A Breath of Song

Patricia Norton
  • 5.0 (28)
  • Mental Health
  • Updated Weekly

Ella Fitzgerald said, ”The only thing better than singing is more singing!” Use song to find wellness in ourselves, each other, and our world. In each episode, Patricia introduces a song that she trusts to help her navigate life. These songs provide a great soundtrack to your day — whether it’s comfort, presence, delight, grief-tending, or simply easing the way. Periodic interviews with song creators add color and understanding. Songs have helped Patricia heal, adapt, and grow, and she hopes these selections will become companions for you as well. Visit the website, abreathofsong.com, to learn more and suggest a song!

  1. May 27

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

    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!"   Song Learning Time Stamps: Start of teaching: 00:03:10 Start of reprise: 00:51:46   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/    Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share   Help us keep going: reviews, comments, encouragement, plus contributions... we float on your support. https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html

    55 min

  2. May 20

    234. Road Trip, Indy: Patterns

    Vocal improv by: Angela Gabriel, Pam Blevins Hinkle, and Patricia Norton   Notes: I love patterns -- mandalas, fractals, tesseracts, pieced quilts, Fair Isle knitting -- and singing! In Bloomington, Indiana, on this fabulous road trip, I got to pattern-make with Angela Gabriel and Pam Blevins Hinkle... and we had so much fun imagining you singing with us. We leave space for you, building up soundbeds that you might want to add a pattern to, too, or maybe you feel a soaring line that weaves through the space? Maybe words come from deep in your body, needing to be said or sung? Maybe you sing along with one of us, letting the pattern sit down in? After the experience of singing together, we felt incredibly close -- please come join our closeness and let yourself play with us.   Songwriter Info: Angela still identifies as a performer, teacher, facilitator, and lifelong learner, even though disabilities have forced her to retire. Living with multiple invisible illnesses, some of them breathing-related, she has learned firsthand the life-saving power of song and breath. This has only amplified her mission in life, which is to spread joy through creative experiences and to encourage folks of any age and background to replace judgement with curiosity and open themselves to their unique voice. In fact, it has made it even more precious when she does have opportunities to engage with others.  She is living and loving in Bloomington IN, singing with Singing Resistance, Threshold Choir and the local UU choir.  She has adopted pacing as a new way of life, which includes prioritizing herself and only saying “YES“ to the things that truly matter to her. Singing matters! She would love to come sing with your community. Pam Blevins Hinkle is a composer, song leader, ritual artist, tree-lover, and kazoo fanatic. She creates participatory, song-centered experiences that invite people to show up as they are and make beauty together. Whether singing knee-deep in rivers, inside prison walls, or at company retreats, she aims to spark aliveness, joy, and shared humanity while practicing skills that support resilient living: collaboration, risk-taking, adaptability, vulnerability, and deep listening. Her current projects include SongSquad Indianapolis, SongSquad Inside-Outside @ Indiana Women's Prison, Indy Singing Resistance, Indy Winter Solstice Celebration, Rooted, Resilient & Reaching (community singing and documentary songwriting in partnership with Aspire House), and Artist-in-Residence at Castleton UMC.   Links: Angela's website: www.AngelaGabriel.me Pam's website: www.pamblevinshinkle.com  SongSquad Indy: www.songsquadindy.com  Velma Frye’s The Truth: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_qQ8khgXto    Nuts & Bolts: patterned vocal improv, loops   Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share   Help us keep going: reviews, comments, encouragement, plus contributions... we float on your support. https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html

