storytelling

Music for friendship, connection, and perspective

by Kerry Dexter /
Kerry Dexter's picture
Oct 17, 2022 / 0 comments

Friends old and new can offer connection and perspective in shifting times.

The many aspects of friendship come up as a source for musicians, of course. Friendship also often informs the creation of music itself, as musicians collaborate in writing, playing, and recording their work.

Here are several ways to consider these varied aspects of friendship as expressed through music.

Dr. Jessie Voigts's picture

The One Book You Must Read This Year: A Deep Look into a Disappearing Culture

Once in a great while, you come across a book so compelling, interesting, and important that you want to share it with everyone. Such is the case with the latest book from author Amy Chavez, entitled The Widow, The Priest and The Octopus Hunter: Discovering a Lost Way of Life on a Secluded Japanese Island, published by one of our favorite publishers, Tuttle

Travel with Awe and Wonder: Getting to Newfoundland Part Two: Muddling Through

by Christy Anselmi /
Christy Anselmi's picture
Sep 09, 2022 / 0 comments

This summer, my husband and I undertook a move. A relocation from Massachusetts to Arizona has been undertaken by others, no doubt. We decided to make things a little more interesting than a direct route. We headed north. Our circuitous route is winding us through Newfoundland, Portugal, and North Carolina. When one would think to take the southerly route from the Carolina’s to Arizona in the winter months, we will make Bugs Bunny’s famous right turn at Albuquerque to get to Bozeman, Montana. Then, we’ll drive to Arizona.

Travel with Awe and Wonder: Getting to Newfoundland, Part I

by Christy Anselmi /
Christy Anselmi's picture
Aug 16, 2022 / 0 comments

This summer, my husband and I undertook a move. A relocation from Massachusetts to Arizona has been undertaken by others, no doubt. We decided to make things a little more interesting than a direct route. We headed north. Our circuitous route is winding us through Newfoundland, Portugal, and North Carolina. When one would think to take the southerly route from the Carolina’s to Arizona in the winter months, we will make Bugs Bunny’s famous right turn at Albuquerque to get to Bozeman, Montana. Then, we’ll drive to Arizona.

Music for Exploring Connection

by Kerry Dexter /
Kerry Dexter's picture
Jul 19, 2022 / 0 comments

It is summer at this writing, a summer of shifts and change and uncertainties across the world. It is a time of division, of anger.

It is also a summer, though, of seeking ways forward, and a time of looking for joy, for hope, for trust.

Music is a part of thinking about all these shifts and changes, of finding hope, of seeking perspectives that lead to peace.

Here's music to explore:

Dr. Jessie Voigts's picture

Read This: The Book That Will Inspire, Challenge, and Bring Joy

You need this book in your life; I could NOT put it down. Tell Her She Can't...Inspiring Stories of Unstoppable Women, by Women's Travel Fest and Damesly founder Kelly Lewis, is an incredibly meaningful read. 

Music for Connection and Celebration

by Kerry Dexter /
Kerry Dexter's picture
Jul 19, 2021 / 0 comments

Finding connection, celebrating difference, taking joy in the small things on the way to those discoveries: music can be a gateway to all those things.

Music for Connection and Celebration

Words and Wisdom: Songs of Change

by Kerry Dexter /
Kerry Dexter's picture
May 18, 2021 / 0 comments

Music for shifting times is what we decided to name this series, back several years ago. Circumstances continue to shift, in political situations, in nature, in personal lives, in what happens day to day. In the music, there are several sorts of change, and several ways musicians have thought about and created ideas around them.

Words and Wisdom: Songs of Change

Passages: Music for Rough Times and Calmer Spaces

by Kerry Dexter /
Kerry Dexter's picture
Aug 18, 2020 / 0 comments

The saying that walking on uneven ground is good for improving balance strikes me as a metaphor for parts of the shifting times we are in at present. Music to help you think about that here, from rough seas to calmer waters, from quiet walks to a  tale holding wisdom from older times.

Passages: Music for Rough Times and Calmer Spaces

Music from the Heart: Ireland

by Kerry Dexter /
Kerry Dexter's picture
Mar 17, 2020 / 0 comments

It is a time of year when thoughts turn to Ireland. It is the time of Saint Patrick's Day. The whole of this time of year, from February through May, is known as Patrick season, for that reason. At the time of Saint Patrick in earlier years in this series, I reflected that the story of Ireland, its diaspora, and its people, is one of making it through hardship and change, and finding ways to do that while keeping music in the heart, and sharing that music.

Pages