Harp Escape, the therapeutic harp series of meditative audio and video, will be having a make-over this winter. For the past 20 months, I have made recordings and sheet music for patrons (available on Patreon). During this time, I’ve recorded nearly 200 audio tracks and done over 60 posts of writing, video and sheet music arrangements! That is a lot for me to feel good about, as far as general productivity goes. Now, I feel that a cycle of creation has been completed.
The project will be shifting to a broader audience with a simpler format. New format for Harp Escape will first be editing down audio recordings, and then choosing just ONE tune per month to focus on. That one tune will be either re-recorded, mastered or enhanced somehow. In 2022, I will be releasing these focused songs as singles on the various streaming platforms (iTunes, Spotify, et al).
Looking Ahead to the next phase of Harp Escape
It was a lot of work to make these monthly audio recordings at 20-50 minutes each time. The call to change started this fall when I felt like I was just going through the motions of setting up the recording equipment, picking the tunes, etc. I know the Harp Escape collection has some good pieces in there (but I also know they aren’t all great!), so the plan is to select a few gems and make them sound even better. Also, I don’t necessarily want to stick to instrumentals only, or even to one style of Therapeutic Music at 60-80 bpm. Since the pandemic, I’ve been missing out on in person Therapeutic Music visits for my clients in the clinical health setting. When I started Harp Escape, the intention was to replace that calming, healing modality that TM can bring, and bring it online. I did. It has.
Harp Escape vol. 6 video is a song I composed called, “Slowly, Falls the Snow.” This song is about difficult good-byes. About seasons changing, and seasons of life changing.
I wrote this song while working as a Certified Clinical Musician. One morning when I was playing therapy harp at the bedside for a client, this song came to me. I had visited this person a few days earlier. They were on hospice, and after two weeks, they were still holding onto life, even though they were very near death. I wasn’t even sure my patient would be alive when I arrived. Loved ones and caregivers of this person said they appeared to be struggling with letting go.
It was the end of winter, and the very last cold days were hanging on. We had a rare snow that reached the lowlands, and it would certainly be the last snow before spring. Outside the window were evergreen hedges with bright, white snow glistening on them. Under the sun, slowly, the snow fell melting.
So much has changed in the world in just a few short weeks. As a performing artist and a Certified Clinical Musician working in hospice, 2/3rds of my work came to a screeching halt starting on February 24th. Here in Seattle, we were sort of a canary in the coal mine for rest of North America, but that still didn’t prepare me for the severity of the situation we are now in. With restrictions to large gatherings and health care organizations looking to be in solid place for the foreseeable future, I’m being honest with myself. I’m not expecting much harp related work for the rest of the year, perhaps into next year. In the meantime, in addition being with my children, I’m also looking to drum up work through digital media streams, virtual teaching, and new collaborations.
Like many people during this COVID quarantine, I am contemplating my life, my career, and broader still, humanity. Voices of inspiring writers, musicians, poets, philosophers, and scientists throughout history are giving me comfort. The world has seen hard times before, and troubled people look to artists during rough days for entertainment, distraction, and wisdom.
Allen Ginsberg wrote, “The weight of the world is love under the burden of solitude.”
Is our solitude a burden to us now? Or is a comfort? Or both? I have gone through waves of feeling both extremes.
Under weight of solitude and a view of the Olympic Mountains – April 2020 (Discovery Park, Seattle WA)
Side projects that I had been working on or just thinking about are actually now front and center for me, so that is interesting. Harp Escape is one of my projects that is now a main focus.
Harp Escape is an audio/video series that I started last year in response to what I found to be an ever mounting stress. As a working mother of two, as an urban dweller, as a musician commuting to gigs, teaching, and therapy sessions, I found that my city of Seattle was getting more and more congested, loud, and exhausting to drive in and be in. Scheduling was almost just as tight and restrictive. So, as an artist and sound healer, I created an online place for a get away. I wanted to create more breathing space. Harp Escape now seems more relevant than ever, as millions of people lose their jobs, feel anxiety about the virus, and waver in their general trust of each other. Within our lifetimes, we have never lived in a more uncertain age.
Harp Escape presents feel-good relaxing music ideal for quarantine time. It is a love salve. I encourage you to put on some good headphones and escape the world of troubles and take care of your inner world. Here is a Harp Escape Playlist.
