Setlist for Tending Your Fire, Tending Your Heart Retreat (Feb 23-25, 2024)

Dear Friends, 

If you're reading this, you might have attended the Tending Your Fire, Tending Your Heart retreat from Friday, February 23 through Sunday, February 25 at Episcopal House of Prayer near Collegeville.  

We invited folks who have been carrying a load for their community, in a season of deep service, organizing, and/or mutual aid work to lay it all down for a weekend and receive some spaciousness and care.  

Here is a list of the songs we sang over the weekend with links to online recordings.

• Armor (Ahlay Blakely)
• Breathe In, Breath Out Lullaby* (tune: Silent Night) - led by Katy
• Breath More Slowly* (Shireen Amini)
• Do You Feel? Do You Heal? (Lu Aya Nephew, The Peace Poets + Deirdre Shabaaz)
• Earth My Body (unknown) - Liz's adapted lyrics: Liberation / Solidarity / Justice coming / Ground in love!
• Endless Boundless Gratitude (Samara Jade)
• Gather / We Are Not Alone (Joanna Laws Landis)
• Healing is Possible (Orion Johnstone)
• I did not come here alone (The Peace Poets)
• If it’s not a F*#$ yeah (Lyndsey Scott)
• O Bless the Food* (Okie Dokie Brothers?)
• One by One (Michael Stillwater)
• Open Sentences (Ahlay Blakely)
• Park Bench (Knots on a String, Nat's band) - live version
• Risk More for Love (words: Casper ter Kuile; music: Liz Digitale Anderson)
• Thank you earth (Mark + Sheri? Anderson)
• Traveler's Lullaby (Knots on a String)
• Wind in My Bones* (Malia Burkhart) - led by Malia

* no known recording online. Please share in the comments if you find one!

** the composer/catcher of this song is not known to us.  If you do know, please pass it on in the comments.  :)

Here's a list of Resources:

Mar 16: Grow Your Voice: A Workshop to Explore, Experiment, & Strengthen Your Singing Voice

Grow Your Voice: A Workshop to Explore, Experiment, & Strengthen Your Singing Voice

When: Saturday, March 16, 2024, 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

Where:  New City Center for Healing Justice, 3104 16th Ave S, Minneapolis
fb event link for sharing: https://fb.me/e/58TzIdfWL

Want to be a stronger, more confident singer?

The voice in your body is a seed of who you are. Depending on how it’s been tended over your life, your voice might feel strong and healthy – or it may feel more like it has a shallow root system, a weak stem, or fewer leaves or blossoms than desired. In voice work, your breath, posture, body tension, and fear of how you’re “supposed” to sound are all aspects that need tending to.

Join Conie and Liz for two hours of vocal tending and singing from your full breath and heart: give yourself and your voice loving, caring attention to grow strong, healthy, and beautiful. We want your voice to sing out and clearly communicate your care, pride, passion, hurt, and dreams to ourselves, our beloveds, our community, and our world.

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• Masks up please as an act of community care while Covid is surging. Thank you.
• Sliding scale payment: $15-$40.
• Please fill out the registration form here https://forms.gle/HqqDZ6LDADnvcrBx8 and Venmo/Paypal @ConieB to reserve your spot (confirm digits: 7530)
• Two solidarity spots available for volunteers; inquire at goodtrouble@pointsoflightmusic.net.

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Workshop leaders Conie Borchardt and Liz Digitale Anderson are GOOD TROUBLE, a queer mixed Asian songleading duo. They bring a wide variety of vocal experience and technique to share, including certification in the playful Five Elements Full Voice Method of Barbara McAfee (did you know your voice has fire and water in it?!), classical and musical theatre voice training, jazz improv, and a cappella beatboxing.

Jun 7-9: Dances of Universal Peace in Northern MN

Eeeeeeeee!!!!!! It's happening!

Adam Wolter and I are caravaning to northern MN to share and amplify the Dances with the communities where fellow dancers live in Duluth, Ely, and Grand Rapids!  

More details to come, but feel free to jot down these dates and join us as you feel so moved!

• Friday, June 7:  Duluth
• Saturday, June 8:  Ely
• Sunday, June 9:  Grand Rapids

p.s. an event in Morris and in the southeastern corner of the state will be scheduled for May and June. Watch for that date to be determined soon!

Thank you voters of MN! “This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.”

Setlist from Feb 16 Songs in Your Body On This Land @ Studio 331, NKB

Here are the songs we sang at the BIPOC+Mixed Race sing Songs In Our Bodies On This Land at Studio 331 (Rosy Simas Danse) in the Northrup-King Building on Friday night, February 16, 2024 with links to online recordings for your at-home remembering pleasure.

1. Gather / We Are Not Alone (Joanna Laws Landis)
2. Do You Feel? Do You Heal? (Words: Spirit)
3. Smash/layer up: I did not come here alone (The Peace Poets) + We breath together / Stop the occupation (adrienne maree brown)
4. Loosen, Loosen (Aly Halpert)
5. Stay soft (Samantha Rise)
6. Armor (Ahlay Blakely)
7. Refrain from Life (unknown) - led by Rama
8. Stop outsourcing your self-worth (Liz Digitale Anderson, based on a quote by Logan Ury on the We Can Do Hard Things podcast)
9. I am free in my body (Shireen Amini)

Thank you to the crew who sang with us! The right people were there, tenderness, grit, and support were shared. Community was tended. This is part of the dream Liz and Conie are working towards!

Special thanks to Rosy Simas Danse for hosting us and offering Conie B a transdisciplinary artist space residency for the week.  Deep gratitude to Rebekah, the studio manager, and George for taking photos (coming soon)!