Call of the wild
Next up in the current line of Dialogic releases is 'Wild Home', due out later this month. It feels timely for me. Change is in the air, and in amongst the harbingers of change I hear the 'wild bells calling me home', to tap into the lyrical theme of the song.
What does 'wild' mean? I often think of it in terms of contrast - what it's not. It's not tame, not domesticated, not bowing to human culture. The social pressure to fit in, to do the done thing, seems helpful for getting things done, in a polite sort of way. But it's a pressure that tries to keep the wild in a tidy box. 'Hey, don't fence me in!' calls back the wild.
Some years ago I undertook a training course called Wild Therapy. There's an interesting book by that name, written by the trainer and author, Nick Totton, who coined the term. My Wild Therapy training took place camping out in a remote valley in Lancashire, way off the beaten track. I remember each time I ventured out there for a camping stay of several days I would get a jolt to my domesticated system, a hefty shot of enlivening discomfort.
It was a good context for me to appreciate my tame tendency to see myself as separate from Nature. Within the confines of my human-made environment, busying myself with my human-centric endeavours, I can lose touch with everything else out there which doesn't happen to be human. But then I have a pause moment in my human-centricity, and I can see afresh that the other-than-human is actually quite a lot. With a wild view I see that humans are, of course, contained within Nature, and a fairly small subset at that.
Wild bells toll
Over the last months I've been trying on loads of new hats with arranging, recording, releasing and marketing my songs. All the different activities involved in that are part of the 'wild whole'. But I'm now feeling the pull of a quieter season where I can try to tune into wild whisperings that over time, and with care, will hopefully grow into new songs.
For my temperament the noisiness of some of the activities involved in releasing music makes it hard for me to tune into the song-writing process at the same time. Take social media, for instance. I wasn't even quite sure what Facebook and Instagram were before I started recording music. Then I discovered that they could be a great device to help share the music widely, even world-wide. Similarly with a newsletter like this - it would never have crossed my mind to write about my music, and myself in connection with my music, and just put it out there. I'm glad for the experiment of giving it a go, and it does seem to make sense, to write some words about the intersection of my life experience and my songs.
However, this business of spreading the word is inherently noisy. I've been joining in with the here's-my-contribution-throng. It's felt lively and interesting, but now I'm hearing the call to step back to a quieter place where it's easier to perceive the other-than-human frequencies that may make their way into new songs.
Interconnections
I hope and trust any connections I have made in the last months, in music or word, will remain connected. Retreating to my quiet/wild place may have the appearance of disconnecting. But my hope is that all of life's big and small endings are contained within one story of overarching connection - a big, wild story!
Even if out of sight and out of mind, we will still somehow be in touch. And I'm not stepping off the social media roundabout quite yet. There's at least one more newsletter after this one in the current line-up.
Wild Home
I'll send out a prompt when you can have a listen to the new song, Wild Home, later in September. Maybe it will evoke one of those 'not's' in you as you listen: not tame, not domesticated, not bowing to human culture.
Live this month
I'm looking forward to playing live with all my Dialogic band mates at the Duns Beer and Food Festival, Sunday 17th September at the Volunteer Hall in Duns. I'll announce the time of our slot closer to the date on social media. It would be lovely to see you there!
You can book tickets here.