Harp Escape Vol. 3 Erik Satie – First Gymnopedie
To take the Harp Escape idea yet further, in response to the pandemic and our global quarantine, I have begun a weekly virtual Harp Escape Concert Series on Facebook. You can find me live streaming @harpescape at 6:30pm Pacific Standard Time every Saturday.
My husband, Stephen Schildbach, illustrated a contemplative piece for the times using me (and some of our house plants) and as model. You can find more of Stephen’s work on Instagram at Schildbach Illustration
We as a family of four are trying the best way that we can to see through the darkness of this time. There are so many unknowns, but it is in trusting my inner knowledge that is getting me through this, and probably priming me for the uncertain future that is to come.
Contemplating Coronavirus by Stephen Schidbach
The COVID19 epidemic is helping us find out who we really are, and what we are truly made of.
I am Harpist-in-Residence at Nalanda West for the month of March. What does that mean?
Well, I have been invited to be artist-in-residence, or in this case, Harpist-in-Residence at Nalanda West, a contemplative resources center located in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle (3902 Woodland Park Ave N, Seattle, WA 98103). Mostly, I have been keeping hours Monday mornings. That means, if you are coming in to use the space for meditation, I will be there making music. Being a Harpist-in-Residence means I will be hanging about the venue using my time to focus on my artistic craft.
Harp Escape is my YouTube series of instrumental harp songs played in a relaxing and slow manner. The intention behind these video recordings is to give listeners an online place where one can escape from the stresses of modern life and enter a more peaceful place through listening awareness. Here, one will be able to breath deeply and work or relax to calming background music that is at the same time artful and based in a place of technique. These are intentionally curated songs presented in a skillful and stylized manner.
In
our stressful age, meaningful music can calm the nerves and encourage
us to breath deeply. So many sounds of the modern world are actually
static noise, and have a way of draining our energy, positive work
flow, and happiness. A combination of contemplative listening and
deep breath can bring us clarity and a healthier sense of being.
During my artist residency, I’m writing and arranging new songs, and will also record new videos (to be released on my YouTube channel). Eventually, I’ll compile these songs into audio only format, so that I can release some of the songs as a collection.
Dates and times of artist residency at Nalanda West (3902 Woodland Park Ave N, Seattle, WA 98103):
I will be in residence at Nalanda West with harp music on Mondays 9, 16, 23, 30 at 9:30am-12:30pm and for open meditation Tues March 24 18 7-8pm.
I will also be playing in the concert Interconnecting for Good with Lori Goldston (cello) and Danny Godinez (guitar) March 14 at Nalanda West at 7pm. The money raised will be used for a new building roof.
Culminating
my residency time, I will perform a solo harp concert on Friday,
April 17, 2020 at 7pm at Nalanda West.
Harp Escape is an online place to relax. I began my monthly video series, Harp Escape, this Spring. Each video includes tunes intended to relax the listener, and bring a breath of calm into their environment. Because of the chronic stress, relentless noise and dousing of bad news our modern world exposes us to, life can be downright hopeless feeling some days. Therefore, it is essential for us to take breaks throughout the day and, as I like to say, floss your ears.
Happy Apple – The Daphnes Harp Escape vol. 1
It is vital for our individual health to stay balanced, so that our communities and Earth can be healthy too. When we feel stress all the time, that stress becomes a homeostasis, or the state of normal being. Without any stress reducers, our bodies take on a “fight or flight” state, and we may never get out of that feeling of constant stress and overwhelm. Music is the oldest form of human communication, and sound is also one of the most basic forms of healing. It is with these sentiments that I bring you Harp Escape.
The original Happy Apple
Volume 1 of Harp Escape is a song called Happy Apple. Originally, the inspiration for the piece came from a childhood toy of mine that my mother sent to me when I had my own child. The Fisher Price Happy Apple was a very popular chiming wobbly toddler thing of the 1970’s. Its sound was still pleasing to me decades later, so I wrote a song about it. In vol. 1 of Harp Escape, I slow the composition down and change it to an instrumental version. You can listen to The Daphnes recording of Happy Apple on our album Braids of Kabuya.
