This week I’ve been busy researching the folk song “Dona, Dona” and learning the first verse and chorus in the original Yiddish. Did you know that it is not a traditional Yiddish folk song, but rather, was written for a Yiddish theatrical production in the 1930s? Learn more on the latest episode of GlobeSongs:
Tag: music
La Bamba
The third GlobeSongs episode features a look at the origins of the well-loved Mexican son jarocho style folk song “La Bamba.” To be notified of future episodes, subscribe to the GlobeSongs channel on YouTube.
GlobeSong 2: Tu Ase Turpa Ikavi
The second episode of my new YouTube series, GlobeSongs, is out. I’m discussing and singing the Georgian folk song, “Tu Ase Turpa Ikavi,” also known as “Satrpialo.” Enjoy, and let me know if you have any feedback on how to improve the series.
New Series: GlobeSongs
Hey y’all (as they say around these parts), I’m starting a new YouTube series called GlobeSongs, and have just uploaded the first video. Each episode, I will sing a different folk song from around the world and give it context, considering themes of culture, language, and geography. First up is the Scottish/Irish folk song, “Wild…
“Enough Stuff” Music Video
My daughter and I revisited the song “Enough Stuff” from my 2013 Who Are My People? album to try out more video editing and as an early celebration of Earth Day. I wrote the song in 2011 while serving as a Peace Corps Response volunteer in Benin, West Africa, and it was originally entitled “Waste”…
Jesse
I was captivated by the Janis Ian song “Jesse” recently and inspired to make a recording and video. The theme seems especially fitting during these pandemic times when so many are pining and isolated. Thanks to my daughter for the camera help!
Visiting a Catholic Mass in Togo
When I first arrived in Togo in September 2009 to begin my Peace Corps service in that country as a Girls’ Education and Empowerment volunteer, the other trainees and I stayed in Tsévié, a town twenty miles north of the capital, Lomé. Unlike the Northern, Lamba town of Kanté that would become my home for…
Who Are My People?
Four years after my more introspective debut album, Under My Skin, pregnant with my daughter and not knowing how much time I might have to work on music after her birth, I released my second album, Who Are My People? (2013). This one draws heavily from my time in West Africa, serving as a Peace…
Under My Skin
Under My Skin was my first musical album, released in 2009 after I returned from Peace Corps service in Azerbaijan. I had started performing as a singer-songwriter in Portland, Maine in 2006 while studying documentary radio at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies, and I had lots of time to practice guitar and work on…
Quante Stelle
Translation of lyrics to Lucilla Galeazzi’s song “Quante Stelle nel Cielo con la Luna,” a cover of which appears on my 2009 album Under My Skin. How Many Stars in the Sky with the Moon How many stars are in the sky with the moon? They are stars that set lovers aflame. The more brilliant…