Belonging - A Breath of Song

Published on: August 5, 2026

243. Mountain River

Song: Mountain River

Music by: Kjersten Hallin

Song Learning Time Stamps:

Start of teaching: 00:03:19

Start of reprise: 00:22:16

Lyrics:

Love flowing like

a mountain river

Above and below

Without, within

We mirror the light

Glowing from the sun

and the stars

So let it be known:

We are here to be who we are (back to the top)

(Undercurrent)

Love Flow, Light Glow

Notes: I absolutely adore the way this song embodies a river by having a low, slow undercurrent that lasts longer than the bubbling, swirling upper layer -- and the two layers sound different on top of each other in different places. As I sing it, I can feel into being the light sparkle on top and the dark fertile below... both needed. Which part calls to you to sing today?

Songwriter Info:

Kjersten Hallin (Pronounced Shares-ten Ha-leen) is a Community Song Weaver, Artist and Beauty Activist, Grief Tender, Earth Steward, Producer of Cascadia Song Rise, Eco-Edutainer and Youth Outreach Specialist. Kjersten is of Swedish/Norwegian ancestry, born on Lakota/Anishnaabe land (Minneapolis, Minnesota) and currently living/singing/practicing in the unceded Kalapuyan homelands of Champinefu (Corvallis, Oregon).

Kjersten’s songs spring from an intimate relationship with the beauty of the living world and her/their name literally translates to “Love Stone”. Attuning and tending to the aliveness of all beings, seen and unseen, past-present-future, human and more-than-human, is at the core of Kjersten’s work and purpose. She/They believes that songs themselves are living beings that are fed by our singing.

Kjersten leads monthly CommUnity BlesSings song circles and Community Grief Rituals in Champinefu/Corvallis, produces an annual song gathering in the Cascadia Bioregion, offers musical climate action presentations to local schools and youth groups, tends to several gardens and two grown children, and makes art and beauty of all kinds, walking humbly and gently on this precious planet.

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

Links:

Kjersten's Music: https://kjerstenhallin.bandcamp.com/music

Kjersten's GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/keep-the-songs-and-love-flowing-in-corvallis

Kjersten's Instagram: @kj_creatrix https://www.instagram.com/kj_creatrix

Eco-Edutainment: https://nofoodleftbehindcorvallis.org/videos/

Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, minor, 2-part round with different length parts

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Published on: July 15, 2026

241. Sing Your Roots with guest singers

Song: Sing Your Roots

Music by: Eileen Hazel

Song Learning Time Stamps:

Start of teaching: 00:02:44

Start of reprise: 00:13:13

Guest Singers: Becky Peterson, Karen Chickering, Molly Moerdyk

Lyrics:

Sing your roots into the soil, deep within the earth

Sing of sea and sky and land, all that gave you birth

Sing a song of earthly praise,

sing it to the stars

Sing your truest inner song, remember who you are

Notes: There's a slightly strange sound quality in this one, as something weird was going on with my mic when recording... maybe we were so rooted and grounded singing this that we changed the electricity in the room?! I invited three friends over to sing Eileen's round with me, and a little delightful chaos ensued... pick a place to start singing the song, with one of us or in between us, and see what happens. I wonder how we would all be if we felt that sense of deep rootedness, combined with a rise to the stars?

Songwriter Info: After many years of singing, composing, and performing, Elieen discovered her deepest love in community singing. The joy and deep connection found in singing together deeply fed her soul. Since 2023, Elieen has been facilitating community song circles in the East Bay. She especially loves co-facilitating with other song leaders and cultivating spaces that feel joyful, welcoming, and harmonious. In the last few years, Eileen's connection to the Muse has opened in new ways. The songs flowing through her are now largely created for community singing—meant to be shared, experienced, and sung together. The songs she creates emanate from a place of spirit, drawing inspiration from her profound connection to the natural world, and to our communities. Visit her website (eileenhazel.com) to see what’s coming up.

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

Links:

Eileen's Website: eileenhazel.com

Bandcamp to buy music: https://eileenhazel.bandcamp.com/.

More music on Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/eileen-hazel

Eileen's own recording of Sing Your Roots: https://soundcloud.com/eileen-hazel/sing-your-roots

Nuts & Bolts: 3:4, minor, round

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Published on: July 8, 2026

240. What Have We Done with guest Kaitie Ty Warren

Song: What Have We Done

Music by: Kaitie Ty Warren

Song Learning Time Stamps:

Start of teaching: 00:03:18

Start of reprise: 01:14:26

Lyrics:

What have we done?

What can we do?

