![\"\"](\"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/hands-150x150.png\")
\u201cRemember, we all stumble, every one of us. That\u2019s why it\u2019s a comfort to go hand in hand.\u201d Emily Kimbrough, author and broadcaster (1899-1989)<\/p>\n\u201cRemember, we all stumble, every one of us. That\u2019s why it\u2019s a comfort to go hand in hand.\u201d Emily Kimbrough, author and broadcaster (1899-1989)<\/p>\n
I am not familiar with Emily nor her work, but I sure like this quote and maybe you noticed she lived a really long life. Heads up to my introvert, extrovert and whatever<\/em>-vert friends. \u00a0Even during these \u201cdon\u2019t touch me, don\u2019t breathe on me\u201d times, our pals, our friends, our tribes, the online faces in little Zoom boxes, we are throwing lifelines to each other.<\/p>\n We are \u201cwalking each other home.\u201d (Ram Dass)<\/p>\n I\u2019m one lucky lady because I am living the creative life. Got the music thing happening and like my daddy, I love to write. It\u2019s a party in my brain when the two go matchy-matchy.<\/em><\/p>\n Three years ago, I was working with a couple ukulele students on gospel tunes. I love songs with thumping rhythm that rolls in my belly. \u00a0But I\u2019m not a \u201creligious\u201d person so for my daily dose of inspiration, I look to you, the beloved community*.<\/em> Numberless hands and hearts, known and unknown, help me through each day, like invisible rings of warm<\/em>.<\/p>\n And it hit me. Why don\u2019t I try to write one of those rollicking hand-clapping songs but what will I talk about? Well of course, the beloved community<\/em>. Just like that, the melody and words poured out. This rarely happens in my songwriting life, where the creative process is more like pro-wrestling than “a spell.” But with Brand New Day, the beloved community<\/em> waved its magic wand.<\/p>\n Then I did a ukulele arrangement for The CC Strummers. They loved it too and we performed the song at Fiesta La Ballona, which is Culver City\u2019s equivalent to a county fair. Some people in the audience gave us a standing ovation and yelled \u201cmore\u2026more\u2026more.\u201d As a songwriter, it just doesn\u2019t get any better than that.<\/p>\n Flash forward to here and now<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cMay you live in interesting times.\u201d Apparently this is an English expression that is based on an old Chinese curse. We are painfully aware of all the awful<\/em> that is happening in the world. \u00a0How easy it is to miss the little flower growing through a crack in the sidewalk. \u00a0Or through a seemingly impenetrable wall that separates us?<\/p>\n A friend once told me that life is a mystery to be lived, not solved. So I look to the beloved community<\/em> to sustain me. We are going through this together, like sentries, quietly and not-so-quietly, witnessing our shared humanity. \u00a0The joys, the sorrows. \u00a0The whole mess of it.<\/p>\n The CC Strummers\u2019 tech master, Michael Kohan, has taken on this project\u2014to turn Brand New Day into a marvelous Zoom mosaic. A musical partnership. Several of our players made their own videos and sing along on that catchy chorus. I hope you will sing along too. Watch the bouncing ball!<\/em><\/p>\n CLICK HERE<\/a> to watch Brand New Day!<\/strong><\/p>\n Thank you Michael for your extraordinary work! And thank you to our ohana who appear and sing on this video: Ellen B, Carole E, Lyn G, Nancy H, Bobbie H, Marilyn H, Lorri K, Sherry K, Michael K (editor and bass), Ethan K, Tom K, Donna N, Joyce P, Nomi R, Robert R, Bob S, Bonnie S, Lin Van G and Mollie W.<\/p>\n If this song is new to you and you\u2019d like to learn it and\/or share it with your peeps, Brand New Day is available as sheet music. <\/strong><\/p>\n I\u2019m going to sound like one of those late night infomercials\u2026 \u201cFor $5, yes only $5, the sheet music is yours AND there\u2019s more! I will throw in the ukulele arrangement too. Whoo-Hoo!\u201d If you are interested please CLICK HERE<\/a> for more information.<\/p>\n Thank you for showing up, for yourself and others. Thank you for fighting the good fight, whatever that is, and for helping to make this brand new day a place we all want to share.<\/p>\n _______<\/p>\n If you would like to Zoom with The CC Strummers on Monday afternoons and Thursday mornings please CLICK HERE<\/a> to check out my Zoom classes. Thank you!<\/p>\n *The Beloved Community<\/em> is a term that was first coined in the early 20th Century by the philosopher Josiah Royce and later popularized by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.<\/p>\n CLICK HERE<\/a> to watch The CC Strummers perform Brand New Day at Fiesta La Ballona.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cRemember, we all stumble, every one of us. That\u2019s why it\u2019s a comfort to go hand in hand.\u201d Emily Kimbrough, author and broadcaster (1899-1989) I am not familiar with Emily nor her work, but I sure like this quote and maybe you noticed she lived a really long life. Heads up to my introvert, extrovert and whatever-vert friends. \u00a0Even during these \u201cdon\u2019t touch me, don\u2019t breathe on me\u201d times, our pals, our friends, our tribes, the online faces in little … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6450,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","kt_blocks_editor_width":"","_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[212,41,106],"class_list":["post-6468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blogentry","tag-sing-along-songs","tag-ukulele","tag-ukulele-groups"],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":2,"label":"blog entry"}],"post_tag":[{"value":212,"label":"sing along songs"},{"value":41,"label":"ukulele"},{"value":106,"label":"ukulele groups"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/brand-new-day-thumb.jpg",500,332,false],"author_info":{"display_name":"Cali Rose","author_link":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/author\/crbauthor\/"},"comment_info":26,"category_info":[{"term_id":2,"name":"blog entry","slug":"blogentry","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":2,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":138,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":2,"category_count":138,"category_description":"","cat_name":"blog entry","category_nicename":"blogentry","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":[{"term_id":212,"name":"sing along songs","slug":"sing-along-songs","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":212,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":2,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":41,"name":"ukulele","slug":"ukulele","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":41,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":15,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":106,"name":"ukulele groups","slug":"ukulele-groups","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":106,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":5,"filter":"raw"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6468","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6468"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6468\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6495,"href":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6468\/revisions\/6495"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/brand-new-day-thumb.jpg\")
I started playing the song at my gigs. Folks clapped and sang along on the easy-peasy chorus<\/em>: \u201cOh hallelujah! Oh hallelujah! Oh hallelujah! It\u2019s a brand new day.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/calirose.com\/wackyworld\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Michael-K-smile-bass-uke-617x1024.jpg\")
My ukulele group, The CC Strummers, has morphed into a global ohana online. I am gobsmacked and filled with gratitude that we have the technology to support this kind of work and that we have each other. This is where I have landed\u2014at the intersection of music, technology and all that \u201cit takes a village\u201d stuff.<\/p>\n
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