Neighbourhood Folk - Sunday, Feb 2 - 2025 02 03

 

We gathered for our Neighbourhood Folk - Feb 2 on Sunday afternoon at 3 pm. There were fifteen of us with instruments and music stands nested in the livingroom. The snowstorm put a crimp in travel for some attendees, luckily we had enough within walking distance to have a nice gathering.

Matt joined us on drums. There is a particular feel the drummer can bring to folk music that really helps the strings and voices stay together. It is a light touch, so as not to drown out the acoustic instruments and unamplified voices. It is also a steady pulse that helps us all stay together. The rest of us can relax a bit, resting on that rhythmic support.

Georgina was sitting beside me with her mandolin. She is a strong mandolin player and singer. I played my ukulele tuned to the bottom four strings of the guitar - E, A, D, G and plugged into my bass amp. Next time I will have my Fischman amp ready to amplify the high end frequencies of the ukulele. Georgina started us off with her song, Huckleberry Went to Sea. Many of us knew the song, it was a great way to start the music sharing.

Ruth sang and played guitar. She led us in a Pat Humpries song, ’Swimming to the Other Side’. This is a song of inspiration, helping us to get oriented to humanity within the immensity of nature and pulling for the best in ourselves and each other.

Tom sang, played piano and guitar. He shared his new song, ‘Eat, Nap, Play! written for his grandson. It was new to all of us. Tom provided charts for the group and we were able to play through it the first time without any trouble. It is a great song about baby Ernie’s summary of his day to Grandpa Tom.

Michel sang, played bass and guitar. He led us singing a cajun song on the guitar, ‘C’est La Vie’. Simon played piano and Tom took over the upright bass. This is a simple two chord form, but it moves along at a fast pace and there is a particular feel to the cajun style. It was a lot of fun to play. Michel showed me the bass part when we were last Sunday but I was not ready to tackle it this time.

DJ sang and played guitar. She led us in a timely old folk song, ‘Hard Times Come Again No More’. Our ‘folk choir’ was bolstered by Nina, Pauline and Moira. There is something magical when we all sing together finding many layers of harmony in simple, familiar folk songs.

Al brought a suggestion for us to play a Leonard Cohen song, ‘Who by Fire’. None of us knew the song, so we tabled it for the next gathering. Instead, we played and sang ‘Stewball’. Al, our shy harmonica player, played a solo for one of the instrumental breaks. This song is especially wonderful for the opportunities to harmonize on the verses.

Moira read us a story from early years as a newly immigrated teacher in Terrace, BC. She told the story of her first day on the ski hill and finding herself on a hill too high and snow too icy. We all could relate to the situation she found herself in, and, her solution to get herself out of it.

Kathy brought us ‘Four Strong Winds’. This is a song we all know and it was wonderful to hear all the layers of instruments and vocal harmonies. It is nice to have a collection of songs that are both new and familiar throughout the process of sharing.

Bill came prepared with copies of his new song, ‘Mother Jones / Come Along’. He led us in singing and playing. This is a rousing, inspiring, and strength building song to help us cope with current difficulties. We will all come along and help each other through.

Nearing the end of the afternoon, I was shared a song I wrote in early November, about a month after my Mom had passed. It’s called, ‘I’m on my Own’. I haven’t sung this in ‘public’ (this was the second time). It was lovely to have the group play along with me on the song and sing the chorus. It felt really good to share the song, even though it is a more introspective topic.

Last, Tim led us in singing a Dylan song, ‘I Shall Be Released’. This is a song that we knew or remembered. It is a beautiful sentiment of hope and freedom from times of trouble. A truly heartwarming ending to the song sharing process.

What I am learning about the format for these gatherings is that the primary purpose is to share and hear new songs organized by the principle of inclusiveness. It doesn’t matter how many years you have played music or how skilled you are. There is a place for you in the gathering. At the same time, we want to give everyone a chance to play along on the songs, so we can build our skills and repetoire, but also so we can build our confidence in our playing and singing. For each song, we make sure everyone has the words and/or the chords. This way, no one is sitting out and passively listening, unless that is what they want to do. Otherwise, we are all actively engaged in each song, and we are all having an opportunity to lead the group, another valuable experience, especially for those of us who feel shy in musical gatherings.

Another organizing principle of these gatherings is building strength in our neighbourhoods by sharing creative works with each other. It is through this sharing that we learn about each other, about our experience, strength and hope, and how we build trustworthy relationships. We need to know how to get on the same page and pull together. When we play music together in this song sharing gathering, that is literally what we are doing. Getting on the same page, starting and ending the song together.

Finally, after sharing songs and singing together, we sit down to dine together. This is something I learned from childhood when my mom and dad would host Dad’s dixieland jazz band on a Saturday night. There was always a big table of breads, meats and cheeses for after the rehearsal and they would sit down together and talk about the music, and other important things. We are doing the same by setting a table of simple food - a hot savour pot and fresh bread and butter, along with potluck contributions - cheese, crackers, cookies, cake, etc. It doesn’t matter if you have brought a contribution, there is enough for all to sit down for supper. It is amazing how hungry you get after a couple of hours of making music.

So that was our February Neighbourhood Folk. I feel ready to tackle the challenges February will bring.