Taking Flight Audio CD comes with a beautiful tri-fold, Eco-Wallet two pocket case, of both full color and black and white images, liner notes, lyrics, and details about the music for this project.
On "Taking Flight," Amelia Hogan sings both traditional and contemporary folk music with lilting grace and subtlety. Weaving a mysterious old magic, Hogan transports her listeners out of time and place with haunting melodies and evocative storytelling. The 16-track album features one original (the title track), which is a joyous a cappella number in four-part harmony, a number of traditional, public domain songs, and interpretations of songs by contemporary
songwriters including Laurie Lewis, Lankum, David Francey, Anais Mitchell, and Jez Lowe. Photos: Venee Call-Ferrer
Produced by Hogan at Foxtail Sound in Dixon, CA, with celebrated musicians Ray Frank (co-producer), Richard Mandel, David Brewer, Christa Burch, Rebecca Richman, Maureen Brennan, and Marla Fibish, Taking Flight is a cathartic and healing endeavor. Songs were chosen to acknowledge grief, loss, heartache, hope, and ultimately a joy-filled conclusion. The theme of birds runs through the project. Often seen as a symbol of loss and sorrow, birds also represent hope and healing and the ability to find beauty in the midst of hardship. The intent of this work is to take the listener on a journey through grief and out the other side, as a bird taking flight might.
Hogan shared, "For many of us, the few years since the spring of 2020 have been full of grief and loss, between death, illness, cultural changes, and unprecedented political upheaval. It feels as if nothing has been left untouched. As I worked through these feelings in my own life, I kept returning to singing and sharing songs related to birds as solace, comfort, and inspiration. No matter how much we feel we’ve been grounded, we can always find a way to take flight again."
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In order to heal from abuses, we have to acknowledge and grieve them. I included this song for that cathartic purpose. May you find solace in knowing that you’re not alone in the need to grieve, here and now, all that has happened.
Nb*: wrens hold a cultural significance in Irish mythology, as the maligned, unwanted, and clever character whose title is “unearned”. They’re survivors in both literal and metaphorical senses, as were the Curragh Wrens of Kildare about whom this song is written.
lyrics
Sharp is the wind, cold is the rain
Harsh is the livelong day, upon the wide open plain
By Donnelly's hollow, under sad gorse and furze
There lies a young wren oh, by the saints she was cursed
The wren is a small bird, how pretty she sings
She bested the eagle, when she hid in its wings
With sticks and with stones, all among the small mounds
They come from all over, to hunt the wren on the wide open ground
They flock round the soldiers, in their jackets so red
For barrack room favors, for pennies and bread
The soldier is rough, in anger or fun
And he causes much bloodshed, with his big musket gun
The birds of the earth, the beasts of the field
By spite and by fury, are people revealed
Attacked in the village, spat on in town
They come from all over, to hunt the wren on the wide open ground
The wren is a small bird, though blamed for much woe
Her form is derided, wherever she goes
With cold want and whiskey, she soon is run down
Her body paraded, on a staff through the town
Her head for her ceiling, the sod was her floor
She chose the cold open plain o’er, the dark workhouse door
With two broken wings, and feathers so brown
They come from all over, to hunt the wren on the wide open ground
credits
from Taking Flight,
released December 1, 2022
Hunting the Wren - Lankum, Ian Lynch
Amelia Hogan-vocals, Richard Mandel-guitar, Rebecca Richman-fiddle
Amelia Hogan sings traditional Irish, Scottish, British American, and Contemporary folk music with lilting graces and
powerful subtlety. You’ll be transported by her singing,
She has enchanted audiences from Oregon to New York, Dublin to San Francisco and back again....more
supported by 5 fans who also own “Hunting the Wren”
Wonderful music. Great playing by all. There is so much great traditional music around today and this is amongst the best of them. Ensemble playing like this is the best. oldjembo
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