And I fear we’ve gone so far, I fear we can’t get back to who we are, and who we are is simple: we remember we’re all one

And I know there’s a story, waiting for me to write the ending

Notes: Kaitie and I talk about how we get to practice skills in singing that help us show up in full right size to help build the kind of culture we want to live in. This includes stories about cockroaches, childraising, computer-savvy friends... and Kaitie brings it all "earthside" by teaching this powerful layer song which is intimately connected with the South African song "Senzenina". We talk about cross-cultural connections, and how we try to continually update our learning -- what it is to be in right relationship, the illness of wetiko, how to be "other" in a non-inclusive dominant culture. If any of this sparks your curiosity, join us!

Songwriter Info: Kaitie Ty Warren (any pronouns) grew up on Tongva and Ohlone lands, by the ocean and often dreams in fishes and songs. She is a songwriter, songleader, writer, collage artist, cartoonist, minister, and performing artist. She is the founder of Living Room Choir, Be Heard! Voice for Parkinson's, and East Bay Song Fest, all on Ohlone lands in the Bay Area CA. She has a background in theater and music. She goes by Mama to the most awesome little songleader. KaitieTyWarren.com for more; follow on Patreon and socials @KaitieTy.

Sharing Info: Kaitie's songs are available for free to humans for the sole purpose of using it with their choir(s) and song circles. For commercial and for-profit uses, please contact Kaitie via LivingRoomChoir.com. This is not for AI training or use.

Links:

Where to find What Have We Done:

https://livingroomchoir.com/what-have-we-done/

https://www.patreon.com/kaitiety/posts/song-what-have-143827793

https://kaitietywarren.bandcamp.com/track/what-have-we-done

Living Room Choir's Instagram: www.instagram.com/livingroomchoir

Living Room Choir's Website: LivingRoomChoir.com/song-library

Kaitie's Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/kaitiety

Kaitie's Website: https://kaitietywarren.com/

Kaitie's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kaitietywarren/

Senzenina – The Joy covering it: https://youtu.be/0ye19cENvY4?si=okLZ6YrsQrXwHJb4

Vukani Mowethu South African choir in Oakland: https://www.vukani.com/

Kele Nitoto: https://www.instagram.com/kelenitoto/

Ahimsa – concept of non-violence: https://www.britannica.com/topic/ahimsa

Heather Houston retreats: https://heatherhoustonmusic.com/retreats-old/

Laura Sandage: https://www.lauraschapel.com/

“I Am” by Tom Shadyac (available on Netflix) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Am_(2010_American_documentary_film)

Wetiko: Algonquin term for a cannibalistic spirit that is driven by greed, excess and selfish consumption (in Ojibwe it is windigo, wintiko in Powhatan) - https://www.lapishealingarts.com/lapidary-blog/wetiko-and-the-collective-dark-night-of-the-soul

East Bay Songfest April 16-18, 2027: https://eastbaysongfest.com/

Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, layer, major

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Published on: July 1, 2026

239. My Body is Perfect

Song: My Body is Perfect

Music by: Kaitie Ty Warren

Song Learning Time Stamps:

Start of teaching: 00:02:54

Start of reprise: 00:14:00

Lyrics:

Your body is perfect

(my body is perfect)

Just the way it is

(just the way it is)

Your body is perfect

(my body is perfect)

Just the way it is

(just the way it is)

(feel free to sing "your body is perfect" or "my body is perfect" according to the needs of the moment.)

This song is a good zipper song. Here are some suggestions:

my health is perfect

my timing is perfect

my offer is perfect

my singing is perfect

my voice is perfect

Notes: Kaitie started quite a discussion around our house with this song. What is perfect? Who gets to decide? And why is it so darn comforting to be told you're perfect, anyway? But when I first sang this song with Kaitie at Heather Houston's Global Summit many months ago, I was struck by how much better I felt after singing it to myself -- and I have continued to sing it through a flare of pain that I'm still seeking answers for and is constricting my way of life -- and I continue to find it comforting! Maybe you will, too? Next week, I get to talk with Kaitie directly about all kinds of things, including the ways we're trying to move away from the harm done by white colonial cultures and toward a vibrant, inclusive kind of presence that hums with life and generativity.

Songwriter Info: Kaitie Ty Warren (any pronouns) grew up on Tongva and Ohlone lands, by the ocean and often dreams in fishes and songs. She is a songwriter, songleader, writer, collage artist, cartoonist, minister, and performing artist. She is the founder of Living Room Choir, Be Heard! Voice for Parkinson's, and East Bay Song Fest, all on Ohlone lands in the Bay Area CA. She has a background in theater and music. She goes by Mama to the most awesome little songleader. KaitieTyWarren.com for more; follow on Patreon and socials @KaitieTy.

Sharing Info: Kaitie's songs are available for free to humans for the sole purpose of using it with their choir(s) and song circles. For commercial and for-profit uses, please contact Kaitie via LivingRoomChoir.com. This is not for AI training or use.

