got to practice staying centered for the entire length of the song... not once, not twice, but three times plus a bit! It was really good for me -- so thank you for singing with me and perusing the A Breath of Song library -- I love the way my sense of responsibility to you keeps me in practice.

Songwriter Info: Eileen is a consultant and facilitator who helps tech companies build stronger relationships within and across their teams. She loves how music-making helps create deep connections in diverse groups of people, and leads the circlesinging community in Portland, Maine.

Sharing Info: The song is free to share, but please remember to share the lyrics credit to Kai Skye as well!

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:04:33
Start time of reprise: 00:17:52

Links:
Eileen's Portland circlesinging group: https://www.meetup.com/circlesinging-portland/.
Kai's art website: https://flyingedna.com/
Note: For credit purposes, his NAME is Kai Skye, his PEN NAME (also his previous name) is Brian Andreas, and the site where people can buy his arts is Flying Edna.

Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, major, 2-3 part harmony plus some extras

Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely:
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Help us keep going: contributions at https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html, plus reviews, comments, encouragement... we float on your support.

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

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, or by making comments, leaving reviews, suggesting songs or songwriters (including yourself) ..... your participation matters!

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

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: I Hear
Music by: Aaron Johnson

​Notes: What I love about Aaron's song is how it is quick to learn, and then can be taken in many directions -- it can stay simple, giving a chance to listen deeply to one's own voice or the voices of surrounding people. It can be explored in many ways -- growing, soft, harmonies, rhythmic intense or free -- and for this recording, I had the privilege of listening to five friends learn it for the first time, and then let themselves take risks and explore. When making a studio recording, anything that didn't ring perfectly would be taken out -- but I've left the exploration in, to encourage you to do some of your own. Your voice from your heart to your soul. Listening to what it's saying. What a beautiful practice.

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: 00:05:09
Start time of reprise: 00:13:20

Links: 
Link tree: https://linktr.ee/HolisticResistance
Grief to Action: https://www.grieftoaction.com/
The Chronically UnderTouched Project:
https://www.cutproject.org/
https://bio.site/cut.project
TEDx on Youtube: https://youtu.be/zi_hm0-zrgk

Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, major, unison with option of adding 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: 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: Breathe Deep
Music by:​ Sara Stutz

​Notes: I had an early morning voice as I was recording this, full of creaks and gaps -- and it shifts as it goes! I didn't rerecord, partly because, you know, time, and partly because I'm challenging myself to let recordings be human and real, and partly because A Breath of Song is all about turning up with the voices we have... so you're welcome! 😊 Sara Stutz's beautiful song starts in one calm place, and then ever so gracefully settles into an even calmer presence. I can feel my whole system regulate every time I sing it.

Songwriter Info: Sara grew up in a musical family and has always loved to sing. Over the years, Sara sang in choirs, performed in musical theater, led songs as a camp counselor, studied music in college, performed classically and thankfully, landed in the world of community singing about seven years ago when she met Kaitie Ty Warren and started singing with a few folks in Kaitie's living room. The heart connection, and joy that the Community Singing world has brought to Sara has been life changing. Sara is currently co-leading Living Room Choir ANEW with Kaitie Ty Warren and recently had the great good fortune to travel to Victoria Canada to complete her Community Choir Leadership Training (CCLT) and become part of the Ubuntu Network. Sara also works as a pediatric physical therapist and loves to use singing, rhythm and movement to support connection and emotional regulation for little and big people.

Sharing Info: Sara would be delighted if you sing and share her song. She'd love to hear how this song might land with you or your group.

Links:
Sara is co-leader of Living Room Choir ANEW: https://thelivingroomchoir.com/
Sara's email addresses:
[email protected]
[email protected]
Kaitie Ty Warren: https://kaitietywarren.com/
Community Choir Leadership Training (CCLT): https://www.communitychoirleadership.com

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:03:41
Start time of reprise: 00:17:42

Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, major, 3-layer, harmonized (5 parts total)

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: Even though I had a runny nose while recording, I practiced showing up with my voice where it is, feeling into the body, noticing the breath... it felt beautiful to be "calling us in," following Meg O'Dell's guidance "home to ourselves." I love the way this melody rocks and rolls through so many comforting words -- I come away with the sense of "true-ing" myself, "whole-ing." I wonder what you will notice as you sing? Make ample use of the rewind button to give yourself a chance to learn some things that I breeze through pretty quickly -- and you can easily find the words at abreathofsong.com if they aren't in front of you here! Enjoy...

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.

Links: Meg's Website: www.singwaldorf.com

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:03:45
Start time of reprise: 00:19:30

Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, Ionian, 3-part harmony

Join theA 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: 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: Gitanjali Jain pours heartbreak, tension, anger, confusion all into this prayer for peace, which has some of the scrunchiest harmonies we've ever done on A Breath of Song. And although you could call these stacked harmonies, I decided to call them melodies -- because it's not clear to me that there's a single melodic voice -- to me it is the voice of many combined. Feel the frustration of the sounds hitting against each other; all those wishes we carry for peace, love and ease. Then notice how you feel after you've sung it... is there connection to Gitu, to me, to others feeling all the complexity of our beloved world?

