Song: Breathe Easy

Music by: Karly Loveling

Notes: When I heard this song of Karly's, I couldn't wait to tease apart the harmonies -- and I find I sing it to myself at odd moments -- its kind, gentle advice lets me release into my own wisdom. What's funny is I came to record it in a bit of a rush, after a rather stressful day and knowing I'd be travelling in the morning, so I really had to get it done... and the breath of song did its thing. As I taught it, my heart eased, my breath deepened, I reconnected to my own wholeness -- and by the end of the episode, I was loathe to stop! I'll be curious to know if your body responds the same way?

Songwriter Info: Karly Loveling is a seasoned songleader, songwriter, and permissionary of heartfelt expression. For over two decades, she has been guiding voices and hearts through community singing, classes, and workshops in Eugene, Oregon and beyond.

Karly’s journey in Oregon began with a formative chapter at Lost Valley Educational Center, where she immersed herself in personal growth workshops and forged lasting connections. With a background in dance and a degree in the field, she co-founded Coalessence Dance, an ecstatic dance community that continues to thrive, with Becca Perry in 2006.

Karly’s love for community singing deepened through her many years at Singing Alive, where she led song circles and found inspiration among fellow songleaders from the gathering’s inception through 2023. In 2013, she founded the Hummingbirds Girls Choir, whose joyful harmonies became a beloved feature at the Eugene Saturday Market, Holiday Market, and the Oregon Country Fair. In 2015, Karly launched Singing Heart, a community singing group, which inspired her to complete the Community Choir Leadership Training in British Columbia the following year. Singing Heart is proud to be part of the Ubuntu Choirs Network, affirming the principle that everyone can sing and that singing builds connection.

Karly’s often playful, layered, and meaningful original songs are sung by songleaders from Appalachia to Ireland. She currently offers in-person and online classes, leads retreats, and shares her work at community singing gatherings across the country.

Sharing Info: This song is free to sing, but Karly always welcomes and appreciates financial and networking support.

Song Learning Time Stamps:

Start time of teaching: 00:02:34

Start time of reprise: 00:14:16

Links:

Karly's Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/KarlyLoveling

Karly's Bandcamp: https://karlyloveling.bandcamp.com/music

Singing Heart Harmonies: https://singingheartharmonies.com/

Karly's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karlyloveling

Nuts & Bolts: 3:4, melody & 2 harmonies

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Song: May the Way Open Before You

Music by: Ana Hernández

Guest singers:​ Sadie Jones, AJ Banach, Cameron Brownell, Rebecca Csuy

Notes: Recording this was a complete treat, because I had four friends in the studio with me -- Rebecca Csuy, Cameron Brownell, AJ Banach, and Sadie Jones learned the song and loved it. AJ catches me when I make a note mistake in the harmony, which is fabulous -- friends who have your back! Next week, I have the privilege of talking with Ana and learning about her extensive background and why community singing matters to her... for now, please enjoy this, which she calls "a simple blessing," and her wish for everyone in the world.

Songwriter Info: Ana Hernández is a composer, recording artist, retreat leader, and activist song leader creating and collecting tunes to build living and just communities through skillful action. A theomusicologist with NYS Poor People’s Campaign, Ana is also the author of The Sacred Art of Chant: Preparing to Practice (Skylight Paths/Turner Publishing).

Sharing Info: The song is free to share in public resistance actions and oral tradition groups. Please contact Ana for recording, streaming, or performing permission.

Song Learning Time Stamps:

Start time of teaching: 00:02:29

Start time of reprise: 00:13:05

Links:

Ana's website: https://anahernandez.org

Ana's Patreon: www.patreon.com/anahernandez

Listen on Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/in/artist/ana-hernandez/214582777

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/0NGPpe3jeQqHFeFArIqYEH

SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/anahermusic

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-p9kisJu1ISLW7w6Wy2lVA

Also look for HARC (with Ruth Cunningham): https://anahernandez.org/album/inside-chants/

The Miserable Offenders: https://anahernandez.org/album/keepin-the-baby-awake-music-for-advent-and-christmas/

Eternal Spirit (w/ Sr. Helena Marie, CHS): https://anahernandez.org/album/eternal-spirit/

Banquet of Love (w/ Ike Sturm and so many friends!): https://anahernandez.org/album/banquet-of-love/

Nuts & Bolts: 6:8, major, 2-part harmony

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Song: Towo Kalona

Music by: Alix Thorpe

Notes: I did something a little different in the way I shared this -- I took time with the proto-Celtic, so you could be comfortable singing in a Bronze-Era language... and then there's the usual looped section, with a harmony above and below -- but then at the reprise, I sing just the melody with piano, and then just the piano so you can sing the melody yourself, and allow me to accompany you. I find this song of Alix Thorpe's beautifully addictive, and there's something about singing in a bone language that feels like healing perspective to me. After you are snagged by the melody and parts on the podcast, buy it from her on Bandcamp, where you can hear the full English lyrics!

