Episode Summary
In this pandemic, a lot of us stopped traveling. But now more and more, some of us are taking advantage of the warm weather of summer to make a simple trip here or there. If we can’t travel physically, though, we can travel in the mind. Poems help us travel to another time and place; this week’s episode has several examples of travel as a metaphor in poems. This week we have music from Anadama, Nova, Live Wire, Gus Voorhees, and Aaron Marcus. Julie reads a poem by Walt Whitman, Charis Boke reads a poem by William Butler Yeats, and Ben Williams reads a poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay. We’d love to hear from you, if you want to send us music or poetry or just say hello. And if you feel inspired, please share the word about our new Patreon! You can reach us and find the Patreon at starsintherafters.com. Thanks so much. Take care, everyone.
Episode Notes
1. Le Canal en Octobre / En Flandres – Anadama (Portland, ME). Anadama is Amelia Mason (fiddle), Bethany Waickman (guitar), and Emily Troll (accordion). This pair of schottisches by Frédéric Paris can be found on their new CD, Way Back When, available for purchase on Bandcamp and their website. www.anadamamusic.com http://anadama.bandcamp.com
2. Aboard at a ship’s helm, by Walt Whitman. Read by Julie Vallimont (Brattleboro, VT).
3. Anderson’s Coast – Everest Witman (Montréal, QC). This tune is from Nova’s album Chasing the Sunset, featuring Kathleen Fownes on fiddle, Everest on guitar, and Guillaume Sparrow-Pepin on accordion. www.novatriomusic.com
4. Coté à Coté – Live Wire (Philadelphia, PA). Live Wire is Tom Krumm on fiddle, Ben Kennedy on keyboard, Bill Quern on mandolin, and Sarah Gowan on concertina. Bill writes, “Coté à Coté is French for Side by Side. Sarah wrote this inspired by French mazurkas, a closely danced kind of waltz. She was also thinking of it as a tune for any relationship between two.” http://livewirecontra.band/
5. Sailing to Byzantium, by William Butler Yeats. Read by Charis Boke (Springfield, VT).
6. Orange in Bloom – Gus Voorhees (Somerville, MA). Gus describes this as “one of the best English tunes. A triumphant theme or a deep breath of summer air in the evening. Recorded at home.” https://linktr.ee/gusvoorhees
7. Travel, by Edna St. Vincent Millay. Read by Ben Williams (Northampton, MA). Ben writes, “I think many of us are longing for travel these days – anywhere and any way. Sometimes thoughts of distant places, and traveling by car or train, fill both my day dreams and night dreams.”
8. Waiting for Phyllis – Aaron Marcus (Montpelier, VT). This waltz, commissioned by Phillis Varga, is from Aaron Marcus’s solo album Men Don’t Cry. https://aaronmarcus.bandcamp.com/releases
The opening music is “The Pearl in Sorrow’s Hand” by Julie Vallimont, from her album Dark Sky, Bright Stars. Produced by Julie Vallimont. Mixed and mastered by Dana Billings. All content courtesy of the artists, all rights reserved. This series is supported in part by the Country Dance and Song Society, NEFFA, and Pinewoods Camp. If you enjoy this podcast, please consider supporting it via Patreon: www.patreon.com/starsintherafters