    32 min

  3. May 13

    233. Ribbon 17: Mad Road Tripping Skills

    The Sunday after this episode is released, May 17th, 2026, at 4 p.m. Eastern time, there will be an online gathering of folk who use song to help navigate life -- and we'll sing through this Ribbon of Songs with live-looping! To learn more, click here, or sign up right now to join us!   Lyrics ​& Links to the original episodes for the songs in this ribbon. ​ 75. Easy Does It by Heather Houston   Easy does it now Slow it down Feel the sound As you breathe, sing, freely now Tune, croon, swoon… 97. Settle Like A Pebble by Laura Walker   Settle, settle like a pebble. Settle, settle like a pebble. Settle like a pebble on a riverbed. Drift like a feather on a stream. You can travel with the flow, if you just let go, and close your eyes and be. Drift, and settle gently. You can travel with the flow, if you just let go. The water flow will wash you clean. 109. This Is It by Maggie Wheeler   This is it. This is it! This is the place you wanna be (x2) Don't wait until tomorrow to let yourself be free This is it This is the place you wanna be   2. This is the song you wanna sing  Don't wait until tomorrow to let your voices ring   3. This is the love you wanna feel Don't wait until tomorrow to let your love be real   4. The world is calling out to you  Don't wait until tomorrow for what you came to do 125. Dahil Mahal Kita by Gérone Pascal   Dahil mahal kita dahil mahal na mahal kita dahil mahal kita ibibigay ko ang lahat   Because I love you so much, Because I love you so much, so much, so much Because I Iove you so much, I give you all of my heart. 165. Heaven Above, Earth Below by Becky Graber   ​Heaven above, Earth below, And I the path between, Making my way through fields of ever rolling green, Making my way through fields of ever rolling green.   Heaven above, Earth below, And in between am I, Finding a path with heart and spirit, earth and sky, Finding a path with heart and spirit, earth and sky.   Ah dah dah, ah dah dah, ah dah dah dah. Ah dah dah, ah dah dah, ah dah dah, Ah.   Heaven above, Earth below, And I the two reveal, Shining through me the light of Spirit that can heal, Shining through me the light of Spirit that can heal.   Heaven above, Earth below, And I the path between. 200. Don't Give Up by Becky Reardon   Don't give up; give a little kindness to yourself. Put a little flex -- put a little flex in your plan. Find another way -- like a river! Flow -- may you never stop flowing.   Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share   Help us keep going: reviews, comments, encouragement, plus contributions... we float on your support. https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html

    23 min

  4. May 6

    232. Road Trip, Ann Arbor: Love Wears the Crown

    Song: Love Wears the Crown Music by: Maggie Wheeler   Song Learning Time Stamps: Start of teaching: 00:03:19 Start of reprise: 00:27:13   Notes: I'm visiting Carol Bardenstein and TatiAnah Thunberg, and Carol shares a song by Maggie Wheeler. "Love Wears the Crown" felt to Carol like the perfect song for a No Kings march, and as she teaches it to us, she talks a little about the ways she adapted it for singing in crowds without time to learn nuance... and TatiAnah and I learn it on the spot. I play with harmonies (some more successfully than others, natch!) -- and we reprise it with Carol's whole song circle, so if you're ready to join a crowd, it's time! I loved hearing about the ways these two songleaders are being led by love into interweaving their work and including folk in their circles. There's bounty here!   Songwriter Info: Maggie Wheeler is best known in the U.S and internationally for her extensive 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, teaching her vocal workshop Singing In The Stream for over 30 years. It is Maggie’s belief and experience that by singing together we build community, counteract loneliness, become inspired and energized and feel more deeply connected to others and to ourselves. Maggie is a prolific songwriter with a catalog of powerful and timely songs that have been sung by choirs and singing communities worldwide. Her original music for choirs and communities is available on Bandcamp, Apple Music and other music platforms. Carol Bardenstein is a beloved local song-catcher and song leader of numerous community song-circles and singing workshops/retreats, based in Ann Arbor, sharing her singing there, elsewhere in Southeast Michigan, and beyond! She also facilitates song circles for meaningful life-cycle events and milestones, as well as song healing for bedside, and hospice singing. More recently, she has become very involved in local iterations of the Singing Resistance movement bubbling up from the streets of Minneapolis, inspired to help facilitate the emerging synergy between community singing and singing resistance in rising to meet these times in heartful and empowering ways. Carol discovered heart-centered singing with others as a deep and transformative spirit portal some 15 years ago, and she’s been singing her heart out and in with others, facilitating many different kinds of song circles ever since! Grief, joy and everything in between, and all that you are, are warmly invited into her song circles, for expression, connection and communion in heart and song.   Contact Carol for information about her offerings via email at cbardens@umich.edu. TatiAnah Thunberg, LMSW (she/hers) is a somatic psychotherapist, singer, song catcher, expressive and improvisational artist, and a seasoned experiential facilitator with more than thirty years of experience guiding transformative group practice. Her work centers the voice as a path to belonging—an embodied, relational exploration of presence, creativity, and communal care. She is the founder of Spirit Moves LLC and co-founder of the Vocal Wilds Collective, Supper & Sing Community Jam, Ensemble Night, the Vocal Lab, Creatrix Lab, and TAZ, all circles of artists dedicated to the art of embodied improvisation in Ann Arbor, Michigan.   Sharing Info: The song is free to share but Maggie always welcomes financial and/or networking support if/when folks are so moved.   Links: https://www.goldenbridgechoir.com https://maggiewheeler.bandcamp.com/album/the-crow-calls  https://maggiewheeler.bandcamp.com/album/the-world-is-turning  https://music.apple.com/us/album/walk-with-me/1441718449  SongFest with Maggie Wheeler in 2026: https://www.eomega.org/workshops/songfest  Maggie says: "This song was inspired by a talk given by cultural historian Josh Kun. He spoke about a composition for 50 trumpets titled 'Walls Will Fall - The 49 Trumpets of Jericho' by Mazen Kerbaj.  The musicians gathered in a defunct water reservoir in Berlin. Mazen says, 'According to the old testament, Jericho’s walls collapsed under the sound of seven trumpeters, blowing their horns for seven days while circling around the city. Far from the religious background of the story, it is the idea of music breaking walls and barriers that is central to this composition.' The participating trumpet players came from from Australia, Austria, Cuba, Denmark, England, Germany, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Lebanon, Poland, Russia, Serbia, Somalia, Spain, Sweden, Syria, Turkey and the United States.  This story and this work deeply inspired me. I wrote LOVE WEARS THE CROWN  to invoke the power of music, the power of voices gathered to dissolve barriers, and to dismantle the walls of hatred and injustice." https://mazenkerbaj.bandcamp.com/album/walls-will-fall-the-49-trumpets-of-jericho  TatiAnah's websites: https://www.VocalWilds.com https://www.SpiritMoves.Us   Nuts & Bolts: 2:2, minor, unison with call and response section, optional harmonies   Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share   Help us keep going: reviews, comments, encouragement, plus contributions... we float on your support. https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html