As a Certified Clinical Musician, I have studied how certain intervals, musical modes, and tempos can have a particularly soothing effect. I merge this ancient healing knowledge with my skills as a life-long musician and harpist of 25 years. As a songwriter and improviser, I bring relaxing arrangements of a variety of songs and styles for the intent of healing with Harp Escape. If you have any song requests, let me know!
Foggy Dew – trad. Irish Harp Escape vol. 2
As a harpist, it is impossible to avoid playing Irish tunes! A harp is the national symbol of Ireland, after all. Vol. 2 of Harp Escape is Foggy Dew, the song of choice to teach my students this March for St. Patrick’s Day. Many of these old ballads can be short. So, I expanded Foggy Dew and wrote an additional melody in the relative major key of G. Interested in an arrangement? Just send me a message.
Time is on my side, and yet it is my greatest challenge!
I am always on the lookout for how creative mothers make their way through the world – I don’t have any other day job; my work is based on writing and music and I have two young children.
There is a real need for artist mothers to share in their creative process in my opinion – for encouragement, creative tips, support, and just sharing how its done in a practical sense. The world doesn’t always make it easy for artist moms to continue on their journey once they’ve had a baby. The path suddenly gets very bumpy. The road bottoms out. You don’t know how to go on. I would read Dr. Seuss’s “Oh the Places You Go” to my daughter and think – Oh, this is real. This is exactly what I’m experiencing.
When I had my daughter 8 years ago, I was really searching for some creative support written by and for someone like me. I didn’t find anything of the sort. Now I know of at least three podcasts: Rachel Zucker’s Commonplace;The Longest Shortest Time by Hilary Frank; and musician Laura Veirs’ Midnight Lightning. I still haven’t found any written material that deeply addresses how new mothers adjust their creative process and how to support it, which is not to say that it doesn’t exist. I just know I’d still like to read a book like that. However, when you are multi-tasking making dinner, a hands-free podcast is just the ticket! (and these three mentioned are great).
I used to have a more elaborate system of writing poetry and prose. I would handwrite in my journal, then transfer to a more refined notebook, then type it up, print it out, and workshop the writing. Since having children, I don’t have time to do practically any of that!
With a baby, I always feel like there’s a ticking timer at nap time. I try to squeeze in moments to write or practice, but I never know how long it will be. How long will my creative freedom last? If I start to record, will I be interrupted with a cry? Certainly, when kiddos are school-aged, time opens up. With more than one child, time must be blocked out with more commitment.
I create lists of how to prioritize. There is the weekly one and the daily list. For example today is – #1 practice music for gig tonight; #2 transcribe a piece for Sunday’s Mothers’ Day duet with pianist Josh Rawlings (that I can use for Harp Escape as well); #3 blast out my album to one agency; #4 write something. If I can do that much – that would be AMAZING! I always aim high. Sometimes only one thing gets accomplished, and if someone has a fever or a field trip, forget about it. I have to be real about the current daily situation of food, laundry, school lunch, diapers, etc. that I have.
When I had my first kiddo, I blended my writing and music together, sort of by accident. Once I stopped gigging late night shows, I began songwriting. The poetry morphed into lyrics instead. I had to become selective about what I said yes to. Would I take a club gig at 10pm? No way, not unless it paid well (ha ha ha). Eventually, people stopped asking me, but that’s ok. Because I changed.
I won’t lie. Sometimes I find myself lamenting over the artists who have more freedom than me. It takes so much time to polish a craft and I never feel like I have enough anymore. I don’t have a creative stuckness; I have a restriction. This is interesting though, because motherhood is also the blessing that allowed me to open up into a new form! When I stopped saying yes to all of the club gigs, I put my energy into songwriting. I started singing in public. I wrote enough songs to record an album. I formed a band (The Daphnes) and now I can be leader and call the shots to what fits my lifestyle. I probably wouldn’t have organized it all this way if it had not been for motherhood “restricting” me. Plus, it always seems like half of my songs are inspired in someway by the process of being mom. So – its a two-sided coin. A yin-yang.
I feel like its now or never these days, pretty much all the time. Its sort of Zen, but its also sort of desperate. I am very of the moment. After the baby boy fell asleep today, I checked my email and immediately blasted out a response which has turned into this blog post. It always feels so good to re-purpose something.