Songwriter Info: Alix is a mother, a birth doula and a shiatsu practitioner who lives in Devon in England. She found her voice and began writing songs only a few years ago. Song for Alix is a way of prayer and an expression of soul. She has written several songs in proto-Celtic; a kind of "spirit language" and ancestral mother tongue made of the earliest traceable fragments of the Celtic languages, dating back around 4000 years. Dreaming with proto-Celtic has been a powerful vehicle for kindling connection with her ancestral roots. Alix's songs are particularly inspired by whales, the spirit of the rose, Buddhism and honouring sacred rites of passage.

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

Song Learning Time Stamps:

Start time of teaching: 00:03:01

First full singing: 00:10:40

Start time of reprise: 00:20:16

Just piano: 00:21:20

Links:

Alix's Bandcamp: https://alixthorpe.bandcamp.com/track/towo-kalona

Nuts & Bolts: 3:4, melody with 2 harmonies

Join this community of people who love to use song to help navigate life? Absolutely: https://dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/335811/81227018071442567/share

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The Sunday after this episode is released, August 31st, 2025, 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.

110. The Crow Calls

by Maggie Wheeler

1. The crow calls,

the sun falls;

they know the rhythm,

the rhythm of it all.

(2x)

2. We are the only ones

who have forgotten

how to listen,

we’re the only ones

who have forgotten

how to listen.

We are the only ones

who have forgotten

how to listen,

the earth

is calling us to

open up our ears.

3. Put your hands in the dirt,

let’s heal the hurt.

The earth is waiting

for us to do the work,

do the work!

(2x)

22. When the Water Is Glass Calm

by Paul Barton

1. When the water is glass calm,

the stillness cradles life.

2. The sun rises slowly,

pealing through the trees,

bringing colour to the sky.

3. Listen, listen,

to the small sounds

of this new day.

194. Hildegard's Song

by Barbara McAfee

based on words of Hildegard of Bingen

There is music

in, in all things;

but we can't hear it

​until we sing.

118. Listen In

by Jennie Pearl Listen in

​Here I am

this is my center

What is mine, What is mine?

We're learning how to reach for each other

may we reach

may we teach

Through the blurred lines,

The pain and confusion,

may we reach

may we teach

60. Just As You Are

by Lea Morris Just as you are, without changing a thing.

Just as you are, I accept you.

I see you, I hear you, I

welcome you in; just as you are.

Just as you are.

191. Another World

Patricia Norton

text from My Seditious Heart, p.204

by Arundhati Roy

Another world

is not only possible,

she is on her way.

On a quiet day,

I can hear her breathing.

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Song: I Walk in Beauty

Words by: traditional Navajo (Diné) blessing

Music by: John Harrison

Notes: John Harrison turned to the teachings of the Diné people, the Navajo, to help him find the awareness of the beauty that exists in our world alongside everything else. As we live in a complex time, beset with multiple crises, wisdom teachings that have survived complex, critical times are a resource. This episode was a challenge for me, as I ended up leaving it in the range that John gave it to me -- one best suited for tenors and sopranos, and requiring a little more opening and exploration for lower voices! I share a technique that helped me find my way, but you are also welcome to just drop it down into the lower part of your voice -- find a way that feels good to sing!

Songwriter Info: John Harrison is a composer, choral director, singer, and voice teacher who has been performing professionally since he was a lad. He sings and teaches in a variety of styles that reflect his eclectic performing background in church music, rock bands, jazz combos, gospel choirs, musical comedy, and a few things that defy description. Currently he directs Rock City!, Vermont’s rock and soul chorus, in Barre VT; Reelin’ & Rockin’, a rock and roll choir for seniors in Montpelier VT; and is the emeritus director of the Montpelier Community Gospel Choir in Montpelier VT. He has taught teenagers and adults in workshops, camps and holidays through Village Harmony, Turtle Dove Harmony, Songways (UK), as well as on his own. He was a K-12 Vermont music educator for 10 years. His compositions have been performed and recorded by many community choirs in the US and the UK. John lives with his wife Scottie in Plainfield, VT.

