Holding Song by Ian Carrick
A song for holding together all that is too heavy to hold alone.
*Notes for songleaders*
-Please listen to the live version, with the verses, before you teach this. I don't expect folks to learn the verses, and, as a leader I'd like you to understand a little bit about where this song comes from. See below.
- I generally spend very little time teaching this. I sing the melody once and then invite folks to play and experiment with droning, the most ancient kind of singing, feeling free to find the melody too at any time.
-I often sing the alto part myself to juice things up. I find this approach gets the group out of their heads ("am I singing the right part?!") and into their hearts.
-Without guitar, it can be helpful to keep the beat somehow clearly with your body
- If you do want to teach parts, you'll find them here.
Tracklist
| 1. | Holding song - live with verses | 3:04 |
| 2. | Holding Song - chorus all parts | 2:44 |
| 3. | Holding Song - alto part | 2:11 |
| 4. | Holding song - octave drone | 1:42 |
| 5. | Holding song - 5th drone | 1:42 |
Credits
This song is dedicated to Angela Pastorino and Alfredo Hernandez whose lives were cruelly taken too early in Bend, OR on August 16, 2022. They were 18 year-old, beloved community members experiencing a young love together. This song wrote itself through me when I was asked to bring music to their memorial.
License
All rights reserved.
Ian is a community-oriented songwriter, songleader and music teacher based in his hometown of Bend, OR.
Ian sings on the ancestral lands of the Paiute, Wasco and Warm Springs people and is open to learning what right relationship looks like.
As a light-skinned banjoist, Ian tithes monthly to the Black Banjo Reclamation Project