Being a musician mama means that I sometimes practice for 5 minutes with a squirming toddler in my lap, I cram in my own practice time between students, or I have to accept that I might be winging it at the gig a little more.
Its maddening! Its terrifying! Its exciting! Its the gift of a lifetime.
Last week, we finalized the CD production of Braids of Kabuya! With over 50 backers, we reached our Kickstarter goal. This is amazing. I have never done an art project like this in my life. The list of thank you’s is long and the gratitude I have for everyone who helped out is HUGE!
At the end of the week, we took care of last tweaks of the mastering, boosting bass here, adding reverb there… the final edits took longer than expected by a few days, but we are still right on target!
The Daphnes – Braids of Kabuya
Oct. 1st a digital version of the album will be made available to you. Right now, I’m just waiting on some codes to be assigned to the songs for digital streaming and downloads, and then I will be posting the album up on CD Baby and Bandcamp (The Daphnes EP is up here for now). I will post the links here, at my Kickstarter page and on my website when they are available.
I will also be publishing a book of Braids of Kabuya lyrics with digital download of the album. I expect to receive the books mid-October. First, I publish the CD for duplication (check). Second, I send in the album for digital distribution (pending). Third, I publish the book (in current edit mode).
My self-imposed deadline is to have all this new material for Harp Seattle, Dusty Strings’ three day harp fest I’ll be presenting at Oct 5-7.
Autumn is upon us! This summer was HOT and BUSY. Now, I’m taking time to SLOW DOWN and enjoy some of the work I did over the last few months.
For a review of this past spring/summer, I playing something like:
– 15 wedding ceremonies
– 7 public concerts
– 3 corporate parties
– 1 poetry reading
– 65 harp therapy sessions!
– Who knows how many hours in the recording studio working on The Daphnes album?
Speaking of which: THE DAPHNES ALBUM: BRAIDS OF KABUYA is currently being mixed and mastered!!!! I am SO VERY EXCITED to get this music into the ears of the people. We finished up recording this summer, and since WE are doing most of this work on a small budget (aka ourselves) … things move slowly… ALSO, I am 36weeks pregnant!!!
Current practice is that of humility. I thought I could pump out TWO BABIES this year: one album; one human. Between playing many shows and growing a person, my body has set some limitations… and here we are: mid-production. I feel more comfortable with no deadlines at the moment, but I will keep you posted… and as ever… I AM GRATEFUL FOR YOUR INTEREST AND SUPPORT!
Baby is due mid-October. Now, I am wrapping up all work and will be taking a maternity leave from Oct 1 – until December(ish). I may take a few last-minute holiday gigs… Feel free to ask me after Thanksgiving.
Lastly, I wanted to share some “freshie” songs with you:
These were recorded live by Haley Freelund at Couth Buzzard on July 28 (2017) for the posthumous book release event of my mentor and friend, Crysta Casey. She was a painter and poet – this particular HOT NIGHT brought together a LOVELY COMMUNITY. Disclaimer: You can hear fans running… it was sweltering! The ambient sounds will take you back to the heat of July/August.
No matter what my aspirations are, my blog continually only gets monthly posting. So, what have I been doing this past May? A month in the life of a mama musician looks something like this:
Friday – Played for hospice clients in North Seattle. Came home for lunch, did reports and corresponding before getting daughter from school. A lovely day, we took our time walking back home.
Thursday – Kind of a mix-up with childcare, but otherwise a very good day.
Wednesday – Great gig with my band, The Daphnes, at Stone Way Cafe. You can catch us there again on Fri. June 23 at 7pm.
The Daphnes
Tuesday – My motivated high school student came at 8am for her lesson so she can get orchestra credit! Home cleaning and organizing, then teaching more students in the afternoon.
Monday – Memorial Day! Enjoyed a hot holiday off with my family at Folklife Festival and got to hear a few friends playing music.
Sunday – Not one, but TWO last minute gigs! I had gotten a call on Friday to play a wedding that another musician cancelled on. Then, at 7:30 am I got a call from a church choral leader in Ballard to sub on keyboard. I ended up doing both performances and had a fabulous, positively fun day. Also last minute: neighbor friends came over for dessert in the backyard.