    30 min

  5. Apr 29

    231. Road Trip: Kingston Three-fer

    Notes: Our first road trip stop is Kingston, Ontario in Canada, where I got to meet up with three delightful songleaders – and we sang SO many good songs over the weekend! It was impossible to narrow down to one, so this episode is a three-fer, and you get three very different songs, one from each songleader. You hear us playing; making up harmonies on the spot, trying to get the words in the right order – this is an unrehearsed, “what-can-happen-when-you-put-four-people-who-love-songs-into-one-room?” kind of moment. We had such a good time doing it and hope you get to catch our joy as you sing with us.   Song 1: Lifted Music by: Wendy Luella Perkins   Songwriter Info: Wendy Luella Perkins founded SOULFUL SINGING (singing meditation for all) in 2002. An ordained Unitarian Universalist minister, she shares "short-on-words, long-on-meaning; easy-to-learn, hard-to-forget" songs in the oral tradition. Soulful Singing fosters depth and uplift, resonance and healing, connection and community.  Enjoy singing in community? Had a fourth grade teacher who told you to mouth the words? Dedicated shower singer? Shy about singing out loud? Love to belt it out? Committed chorister? Everyone is warmly welcomed into the circle of song. Wendy Luella strongly believes that connecting with our singing voices has beneficial effects on many, many areas of life, including enhancing our capacities to trust ourselves and to learn and grow with others.  Back in March 2020, Wendy Luella, who is based in Kingston, Ontario, Canada responded to the call of our times by taking Soulful Singing online "for a couple of weeks until this whole pandemic thing blew over". She has been singing via zoom every single morning at 9am, and Thursdays at 6pm (ET) since then. EVERYONE is welcome to attend these gatherings. More than 200 of her original Soulful Singing songs are available on tiktok @wendyluellaperkins. She is also working on an online song library of her original songs. Find out more at info@wendyluellaperkins.com.    Sharing Info: The song is free to share in oral tradition groups, but please contact Wendy for recording and/or performing permission. When sharing in a money-making venture, like a workshop, class, or performance, please contact Wendy for permission and rates.   Song Learning Time Stamps: Intro: 00:04:42 Start of teaching: 00:09:40 Start of reprise: 00:47:37   Links: Wendy's website: www.wendyluellaperkins.com Soulful Singing with Wendy Luella: info@wendyluellaperkins.com   Nuts & Bolts: slow 4; major, unison, harmonies optional   Song 2: Present Moment, Sacred Moment Music by: Steph Drouin   Songwriter Info: Steph Drouin (she/her) is a community song leader, singer, songwriter, and Expressive Arts Therapist based in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. For over a decade, she has guided people of all abilities into easeful, joyful, and healing singing experiences. She has helped sow the seeds of community singing throughout Toronto and across Ontario with groups such as Sing for Joy, and in 2019 founded her own social enterprise, Fiercely OK. Through Fiercely OK, Steph offers weekly in‑person and online song circles with her partner, Paul Barton, as well as special events with visiting artists such as Coco Love Alcorn and Luke Wallace - all in the spirit of nourishing a vibrant, connected singing community. Her most recent project includes co‑creating Kingston Pop Choir with Paul. Informed by a lifelong relationship with anxiety, Steph writes and teaches songs that help people embrace their full, messy humanity and stay connected to their sense of being OK. She is known for her warm, playful presence and her ability to create spaces where people feel safe to show up exactly as they are. Steph completed the Community Choir Leadership Training program and Lisa Littlebird’s Flight School in 2018, and is a graduate of the three‑year Expressive Arts Therapy program at the CREATE Institute. In 2024, she moved back to Kingston to be closer to family and to share her gifts with her home community.   Sharing Info: Steph says: "I encourage (and am trying to remember to practice) a slow culture of learning and sharing songs - taking time to embody the notes, rhythms, and stories behind them, and to build relationships with the people who wrote them. Please take your time and enjoy singing this song, and if you feel moved to share it, please do. You have my permission!  