Songwriter Info: Gitanjali Jain is a multidisciplinary artist specializing in music and theater. Born in Mexico City to her Mexican mother and East Indian father, she has focused a significant part of her work on the study of her ancestry and lineage. Other formative experiences include seven years in Hawai’i, where she worked as an aerialist, actor, and dancer in the award-winning production 'Ulalena.

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

Links:
Gitanjali on Bandcamp: https://alicuanta.bandcamp.com/

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:03:35
Start time of reprise: 00:17:08

Nuts & Bolts: 2:2, mostly harmonic minor, harmonized call & response

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: A generous song to let us both receive and release -- I deeply respect Lynn O'Brien's way of moving through the world. I love singing this song of hers so these words, this wisdom of taking and dropping, yes and no, can sift into my being and start to feel natural, like something I believe in my very core. Patty says, "I connected this song with the micro rhizomes and roots of trees -- what they have within them to give and what is given to them from others." Yes, yes, yes!!!

Songwriter Info: Described as a "musical force of nature," Lynn O'Brien is an award-winning vocalist, songwriter, performer and recording artist with a soulful, dynamic voice. She has captivated thousands of audiences with her healing original songs, well-loved covers and compelling vocal improvisation - seamlessly blending genres like folk, jazz, soul, blues and R&B. ​Lynn has collaborated with artists across all mediums (from book authors to belly dancers to Bobby McFerrin himself) and also soars as a solo artist; she accompanies her vocals on guitar, ukulele, piano and occasional loop station to create an a cappella "one woman choir" effect. Drawing on her background as a board-certified music therapist, women's empowerment coach and speaker, Lynn brings a deep sense of presence, authenticity and inventiveness to every performance.
​
In a moment of deep presence, Lynn spontaneously composed this tune as a self-prayer and intention-setting of radical openness. Influenced by Tosha Silver's writings and many other spiritual teachers, she finds that her core work is often about opening - opening to receive and release - opening to being an easy, open conduit for Life to come through. Singing and improvisation is where this openness is most accessible for her, but she tries to practice in all areas of life. Thanks for listening, and please use this freely.

Sharing Info: Yes -- The song is free to share but Lynn always welcome financial and/or networking support if/when folks are so moved. To request the original recording from Lynn O'Brien, please contact her through her website, www.LynnOBrien.love

Links:
Website: https://www.lynnobrien.love/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lynnobrienlove/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lynnobrienlove
Listen/buy on Bandcamp: https://lynnobrienmusic.bandcamp.com/album/rising
Listen/stream on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/4yMCG3V8FNV7JbkGR6FPTc
Listen/follow on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LynnOBrienLove
​
Support via Virtual Tip Jar (you know, "willingness to receive" and all that!)
Venmo: https://account.venmo.com/u/lynn-Obrien 
Paypal: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/lynnobrienmusic

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:03:51
Start time of reprise: 00:15:40

Nuts & Bolts: 4:4 minor; call and response, harmonized

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: “I feel inside of myself something expanding when I sing," says Te. They've used song to metabolize experience for as long as they can remember... and as Te shares this song, we get to feel into their experience of trust. Alchemy could be a way of building gold out of fear; something beautiful is uncovered as Te sings and shares about learning to carry the complexity of song sharing loosely, relationship to each other and the earth, liberation... and the magic of a sigh.

Songwriter Info: Te Martin is a song-keeper and ritual artist. They were born on Ramaytush Ohlone land in San Francisco and have been shaped by Ocean, Redwoods, circus arts, and theater games. They facilitate oral tradition singing classes and workshops that focus on song as a tool for collective liberation, somatic regulation, and ancestral connection. Te served as co-organizer of Thrive Street Choir in the San Francisco bay area for six years, is a student of Gaelic song, and released their first professional music video and EP of original songs, "Water & Bones," in 2021.