Saturday – Very hot day. My kiddo was moving quite slowly and no one wanted to go to Folklife Festival that day with me, so we took a walk to Open Books on 45th where I got to nerd out about poetry with staff. Ice cream! Then, Jeppa, Eli and Lutra came over for a backyard picnic dinner.
Friday – Evening recording session for my album with awesome accordionist, Scott Adams!
Scott Adams (accordion) in the studio
Thursday – I have no idea what I did this day.
Wednesday – Wed. Sing! Nate Omdal and I play two sets of bass/harp duets for a cocktail party/art opening in Issaquah.
Tuesday – Played harp for hospice clients and taught students at home studio.
Monday – Went to Bellevue to play two client patient visits as therapeutic musician (one for Providence Hospice, another for Family Best Care)
Sunday – Flew a butterfly-shaped kite with the family at Gasworks Park. A solo eagle soared with it! Mostly a day off, then recorded violin tracks with Julie in the evening.
Saturday – Violin/Harp duets with Janet for a wedding on the MV Skansonia Ferry after going to the 125th Anniversary Carnival for BF Day Elementary School (Seattle’s oldest school) and teaching a morning lesson at Dusty Strings.
on the Skansonia w/Janet
Friday – Content writing and editing for the new Musicians’ Union website.
Thursday – Played a terrific concert at The Neptune Theater with Evan Flory-Barnes’ large ensemble. I love his projects.
Neptune soundcheck
Wednesday – I slept so poorly the night before and had insomnia. I felt like a zombie most of the day, but did some parent volunteering at my daughter’s school anyway, met with her teacher and did some teaching of my own at home studio.
Tuesday – Teaching. Parenting. Rehearsing at Cornish for the Thursday concert.
Monday – Writers In The Schools (WITS) is a wonderful program through Seattle Public Schools. My daughter has learned how to read and write poetry from talented professionals and tonight was the end of year K-3 poetry reading, which couldn’t have been more adorably heartwarming.
Sunday – Mother’s Day. I got some new stylin’ sunglasses because a particular young person always breaks mine.
Saturday – Gamelan Pacific Concert at The Chapel. A positively uplifting event, listening to Indonesian music and featuring a tribute to composer Lou Harrison.
Friday – I had a funeral to play for one of my past hospice clients, at a Catholic ceremony in Bellevue.
Thursday – Chaperoned for my kindergartener’s field trip to Seward Park. It started raining when we got there and never stopped.
Wednesday – Morning hospice clients and afternoon harp students.
Tuesday – Rehearsal with Janet on violin for wedding in a week, picked up my kiddo from school and came straight home to teach students.
Monday – Office day. I usually start off the week with a chunk of time corresponding from the home office, scheduling, and decompressing from weekend gigs.
Sunday – Harp Recital Day! Hosted my first ever harp recital for students with great success.
Harp Recital (2017)
Saturday – A nice hot spring day. Took daughter to a birthday party. I tried to practice but felt so distracted. A semi-productive day.
Friday – After working on various projects from home, went with the family to a friend’s art opening in Columbia City and I also picked up some money from my last gig at Columbia City Theater.
Thursday – Doctor’s appointment in the morning, and in between parent pick up at school, I taught five students at Dusty Strings.
‘Tis the Season! I have Christmas harp music for sale, my CD Harp Carols.
Album Cover design by Luara Moore
“Harp Carols” is a collection of ancient noels on solo harp and features clarinetist Rosalyn DeRoos on the last song. Except for two pieces, all songs are traditional Christmas carols. “Harp Carols” celebrates Europe’s music of 15th Century – 19th Century holiday season and will transport you to a place of Old World calm during this winter’s busiest month. Also included are an improvisation on Gabriel Faure’s “Pavane,” and “Journey to the Magi,” an original tune a la Alice Coltrane with influence by the T.S. Eliot poem.
I will be playing a seasonal concert in Seattle area this year! The concert will be one of healing and meditation featuring harp solos and duets, honoring the quietude of the winter solstice and the light within each one of us during this dark season.
I’ll be performing live December 23rd, 2016 at: Healing Harp Tones, a harp concert in duet with Monica Schley & Motter Snell. Interfaith Community Sanctuary 1763 NW 62nd St Seattle, WA 98107 7pm
