For a little bit of context…
When we are working on a new song, we usually have an audio recorder on our phones running so that we can listen back to what we sang for reference as we write a new arrangement and create practice tracks for ourselves. (Almost all of our arranging happens by ear–we only sometimes write things down after we have a song finished because for us, this kind of music is all about listening and collaborative creation, rather than learning notes from a piece of sheet music.) However, our rehearsal process often devolves into ridiculousness and giggles, and for a few years now, we’ve talked about how funny it would be to make a video with sock puppets using one of the many recordings that show our…. less productive side.
Think back six months, to December 2019. We were preparing for a Really Big Show: sharing the stage with Nowell Sing We Clear as they came out of retirement to celebrate the release of their new songbook. There’s a lot we could say about Nowell’s profound influence on our lives and music, and how big a deal it was for us to perform with them, but we’ll stick to the story of this particular rehearsal, where we were trying to learn the finale piece for the concert: Villagers All, written by Andy Davis with text from The Wind in the Willows.
This beautiful piece is the title track of Nowell’s final album, Bidding You Joy, but we were having trouble remembering the arrangement on the final verse, where the melody was passed between the different ensembles, then all voices join in unison for the last line. We were looping it for repetition when Jeremy started acting out the animal noises mentioned in line 3, and it was all downhill from there.
Lynn and Will get all the credit for creating this fabulous video! Their sock puppets made their debut performance in a virtual sock puppet choir video that Lauren made for Jeremy’s birthday in May (which includes appearances by several of our Patreon supporters!), and we think this is probably not the last you’ll see of them.
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We hope that this video brings you a moment of laughter and lightness in these tumultuous times. We know that people turn to artists for many reasons: inspiration, entertainment, emotional processing, escape, setting a mood, changing a mood, pumping up, winding down, finding solace, expressing solidarity, and so much more. One of the reasons you are drawn to Windborne, we’re guessing, is that something in our message of social justice speaks to you, and we want to hold ourselves accountable to you in continuing to live up to that part of our mission. Sometimes we might just make a silly post because that is also part of who we are, but in this moment, we wanted to share some resources with you that have been helpful for us as we grapple with our own participation in white supremacy and the systems that uphold racial injustice.
1. If you have been overwhelmed by the deluge of information and resources flying around right now, this document is an excellent place to start. It’s scaffolded, structured journey through anti-racism work. In the words of the document’s authors: The goal is to facilitate growth for white folks to become allies, and eventually accomplices for anti-racist work. These resources have been ordered in an attempt to make them more accessible.
2. This Google doc is another incredible collection of resources for anti-racism work–books, podcasts, articles, videos, and TV/movies, as well as a list of organizations to follow and support. It includes specific resources for parents who want to raise anti-racist kids. (Some of the resources overlap with the Scaffolded Anti-Racism document)
These lists are by no means comprehensive, but they are an excellent place to start. We hope you are taking some time right now for introspection and action, and we welcome your thoughts and comments along your journey at any point!
