Ups and downs

Blogpost No 3 March 2022

Ola sweet Blogpost readers. I have a rollercoaster ride of news this month. First of all I have actual evidence of songwriting success. Hurrah. And I’m going to be brave and share a snippet!

Before that though let me say that my creative regime started Feb 7th and was working a treat. I got up just before 6am … walked Sweep; meditated; then sat down at the computer and wrote. I have half a dozen songs on the go and one completed. I was feeling great!

Then last week mum had laryngitis which for a couple of days was quite funny. You should have heard her! She was fine in herself and was getting better each day. Then Wednesday she was ready to go back to day care but tested positive! And so did me and Bob. Boo! So we are cosied up in the house till March 19th and I’ve lost my creative mojo. Well I say lost … there are flickers of it returning now the initial tiredness and head cold symptoms are subsiding. I’ll get back to it! We are all absolutely fine so please don’t worry about us. We’re made of strong stuff.

So to my finished song. It’s inspired by the tale of how the birds of the island decided who would be king of the birds. Here’s a snippet to pique your interest:

The next song or at least the one closest to a finished lyric is a somewhat darker tale and at the moment is called “She Was A Wise Woman”. It tells of a tragedy with the Herring Fleet of Peel one midsummer’s eve. There was a tradition of asking the local wise woman what kind of catch they could expect. But on this dreadful occasion all she saw was death! I shall leave you with that cliff hanger and hopefully have some music to share next month.

The project I’m working on (working title “Children Of The Sea”) is being supported equally by the Isle of Man Arts Council and Culture Vannin. I am incredibly grateful to them both.

There is very little else to talk about as I’m sure you’ll appreciate however there are 2 glimpses of delight on the horizon. Hurrah! Firstly I have been invited to take part in a festival here on the island at the beginning of July. I’m thrilled to be able to work with local musicians and singers once more though I’ll hold off telling you the details till we have everything confirmed. But I’m excited!

And last of all I had chosen April 2nd for my FaceBook Live as a Saturday brunch time 10.30am which would enable my lovely grand daughters the chance to watch live at 8.30pm their time in Sydney … however I feel I’ll need a couple of weeks extra recovery so I’m back on my game so-to-speak … which brings us to Saturday April 16th 10.30am. I hope that works for you. As usual I’ll be doing a 30 minute smorgasbord of songs with enthusiasm and bewilderment. Hope to see you then.

Now you know everything!

I’m pretty sure I’ll have more musical break throughs to share next month and maybe even some gardening adventures too? I have my seed potatoes awaiting chitting and loads of seeds to sew in the next few weeks. I really need to clear out the green house - what’s left standing after our month of storms! All is well all shall be well.

Till then dear readers … stay well and keep rising above the turbulence!

Much love

Christine xxx

Children Of The Sea

Blogpost February 2022

I walk my mum’s dog, Sweep, every morning anytime between 6am and 7am. I have to admit that in January it was closer to 7am most days. One of the gifts of this delightful commitment is being aware of the change of light over a relatively short space of time. In December I needed a torch … but now in the middle of February I don’t. It’s a beautiful revelation each morning as I don my hat and wellies before heading out the door. No matter the state of the weather (and we had plenty of storms last month) even the merest extra smidgeon of light is a treat. And with the light the gathering dawn chorus, quite mute at the beginning of January, is now fully mellifluous. Hear for yourself:

Towards the end of January I had a bona fide old fashioned honest to goodness head cold. What a relief … the first in almost 2 years. There’s something rather enjoyable about a head cold. Permission is granted to rest, stay warm, snuggle down under the duvet, watch a bit of daft tv. It was also delightful to be fully taken care of. Bob was awesome. I also started, and completed, a jumper for a friend who turns 60 in April. I wanted her to have it while the weather warrants such an item of clothing :-) x she loves it!

My cold however has put paid to my daily dips. In fact I hadn’t indulged in my favourite pastime in nearly 3 weeks until today - Friday Feb 11th. I have so missed the cold sea. A sneaky Friday afternoon dip is always appealing especially when the sun is glinting on those frothy green wavelets. I feel so alive!

A promise I made during last month’s blogpost was to share any progress I make around creating new songs for my recording project inspired by Manx Folklore (and a sense of - magical - place) the working title for which is: “Children Of The Sea”. I have a few ditties ruminating in my musical brain and this week I began the lyric writing process. However there is nothing I feel confident about sharing at the moment but I’m encouraged by the progress so far and hope to have a wee bit of something to share next month. I realise this sounds like a cop-out but really... I will share once there’s something worth taking a peak at.

I can tell you that I’ll probably end up writing a number of short stories myself in order to break into the themes I’ve uncovered. Whether they’ll be a part of the CD is yet to be seen but perhaps I’ll find an ethereal (digital) space, for anyone interested, to read? They will definitely form the backdrop to some of the songs.