Links:

"My Body is Perfect" on Kaitie's Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/kaitiety/posts/new-song-my-body-137978799

Kaitie's Patreon: www.patreon.com/kaitiety

Living Room Choir's Instagram: www.instagram.com/livingroomchoir

Living Room Choir's Website: LivingRoomChoir.com/song-library

Kaitie's Website: https://kaitietywarren.com/

Kaitie's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kaitietywarren/

Kaitie's Bandcamp: https://kaitietywarren.bandcamp.com

Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, call and response, major

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Published on: May 27, 2026

235. Road Trip: Minneapolis with guests Sarina Partridge and Annie Schlaefer

Song Learning Time Stamps:

We Belong To Each Other

Start of teaching: 00:03:10

Start of reprise: 00:51:46

Grief and Love

Start of teaching: 00:11:05

Start of reprise: 00:49:36

Lyrics:

We Belong To Each Other

Words by Nikita Gill

Music by Annie Schlaefer

Every one oh every one oh every one of these people are ours,

just like we are theirs.

We belong to them and they belong to us.

Grief and Love

by Sarina Partridge

Grief moving through me

Let my body feel the waves of love and grief

Grief, grief and love

Let me feel it all,

let me feel it all

Notes: It was both an honor and illumination to meet with Sarina Partridge and Annie Schlaefer to talk about Singing Resistance (they were both in it at inception…) and learn two of the songs in the Singing Resistance Songbook – and I left feeling so much encouragement for community and relationship. Annie said, “People want to come to the streets if we’re singing together.” Sarina shared her slogan: “More song circles than gas stations!” We talked about weaving the learning from one event into the next crisis you face – the wisdom of long-standing organizers who help grass-roots eco-systems evolve. The role of singing in building community, showing people what we are FOR and welcoming them in, dispelling the belief that we are powerless and isolated, easing numbness, creating a container of beauty we can be in together during these times. And these songs – soooo beautiful!

Song 1: We Belong To Each Other

Words by: Nikita Gill

Music by: Annie Schlaefer

Songwriter Info: Annie Schlaefer (she/her), a community song-leader, has been collecting songs and facilitating song circles for 13 years in various communities (Northern Minnesota, Maine, Wisconsin) and has more recently been co-facilitating a weekly local community song circle in Minneapolis with a dear friend, Linnea Champ, for nearly 5 years. She continues to be awed by the beautiful ways that singing together brings connection and community. She learned about this style of singing in 2012 in Decorah, Iowa from a local song-leader and now mentor, Liz Rog.

Sharing Info: Annie says: "Please freely share this song in community gathering spaces. If you want to share this song and are making a bunch of money, I would appreciate some of these funds to come my way in the form of a one-time venmo donation @Annie-Schlaefer, or by joining my Patreon as a monthly subscriber. Thank you!"

Links:

Annie's Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cw/AnnieSchlaefer

Nikita Gill: https://www.instagram.com/nikita_gill/

Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, round, major

Song 2: Grief and Love

Music by: Sarina Partridge

Songwriter Info: Sarina Partridge is a musician, songleader, educator, and activist in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She feels most alive when learning, creating and sharing songs. Sarina sings with a wide variety of music projects: community song-leading; harmony-rich original music with folk trio Heartwood; and performing and teaching of Eastern European and Yiddish song. Sarina has a passion for connecting people with their own creativity and with community, and uses singing as a modality to help folks develop a sense of wonder and belonging in this wild world

Sharing Info: Sarina says: "Please sing the song with your group! You can buy sheet music for it through my website (link below). If you’d like to have tracks of the separated harmony layers, please contact me. One meaningful way to support me is to join me on patreon for whatever monthly donation amount feels right to you. I post a new song - with separated out tracks for harmony parts, lyrics, the story of the song - on patreon every other week. Thank you!"

Song Learning Time Stamps:

Start of teaching: 00:11:05

Start of reprise: 00:49:36

Links:

Sarina's website: www.SarinaPartridge.com

Sarina's Patreon: www.patreon.com/sarinapartridge

Sarina's Bandcamp: www.sarinapartridge.bandcamp.com

Nuts & Bolts: 2:2; 3-layer, minor

Extra links:

Barbara McAfee ABS episode: https://www.abreathofsong.com/p/195-get-up-with-guest-barbara-mcafee

Lia Falls: https://marinemillsfolkschool.org/lia-falls/

Liz Rog: https://marinemillsfolkschool.org/liz-rog/

Linnea Champ - Sing As You Are: https://www.patreon.com/cw/SingAsYouAre

Sara Thomsen: “Hearts awakened are unstoppable.”: https://www.echoesofpeace.org/vision

Frankie Armstrong: Founder of Natural Voice Network in England (NVN): https://www.naturalvoice.net/about/history-of-the-network/

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Published on: November 5, 2025

210. In This House with guests MaMuse

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Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:03:56
Start time of reprise: 01:03:15

Lyrics:

In this house, we lead with love.
In this house, we lift each other up.
In this house, we learn to fly with the dove.
Oh, this is the house we've been dreaming of.
Oh, this is the house we've been dreaming of.
So come on over (come on over),
Welcome in (welcome in),
Come on over (come on over).
Let's be friends (let's be friends).
Come on over (come on over).
There is enough.
Oh, this is the house we've been dreaming of.
Oh, this is the house we've been dreaming of.