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

Links from the conversation: 
The Lama Foundation: https://www.lamafoundation.org/
Pueblo Tiwa People Northern New Mexico: https://accessgenealogy.com/new-mexico/tiwa-pueblo-indians.htm
Southern Pomo Coast Miwok: 
https://alamedanativeart.com/post/alameda-native-history-project/coast-miwok-and-southern-pomo-map/
Songs of Mother Europe: https://weavingremembrance.org/songs-of-mother-europe-fall/
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18144590-the-alchemist
The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron: https://juliacameronlive.com/books-by-julia/
Alchemy process: https://aras.org/concordance/content/alchemical-process-and-its-stages
Village Fire Singing Iowa: http://www.villagefiresinging.org/
Liz Rog: https://realsmalltowns.com/liz-rog-singing-as-breath-and-food/
Singing Alive Oregon: https://singingalive.org/
Melanie DeMore: https://melaniedemore.com/bio/
Lisa G. Littlebird: https://thebirdsings.com/
Finding Our Voice on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/findingourvoiceproject -- while Josh and Te's "Finding Our Voice" project didn't end up with lots of accessible recorded interviews, it built more community among songleaders and nurtured both Josh and Te.
Laurence Cole: https://www.laurencecole.com/
Thrive Street Choir in San Francisco bay area: http://www.thriveeastbay.org/thrivestreetchoir
Lyndsey Scott: https://www.lyndseyscott.earth
Joanna Laws Landis: https://soundcloud.com/nextgenna/healing-through-grief-joanna-laws-landis
Ysaye Barnwell:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/a-serendipitous-life-ysaye-barnwell-and-the-healing-power-of-music/2015/05/01/718db920-e52e-11e4-905f-cc896d379a32_story.html
"I’m Yours" by Tracy Chapman: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LdCazk77D4
"The Long Way Around" by The Chicks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5HKLteH9Mc
Molly Hartwell & Laura Boswell - Wellspring album: https://wellspring.bandcamp.com/album/wellspring
Put Your Roots Down: https://riseupandsing.org/songs/put-your-roots-down
Put Your Roots Down on A Breath of Song: https://www.abreathofsong.com/episodes--show-notes/2-put-your-roots-down
​
Te's Links:
​EP, "Water & Bones": https://temartin.bandcamp.com/album/water-bones
"May This Body Be a Bridge" Music Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3Mn_2BSNAg
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/temartin
Mailing List: https://mailchi.mp/1debadd3ebb3/sos 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/te.martin/

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:04:52
Start time of reprise: 01:00:19
​​
Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, major, 3 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: This song by Deborah Leeds both challenges and relaxes me-- it has a little "go big or go home" energy -- "Be peace, bring light!" Doesn't feel to me like a small task in today's world! But then it has a sweet, relaxed lilt, and as I sing "this I am," there's a measure of acceptance -- I can only bring me, after all. Then there's an opening of trust -- "Life is a mystery; she carries me" -- ah, now I can "let go, let go, and do (my) part to bring light, bring light and love." Layering all those parts together means I can choose the one I want to sing -- or touch on all four.

Songwriter Info: Deborah Leeds has loved singing and harmonizing with others since she was two! Most recently and in a way that has been life-changing, she encountered Community Choir. A brief visit to Maggie Wheeler's Goldenbridge Choir in Los Angeles re-awakened her deep connection and need for songs and singing with others, and a simple and spontaneous prayer (in the form of a question posed to Maggie: "Please tell me there is someone doing this near me in Berkeley, CA") led to the discovery that Kaitie Ty Warren was forming her Living Room Choir five blocks from Deborah's home. It has been a love fest for the past seven years. Deborah has forayed into songleading, and most recently into songwriting. She is currently the Musical Assistant to the Living Room Choir. She is exuberant about the joy of singing, the absolute truth of medicine in songs, and is happily awestruck at the impact and healing that comes from singing with others. "This is one of the things that you would wish on everybody!" And so she does. And with that, shares this song. Enjoy!

​Sharing Info: Please share and enjoy this song, and please do contact Deborah to let her know that Be Peace has taken wing and found a perch in your choir or singing group! 

Links: Deborah's current website is her professional website as a Psychotherapist, and you may contact her that route, deborahleeds.com, or via her email at [email protected]

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:04:00
Start time of reprise: 00:12:48
​​
Nuts & Bolts: 2:2, major, 4 part 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: Angela Gabriel has given us a brilliant setting based on words by Nisargadatta Maharaj, “Wisdom is knowing I am nothing, Love is knowing I am everything, and between the two my life moves.” The first line twists around on itself disappears into nothingness. The second line starts an octave away and drops into the security of "everything." Then, on a note in the middle of the two starting pitches, and in 6:8 instead of 3:4, the song begins to dance and flow, and ends on a slightly surprised major third. You don't have to know any of that for it to work its magic, though -- simply let it wind into your body as a beautiful melodic invitation to release. I'll be singing this one to myself long after this podcast is wrapped up, reminding me of both-and, flow, fluidity.

​Songwriter Info: Angela is a professional percussionist & pianist and community music/community singing facilitator. She lived in Santa Fe NM for the last 20 years, where she played with the opera, symphony, chamber music festival, as well as in African, Haitian, and samba gatherings, funk and ragtime bands.  She just moved to Bloomington, Indiana in the end of 2022.
Angela's mission in life is to facilitate expressive creative, musical, and vocal experiences and to encourage folks to replace judgement with curiosity and open themselves to their unique, creative flow. Part of how Angela does this is by singing and drumming online weekly with people living with Parkinson’s and other movement disorders.

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

Links: 
Angela's website: www.AngelaGabriel.me
Support Angela's work: find songs, rhythmic activities, and more at patreon.com/AngelaGabriel
Check out Hidden Whale, Angela's old band (she's the drummer): https://youtube.com/channel/UCpxdVqwSxzEBhgUilN3qQLg
Nisargadatta Maharaj: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nisargadatta_Maharaj

Nuts & Bolts: ​​3:4, Aeolian with major final third, 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!