New Release!
ROOTED THROUGH DARKNESS
A Hope's Starlings Song Collection
I'm thrilled to finally be sharing this song collection with you!
This is the fourth time I’ve called together a group of songsters to help bring a new song collection to life. Almost every day I receive a song or two, and I do my best to listen and allow them through. First, I feel a humming rhythm, or hear a sweet melody, then maybe some harmonies arrive, a few prompting words, and other layers. Eventually all these elements overlap and weave into something new, a song never heard before. Like a mama songbird, I sit on a growing nest of songs until enough of them demand hatching. Then I put out the call.
The name Hope’s Starlings is in reference to a murmuration of Starlings as they dance across the sky; so too our individual voices merge in harmonious flight, as one. We are not a formal choir that practices consistently, but rather a momentary coming together of singers for the purpose of learning and recording a whole clutch of songs over the course of one weekend. Saturday is learn-and-practice day, Sunday is recording day.
Words do little justice in describing how uplifting the overall experience is. And how much hard work. And how much fun! If you’ve ever been part of a heart-led song circle, you’ll know how incredibly cathartic, healing, joyful and connecting it can be to hear and feel your own voice interweaving and resonating with others’. For me, there's an added layer of fulfilment when the gathered voices are singing to life the songs that have channeled through me.
Most of my songs require many voices—I literally can't bring them into the world without other people. To carry such a vision is to depend on my community, which is both a beautiful and a vulnerable creative need. I find that I am met here every time, by amazing souls. For this I am deeply grateful, honoured, and moved to my core. My wonderful singer-friends go beyond willingness to sing; they bring passion, joy, keenness, open availability, and the courage to step up to creative challenges that push the growth edge. The weekend of singing is a nourishing gift all on its own; yet beyond that I now have the honour of sharing this offering with a larger audience. I feel so held, so seen, so supported by you all as we sing from, for and to the wonders of Life and Creation.
May these songs bring you something good.