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

Song Learning Time Stamps:

Start time of teaching: 00:02:55

Start time of reprise: 00:18:21

Links:

John's website: www.johnmarkharrison.com

More about Navajo (Diné) teaching of The Beauty Way: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tZHIER3Jb4

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

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Song: Don't Give Up

Music by: Becky Reardon

Notes: Thinking about tough times, Becky Reardon says, "The worst thing we can do is go silent." Here's a song to help with that -- a song about both grit and kindness; how a little flex can be the strongest response. She says, “Of all times when we need to get together and sing… this is the time to keep it going.” We talk about her love of the high desert, trees, community... how church and family singing embedded love of harmonies. How Naomi Shihab Nye reminded her, "When times are hard, do something satisfying." Plus a sticky cocklebur song! It's a good conversation to help return you to yourself, your power to bring more decency and compassion into the world.

Songwriter Info: Becky Reardon's voice is familiar to the millions of people who hear her sing on the Charlie Brown/Peanuts TV specials. She is a composer whose songs and rounds are widely sung by community and university choirs, song circles, and singing classes. Sometimes jazzy and fun-loving, sometimes trance-inducing and deeply spiritual, her music always conveys her passion for the natural world and the cycles of life.

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

Song Learning Time Stamps:

Start time of teaching: 00:05:42

The Moon instructional song: 00:42:11

The Sticky Cocklebur: 00:43:19

Start time of reprise: 00:56:19

Links:

Becky's website: www.beckyreardonmusic.com

Alone from “Someday You’ll Find Her, Charlie Brown”: https://youtu.be/5VpmohI_ZZQ?feature=shared

Farther Along from “Why, Charlie Brown, Why”: https://youtu.be/6SY1MNEXHvY?feature=shared

Video of workshop improv singing: https://youtube.com/shorts/i2Z2Ltqy6dA

Rhiannon: https://rhiannonmusic.com/

The Lama Foundation: https://www.lamafoundation.org/

Winter Solstice Song (Deep down in the belly of the night): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbV-DaVxzE8

Becky Graber: https://beckygraber.com/ – and her conversation episode on ABS: https://www.abreathofsong.com/episodes--show-notes/165-heaven-above-earth-below-with-guest-becky-graber#/

Sue Coffee: https://www.resonancechorus.org/artistic-director.html

Elise Witt https://elisewitt.com/web/about-elise-witt/

Retreat with Elise and Becky on Ossabaw Island:: https://elisewitt.com/web/calendar/ossabaw-island-retreat-2026/

The Moon instructional song: https://beckyreardonmusic.com/product/where-is-the-moon/

The Sticky Cocklebur: https://beckyreardonmusic.com/product/the-sticky-cocklebur/

Becky’s Bandcamp page - to come!

Ella Fitzgerald: https://www.ellafitzgerald.com/

René Marie: https://renemarie.com/

Nuts & Bolts: 4:4, mixolydian, round

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Song: The Turtle Remembers

Music by: Becky Reardon

Notes: Becky Reardon's songwriting drew me toward community singing when I was still in a choral paradigm -- and this round is a stunning example of combining a haunting melody with words that help me remember the ancient self that moves within. Happily, I didn't sing it alone for this episode -- I'm joined by friends and neighbors, Karen Chickering, Molly Moerdyk, and you may recognize Rebecca Csuy from earlier episodes?! We take our time with the round, leaving space for you to sing a line alone for a bit if you'd like -- or sing with any of us! Next week, in our conversation, Becky talks to me about singing with others and the communities that's built -- and we get a little peek into cartoonist Charles Schultz's life, too -- because people are connected in all kinds of wild ways! (A wee blooper at the end -- what happens when you start a round and no one else comes in?)

Songwriter Info: Becky Reardon's voice is familiar to the millions of people who hear her sing on the Charlie Brown/Peanuts TV specials. She is a composer whose songs and rounds are widely sung by community and university choirs, song circles, and singing classes. Sometimes jazzy and fun-loving, sometimes trance-inducing and deeply spiritual, her music always conveys her passion for the natural world and the cycles of life.

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

Song Learning Time Stamps:

Start time of teaching: 00:03:14

Start time of reprise: 00:15:09

Links:

Becky's website: www.beckyreardonmusic.com

Abbey Lincoln's song Down Here Below: https://youtu.be/S4jvYELMUZc?feature=shared

Nuts & Bolts: 3:4, harmonic minor, round

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