Keep it as close to the original as you can to start. If your group wants to play with adding other layers or harmonies later, this is most welcome. This songs invites being in the present moment; whatever comes out being in the moment while singing this song belongs in it! I just ask that the song be taught first as it came to me (and my nephew). If you would like to teach it differently from what you heard on A Breath of Song, please reach out. I encourage forms of reciprocity that align with your gifts and context. Here are some I love: - Tell me or show me what it was like to share the song with your community. It's fun to see how songs travel!  - Come sing with us (Paul and me), in person or online. Learn the songs directly from us and hear their stories. This feels important - it means so much when folks carry the songs with an intimate sense of their origins and intricacies. - Song swaps! If you also write songlets, let’s exchange. I love being in meaningful song‑sharing relationships with other song leaders. This kind of reciprocity feels alive and good. - Financial reciprocity. If you have room in your budget or are making oodles of money (more than a living wage), we'd love for you to send a little our way. For non-performing groups, folks generally send $25-50 per song or $1 per singer (whichever is greater). Performing or recording rates would be a little higher. For Canadians, e‑transfer works well; otherwise, Wise is my preferred option. - Follow and share our work. Join the Fiercely OK mailing list, follow us on social media, and help spread the word to folks who would enjoy what we offer. - Patreon. I’ll be adding my songs to Patreon this year, and I’d love for you to join me there as a monthly patron. If you have any other ideas, send them my way!"   Song Learning Time Stamps: Intro: 00:14:01 Start of teaching: 00:20:03 Start of reprise: 00:48:30   Links: Join the Fiercely OK Mailing List! https://forms.gle/97Y9hQn55HHL1kHP7  Website: https://www.fiercelyok.ca/  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@stephdrouin3973  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fiercelyok/ & https://www.instagram.com/therestlessinchoirer/  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FiercelyOK/  Join our online song circles! The next series begins May 11th, 2026. https://www.fiercelyok.ca/online-weekly-song-circles  If you're ever in the Kingston-Toronto area, come sing with us in person! We offer weekly song circles and a monthly pop choir in Kingston, and occasional workshops in Toronto. I'll be getting my songs up on Patreon this year. There's nothing up there yet, but you can be the first to get updates here: https://patreon.com/fiercelyok?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink    Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, mixolydian, 3-layer song   Song 3: I Am Grateful Deep Down Music by: Paul Barton   Songwriter Info: Known by some as a musical “wizard,” Paul makes clever use of his education in Jazz guitar and experience as a professional musician to help song circles run seamlessly. His songs, infused with his passions for the environment, community, and mental health, are among the most requested songs in the Fiercely OK singing community. His simple melodies carry deep truths right to the heart.   Sharing Info: The song is free to share but Paul always welcomes financial and/or networking support if/when folks are so moved. The best way to support Paul's songwriting is on Patreon.   Song Learning Time Stamps: Intro: 00:31:56 Start of teaching: 00:32:45 Start of reprise: 00:49:04   Links: Paul's website: https://www.paulbarton.ca/  Paul's Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/paulbartonmusic    Nuts & Bolts: 2:2, major, harmonized   Extra links:  Lone Wolf by Steph Drouin and Aimee Ringle: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SFrSkZ-0Hs  Thich Nhat Hanh: “Present moment, wonderful moment” https://www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/710946/present-moment-wonderful-moment-revised-edition-by-thich-nhat-hanh/9781952692239  500 Days in the Wild https://tctrail.ca/dianne-whelan-documentary/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21899380530&gbraid=0AAAAABzGiwLd2QCJzToHLUN4HbIpFlKx_&gclid=CjwKCAjwtcHPBhADEiwAWo3sJpemebM5-j0FsOefQ1hxcS4-spp7nBB2-QlQnybCRxiX9UxcfU5bQxoCO68QAvD_BwE Present Moment, Sacred Moment movement video! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZedwiqraNQ   Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share   Help us keep going: reviews, comments, encouragement, plus contributions... we float on your support. https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html