Song: In This House
Music by: Karisha Longaker of MaMuse

Notes: Today we get “right in the river, totally listening, totally all in” with MaMuse, the duo of Sorah Nutting and Karisha Longaker, whose description of songcatching is what I just quoted. I came out of our conversation thinking about so many things -- how we see and appreciate those we love, kindness as our common wealth, danceable songs, being led by feeling and what's insanely fun, and especially house rules for how we be in the world... which comes from "In This House." I was singing harmony with them by the time we sang the song the second time, so you'll hear me making stuff up... partly because of the big, beautiful permission Karisha and Sorah give each other and us to celebrate creativity. I hope you feel that extra space and encouragement, too, after you sing with us!

Songwriter Info: MaMuse (“Ma” as in Mamma; “Muse” as in the one who inspires) was born out of a collaboration between songwriters Karisha Longaker and Sorah Nutting. 2008 was a year of great alchemy. Fires erupted in Northern California, a great wind of inspiration blew through, catalyzing a series of songs written from the soil and rivers, ash and heat of Chico where these two musicians met.
In the early days these troubadours toted instruments around town by bicycle and shared their songs at farmers markets, community gatherings, small cafes and festivals. Not too long after, these two voices became iconic to the Chico community, representing idyllic values of friendship, community, love for nature and care for Self and World. The love spread, sisterhood held strong through two decades of LIFE: children, relationships arriving and dissolving, making home in many new places.
MaMuse songs such as “We Shall Be Known” and “Hallelujah” have sprouted wings and are now sung at the bed sides of birthing mothers, round campfires, at weddings and funerals... All places where people are gathered to celebrate and to mourn. These are songs born of the Folk lineage; songs for all of us.

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

Song Learning Time Stamps:
Start time of teaching: 00:03:56
Start time of reprise: 01:03:15

Links:
Show info, bookings and newsletter signup: www.mamuse.org
Instagram: www.instagram.com/mamusemusic
Facebook: www.facebook.com/MaMuseMusic
Patreon: www.patreon.com/mamuse
Download and contribute to recorded music funds: mamuse.bandcamp.com
Song Village in Santa Cruz: https://www.songvillage.net/
Kirtan: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirtan
ReMuse: https://mamuse.bandcamp.com/album/remuse
Patrick/FunkPharm who produced ReMuse: https://www.instagram.com/funkpharm/
Tidal as a subscription platform: https://tidal.com/
Community Choir Leadership Training in Canada: https://www.communitychoirleadership.com/
Garrison Keillor’s Prairie Home Companion duet competition October 2012: https://www.prairiehome.org/shows/47951.html
Arnaé Batson: https://www.eomega.org/people/arnae-batson
Scott Elliot Ferreter (guitar and bass): https://www.scottelliottferreter.com/
Trying Time album: https://open.spotify.com/album/3BSIiZwg5MdqY6OuVLRMdR
Nathan Dittle (keyboard/piano): https://www.instagram.com/redbeardthecat/
Songs in the Key of Life by Stevie Wonder: https://open.spotify.com/album/6YUCc2RiXcEKS9ibuZxjt0
Blue by Joni Mitchell: https://open.spotify.com/album/1vz94WpXDVYIEGja8cjFNa
Aimée Ringle – Human and Tender: https://aimeeringle.bandcamp.com/album/human-and-tender
A Breath of Song conversation with Aimée Ringle: https://www.abreathofsong.com/episodes--show-notes/160-o-spirit-guide-me-to-those-i-need-with-guest-aimee-ringle#/
Melanie DeMore: https://melaniedemore.com/
A Breath of Song conversation with Melanie DeMore: https://www.abreathofsong.com/episodes--show-notes/175-one-footlead-with-love-with-guest-melanie-demore#/

Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, major, harmonized, call and echo

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Tags

243. Mountain River

241. Sing Your Roots with guest singers

240. What Have We Done with guest Kaitie Ty Warren

239. My Body is Perfect

235. Road Trip: Minneapolis with guests Sarina Partridge and Annie Schlaefer

210. In This House with guests MaMuse