In shifting times, it can be helpful to think about community.
Communities can exist in person and at distance, online and face to face. They may be made up of those who are family near and far, work colleagues near and far, people you see in the course of everyday events such as a trip to grocers, a stop at the library, a regular visit to a favorite cafe.
This music could offer you ideas to spark reflection on the ways community works through these shifting times.
Consider the stories Tish Hinojosa tells in her song Love Is on Our Side. That title could make you think it’s an optimistic anthem. Hope is surely present, but that comes from stories of people who have the courage and care to shelter each other as a storm draws near.
Hinojosa is the first generation daughter of parents who came to live in San Antonio, where she was born. She often sings in Spanish as well as in English, or blends the two languages in her work. This is a vintage video of her singing the song; she’s recorded many albums, all worth your exploration.
Tommy Sands wrote There Were Roses from ideas he knew growing up and living in Rostrevor, which is along the border that runs between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Cara Dillon, who sings it here, is also from the North, from Dungiven. She’s a bit younger than Tommy Sands; she too grew up with first hand knowledge of changes, division, and challenges of the time known as The Troubles. Cara has written of her experiences in that time in her book Coming Home, and Tommy touches on this in his book Songman.
Sometimes community can be found through the sharing of songs and tunes which have been handed down, changed with essence of their tradition kept as they passed through many hands and voices. That’s the case with the gospel song Oil in My Vessel, from Rani Arno and the men of daisy mayhem, who are Anand Nayak on guitar, Andrew Kinsey on bass, and Scott Kessel on percussion.
Cape Breton Island, in the northern part of the province of Nova Scotia in Atlantic Canada, is a place where music both creates and shares community. People from indigenous First Nations, Ireland, New England, French-speaking Acadians, and those who came over from Scotland, along with these days people from Ukraine and farther away, have met up on Cape Breton and continue to make community. All this is especially celebrated early in October each year during the Celtic Colours International Festival.
Dawn and Margie Beaton, sisters who grew up in Mabou, Cape Breton, are both well accomplished fiddle players, pianists, composers, and step dancers: that is, to say they know how to get to the heart of Cape Breton music, and to share it. You’ll hear that in this set which moves from reflective to fast paced. Dawn and Margie will taking part in Celtic Colours this autumn of 2025. If you’ll not be making it to Cape Breton, some concerts will be available on live stream.
Community can be found and shared through thinking about and interacting with nature, too. That is one of the things central to the creativity of the artists who’ve joined up for the Spell Songs project. In this song, they consider what may be learned from the lives of oak tree. Kris Drever sings lead and wrote the song. Kris will be coming over from his home in Scotland to take part in the Celtic Colours Festival this October, too.
May the creativity of these artists help you recognize and appreciate community wherever it appears.
Thank you for staying with us through this journey. Below, you'll find a link that will take you to an article which has a bit more backstory on the series. It also has links to a number of the stories, including ones called Listening for Community, Music for Winter's Changes, and The Geography of Hope.
Kerry Dexter is Music Editor at Wandering Educators.
You may find more of Kerry's work in National Geographic Traveler, Strings, Perceptive Travel, Journey to Scotland, Irish Fireside, and other places, as well as at her own site, Music Road. You can also read her work at Along the Music Road on Substack.