    51 min

  6. Apr 22

    230. Great Turning with guest Grace Oedel

    Song: Great Turning Music by: Joanna Colwell   Notes: It seems fitting that Grace Oedel, who tells us she is “Not doing any of this alone," brings us a song caught by a friend of hers, Joanna Colwell... and that this song references the mentor and teacher Joanna Macy, who helped so many folk seek reconnection. Grace and I are joined by Rebecca Csuy to learn this three part song, and then we dive into a laughter-filled conversation that visits some hard questions and nourishing responses. Grace is doing vital work in the world in many different arenas, seeking ways to help us get comfortable with the enormous changes we are facing, hospicing modernity -- but she points out, “I eat chocolate chips in bed… I am not a holier-than-thou person!”  "We're all in it together," like the song says... "we are turning it around."   Songwriter Info: Joanna Colwell is a yoga teacher and song leader in MIddlebury, Vermont. She started the Yoga Equity Project and can generally be found tearing down the patriarchy with art, song, ritual, and good cheer.   Sharing Info: The song is free to share in oral tradition groups, but please contact Joanna for recording and/or performing permission.   Song Learning Time Stamps: Start time of teaching: 00:03:03 Start time of reprise: 01:08:19   Links: Grace's Substack: https://graceoedel.substack.com/  Joanna Colwell – Middlebury yoga teacher: https://www.yogaequity.org/  www.ottercreekyoga.com  https://www.instagram.com/ottercreekyoga/ Joanna Macy – The Work that Reconnects: https://workthatreconnects.org/  Octavia Butler: "Kindness eases change." "God is change.": https://www.octaviabutler.com/  Moira Smiley on A Breath of Song: https://www.abreathofsong.com/episodes--show-notes/39-stand-in-that-river#/ , https://www.abreathofsong.com/episodes--show-notes/40-render-a-remedy-with-moira-smiley#/  Heidi Wilson on A Breath of Song: https://www.abreathofsong.com/episodes--show-notes/139-bend-and-rebound#/ , https://www.abreathofsong.com/episodes--show-notes/140-the-feast-with-guest-heidi-wilson#/ , https://www.abreathofsong.com/episodes--show-notes/228-all-call-this-home#/  Singing Resistance: https://linktr.ee/singingresistance  Kairos Center with Songs in the Key of Resistance: https://kairoscenter.org/projects/songs-in-the-key-of-resistance/  NOFA – Long-Handled Spoon Dinners: https://www.nofavt.org/about/blog/announcing-new-long-handled-spoons-dinners  L’Chaim Jewish collective leadership in Burlington: https://www.lchaimcollective.org/  Ilyse Morgenstein Fuerst, UVM professor: https://www.uvm.edu/cas/religion/profile/ilyse-morgenstein-fuerst  Elise Witt on A Breath of Song: https://www.abreathofsong.com/episodes--show-notes/21-song-deep-in-your-bones#/ , https://www.abreathofsong.com/episodes--show-notes/211-set-us-free#/  Nero’s Expedition Up the Nile by Moondog (Louis Thomas Hardin): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpUIzHWB_zc  James Baldwin “The children are always ours.”: https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/notes-house-bondage/  Aylie Baker – wayfinding in Micronesia: https://emergencemagazine.org/essay/wave-patterns/  Indigo Girls: https://www.indigogirls.com/  Batya Levine on A Breath of Song: https://www.abreathofsong.com/episodes--show-notes/166-breathe#/    Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, minor, 3-layers   Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share   Help us keep going: reviews, comments, encouragement, plus contributions... we float on your support. https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html