For instance, I’m excited to reveal the backstory to the unknown singer of “No One Knows His Name” from Daphne’s Flight’s “Knows Time Knows Change”. And also looking at another song about the sea goddess (for that read mermaid!) Fand - Goddess Of Mann. She is left to defend the Island when Manannan leaves (we don’t know where but it was something he was fond of doing) when news comes of a planned attack by the formidable Fomarions (Giants of the Under World). Unable to physically fight these marauders Fand sends to Ulster a message of help to a well known warrior hero of the day Cu Chullainn. He agrees to do so only if she marries him (he’s already married to a beautiful woman called Emer). Fand agrees (sight unseen!) But when they meet for the first time they both fall instantly, madly in love. There’s a whole lot going on in this tale which forms part of the well know “Ulster Cycle” of Irish mythology but the upshot is that they can never truly be together as Fand is an immortal being of the fairy Kingdom and Cu Chullainn is not. His presence in the Other World would break it. Fand decides, though it breaks her heart, to walk away. When Manannan finds out the whole sorry tale this is what he does:

“Manannán shakes his cloak between Cú Chulainn and Fand, ensuring the two will never meet again, and Cú Chulainn and Emer drink a potion to wipe the whole affair from their memories.”

My song starts where this takes off and is based on Fand’s heart break and a visit from her beautiful twin sister Liban (described as an actual mermaid) who comes to help her sister heal. I have Fand also forgetting what happened but being plagued by this unknown yearning which Liban tries to assuage.

Anyway that’s where I’m at.

I want to acknowledge with love and respect, the very sad passing this month of Norma Waterson. I met her on a number of occasions over the years and she was always warm hearted, compassionate, fierce in her love of Folk music and generous in her encouragement to connect with it. I was honoured to sing with Waterson Carthy at Topic Records’ 70th anniversary celebration at the Barbican Theatre 2009. I was really unsure about taking part as I rarely sing traditional songs and didn’t want to let Norma, Martin and Eliza (or Topic Records immense catalogue) down in any way. I voiced this worry the day we rehearsed and they each reassured me that interpretation was a necessity for the music to not only survive but to thrive. Norma said with such kindness and passion: “It’s a living tradition … it needs genuine interpretation in order to change and grow, for it to remain vital!” Thank you Norma … you were an amazing human, a wonderful and iconic singer who will be loved and remembered for many years to come. Bless you!

I will leave you this month with the delightful news that Bob and I will be celebrating our twelfth wedding anniversary … today! Sunday February 13th. To that end I ‘ll leave this little reminder of that wonderfully hilarious and perfect day. Married 12 years been together 22! Hurrah for love. What a trip it is.

Take care and keep rising above the turbulence!

See you for a FB Live in March :-) x that’s a promise x

Much love

Christine xx

2022 - a year of abundance and creativity!

Happy new year!

I have been absent without leave for quite a while. Nothing dreadful is going on but the energy needed to move creatively has been missing. It is on its way back! 2022 promises to be a year of leaping forward in tune with a wonderful wave of creativity. I plan to ride that wave!

There are of course certain changes - transformations even - that have taken place during this deeply contemplative time. The most significant and painful for me was making the decision to leave Daphne’s Flight. The announcement was made via FaceBook on Saturday (Jan 8th 2022) that I am unavailable to tour this year and that the rather wonderful Miranda Sykes will be joining Daphne’s for the foreseeable future. I am thrilled for Daphne’s and Miranda … it’s an inspired combination and I’m sure will prove to be a marvellous development of what has always been a powerful, musical and magical female force. Good luck Daphne’s … fly high!

I will reiterate here that I am perfectly healthy in mind, body and spirit and although a little trepidatious as to how the future might look or sound, I’m actually excited to be viewing life through delightfully crystal clear lenses. I trust you are all in some ways, feeling similarly.

I have several musical projects that are coming online with giddy excitement. I have a special project supported by 2 venerable Manx institutions: The Isle of Man Arts Council and Culture Vannin who have seen fit to award me equal funding to create an album of songs inspired by Manx Folklore and a (magical:) sense of place. I have so many themes and stories running through my head right now - the time is getting closer when these songs will be ready to step forward to be completed. I’m hoping to be able to share their progress as we move further into this abundant year.

There are also songs that Michael Fix and I started recording a year or more ago, that won’t wait any longer. It’s always a joy to collaborate with Michael even at the great distances we still have to contend with. We’re hoping to pick up where we left off in 2020 and be able to perform together again, if not this year, then most definitely 2023. May the long distance recording process be well and truly back on track this year.

And talking of the marvellous Mr Michael Fix here’s something he’s been working on, on our behalf recently:

'NORTH & SOUTH' NOW ON STREAMING PLATFORMS

“It's been 2 years since Christine Collister & I last performed together, in fact, our very last concert was in Gladstone (Qld), the night before the first wave of Covid lockdowns began in March 2020.

North & South is our second album, and was a popular seller at our concerts. With Christine's impeccable song choice, (and incredible vocal ability), this album has become a personal favourite of mine.

It's only now become available on all streaming platforms - we invite you to take a listen.

And if you prefer a physical copy, there are still a few copies available here. We love you for that.

If you want to get all fancy with technology, just point your phone camera at this QR code. it will take you to listening options…”

I’ll say au revoir for now and promise to be back with news of how those creative juices are flowing. I’m giving myself the rest of this month to gather my thoughts and have February firmly fixed in my sites as a time to jump in head first.

Until then, stay well and keep rising above the turbulence!

With love and endless blessings.

Christine xx

PS: I forgot to say … I turned 60 December 28th 2021! OMG! In celebration of that immutable fact I dipped in the sea; had a beautiful relaxing and very uplifting day of Yin Yoga (and so much more!) with Aoife Belle and many lovely friends who showered me with love, beauty and delight. And I have been treated to many unexpected and wonderful gifts. I feel loved, honoured and truly respected. What more could I ask? Thank you Universe you are amazing.