We wanted to focus this week’s Gaian Reflection on a very special announcement. This past week we’re chose the recipient of the inaugural Earth Eclectic Music Award: Kate Daisy Grant and Nick Pynn of Sussex, England, for their album Songs for the Trees.
For those just tuning in, the Earth Eclectic Radio Hour is a project of the Gaian Way, now syndicated on multiple stations across the U.S. with a presence on the East Coast, the West Coast, and the Gulf Coast. The call for award nominations, which closed on Earth Day, garnered dozens of submissions featuring astounding ecologically-minded music from around the world.
Earth Eclectic’s hosts, Laura Dedelow and Bart Everson, went into deep listening mode for a month. The decision was not easy. (You can listen to some of the honorable mentions and hear the struggle to pick a single recipient.) And yet ultimately the recipient became clear.
Laura and Bart describe Song for the Trees simply as cohesive in vision and extraordinary in execution: a collection of songs drawing from the Ogham alphabet. Yes, there is an ancient Celtic tree alphabet—and truly inspiring for an ecocentric Gaian! Ogham is the earliest form of writing known in Ireland, and it’s written from the roots up, with branches that look rather tree-like. (You can play around with the Ogham Transliterator.) Each letter is associated with a different tree or shrub, as well as its kennings, its mythological resonances, and its medicine.
Listen to episode 0112 to hear selections from the album plus much more. We’re especially excited to share an exclusive from Kate Daisy Grant, in which she speaks on how the album was made — including the practice of going out to find each tree before writing its song, asking permission, and waiting to receive what the tree wished to impart. It is, she says, one of the greatest privileges of her life. Nick Pynn, her husband and the album’s multi-instrumentalist, provides the intricate string arrangements that give each song its particular atmosphere, rooted and reaching at once.
The Gaian Way is proud to honor this amazing music and provide a thousand-dollar prize, which, as you’ll hear Laura note at the end of the episode, is going to help with medical treatment for Kate and Nick’s rescue dog, Lemon. While we don’t know if Lemon likes ecospiritual music, we’re sure her dog-nature and presence inspire Kate and Nick and we wish all the best in Lemon’s recovery!
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