    1h 11m

  7. Apr 15

    229. We Will Not Stand Down

    Song: We Will Not Stand Down Music by: Grace Oedel   Notes: This song came directly out of protective action, as Grace was asking herself how to develop a chant into a song -- it's got a groove, it's alive, and it's adaptable. Sing it with only a few words, or add some lyrics. Get people moving on the parts they resonate with and help them hear the collective pulse that underlies it all. Add what feels good in your body and voice -- and next week, join Grace and me for a wide-ranging conversation that asks questions about how can we keep showing up with and for each other for the long haul? How can we use rage as a fuel that doesn't burn us out, but helps us to not stand down, to not go home, to do what scares us because love is underneath that rage, moving us on!   Songwriter Info: Grace is a doula for change and an enthusiast for collective action. She's an ordained rabbi who organizes with the L'Chaim Collective and serves as the executive director of NOFA-VT, building power for a just and delicious future. She sits on the boards of Rights and Democracy, Milk with Dignity, National Family Farm Coalition, National Sustainable Ag Coalition, the Better Selves Fellowship, and is an affiliate for the Institute for Agroecology. She leads a monthly community sing for resistance and hope that is a real banger, is a fan of desserts, and is mama to three little ones.    Sharing Info: The song is free to share in oral tradition groups - use it anywhere it can be helpful! - but please contact Grace for recording and/or performing permission.   Song Learning Time Stamps: Start time of teaching: 00:03:44 Start time of reprise: 00:15:29   Links: Grace's Substack: https://graceoedel.substack.com/    Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, major, 3-layers   Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share   Help us keep going: reviews, comments, encouragement, plus contributions... we float on your support. https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html

    18 min

  8. Apr 1

    228. All Call This Home

    Song: All Call This Home Music by: Heidi Wilson   Notes: Heidi Wilson has devoted herself to the craft of songweaving -- and it shows! My groups have all loved this song -- a great mix of almost-rap with sweet harmony swells, and trading back and forth playfully. Once it's in your head, it stays, providing a rhythmic counterpart to walks and a sweet sense of neighborliness with all our more-than-human kin.   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 (venmo: @Heidi-willsing) 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: 00:03:06 Start time of reprise: 00:15:28   Links: Website: www.HeidiAnnWilson.com  Patreon: www.patreon.com/HeidiWilson  Heartwood Trio: www.heartwoodtrio.com    Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, major, 3-layers   Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share   Help us keep going: reviews, comments, encouragement, plus contributions... we float on your support. https://www.abreathofsong.com/gratitude-jar.html

    17 min
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5
out of 5
28 Ratings

About

Ella Fitzgerald said, ”The only thing better than singing is more singing!” Use song to find wellness in ourselves, each other, and our world. In each episode, Patricia introduces a song that she trusts to help her navigate life. These songs provide a great soundtrack to your day — whether it’s comfort, presence, delight, grief-tending, or simply easing the way. Periodic interviews with song creators add color and understanding. Songs have helped Patricia heal, adapt, and grow, and she hopes these selections will become companions for you as well. Visit the website, abreathofsong.com, to learn more and suggest a song!

Information

  • Creator
    Patricia Norton
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    205
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2022 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    A Breath of Song

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