All across the world, politics and social life continue to shift and to change.

At certain times and in certain places, those shifts and changes seem to lead toward peace, toward connection, toward progress. At other times and in other places, chaos and fear haunt present and future.

In the midst of these things, hope can be a constant. Hope offers the idea of connection and the possibility of brighter future.

Music can be a source to share and reflect this. The creativity of musicians can also hold reminders that hope must come side by side with courage.

Those are things Bernice Johnson Reagon knew a good bit about. Growing up the daughter of a minister, she knew music early; growing up in southwest Georgia in the fifties and sixties, she knew the civil rights movement early, too.

These aspects came together for her when, as a young civil rights activist, she founded The Freedom Singers, an a capella group whose music drew on spirituals with visions of hope  that resonated with events of the time, and original songs which included such events directly in their stories.

As political times shifted and changed, Reagon kept singing and continued her activism. She followed her love of African American music as a scholar, through doctoral studies at Howard University. She founded another singing group, Sweet Honey in the Rock, which continues today. Dr. Reagon passed away recently. Here is one of her songs, a reminder appropriate for the shifts and changes of this moment. It is called Give Your Hands to Struggle. It is the title track of the album on which you will find it recorded.

“Think not of casting off your dreams...” Cathie Ryan sings as the first line of the song Walk the Road. The song is a poetic look at hope, resilience, and friendship.

It was written by Kate Rusby, who is from Yorkshire in the north of England. Cathie Ryan liked it so well she decided to draw the title of the album on which she recorded it, Through Wind and Rain, from a line of the chorus, and Rusby liked Cathie’s version of the song so well she joined in on harmonies.

Ryan is Irish-American and draws on both aspects of her heritage in the songs she writes and those she chooses to cover. Based in Ireland at present, she has lived in both countries and has performed across the world.

Claire Lynch is a singer and songwriter whose music draws on country, bluegrass, and from time to time, jazz and swing, too. She has brought her harmonies and her songwriting to projects by top-class Nashville artists, as well as winning awards for her own work.

The lyrics in her song Second Wind invite hope:

Somethin' familiar blew in with the wind
a dream I let fall by the wayside
I find myself yearnin' to live it again
Now, there's no stoppin' me this time
...
I feel a second wind blowin', blowin' my way

You will find Second Wind recorded on her album Moonlighter. Claire lived for a number of years in Alabama, but she makes her home north of the US border in Canada these days. You may also want to see her album North by South in which she offers a bluegrass-inflected take on songs by top Canadian singer songwriters.

Louise Bichan’s instrument is the fiddle.

With the two tunes in the Deltingside set, she offers lively pieces that resonate with the sounds of hope and may have you dancing a few steps as you take them in.

Louise is from Orkney in Scotland (among other things, she played on the first EP from the band Fara, whose music you’ve met here before). She is currently based in the New England area. Among those joining her on the set are Ethan Setiawan on octave mandolin and mandolin, Conor Hearn on guitar, Brendan Hearn on cello, Brad Kolodner on banjo, and Simon Chrisman on hammer dulcimer. You will find the set recorded on Louise’s album called The Lost Summer.

Rani Arbo was bringing her (then young) son to school one day. She had a lot of things on her mind, more than she wanted to think about, really...and this song, Keep It in Mind, became a result. Good questions and good advice in the words, and a catchy tune to sing along with if you are so inclined.

Rani is part of the New England-based quartet Rani Arbo and daisy mayhem, with whom she recorded the song. The men of daisy mayhem are Scott Kessel on percussion, Anand Nayck on guitars, and Andrew Kinsey on bas; Rani herself plays fiddle and guitar, and they all song. You will find it on their album called Violets are Blue.

Alison Brown’s main instrument is the banjo. Both in music she writes and music she covers, she respects the banjo’s origins in folk and bluegrass and at times takes that to other places.

That happens with the Sun and Water set, in which she pairs George Harrison’s Here Comes the Sun with a piece by Antonio Carlos Jobim. This makes an excellent invitation for reflecting on the idea of hope. Brown is joined on the set by John Ragusa on flute, Chris Walters on piano, Garry West on bass, and Jordan Perlson on drums.

Alison, originally from California, has long been based in Nashville. You will find this music on her album called On Banjo.

Though she performs in locations across the country and around the world, Carrie Newcomer often draws on her Indiana roots and home place to make her songs. Some of these speak directly to that Indiana landscape, others reference that landscape a bit more indirectly.

That latter is the case with the song Stones in the River.  

The image of dropping stones into a river paired with the idea of persistence of action and intention—and hope—seems a good way to draw this story to a close. The idea also circles back a bit to Bernice Johnson Reagon’s ideas in Give Your Hands to Struggle. You will find the song Stones in the River on Newcomer’s album called Before and After. You may also want to see Carrie Newcomer's recent album called A Great Wild Mercy.

May the creativity of these artists be good companion as you reflect on hope, intention, courage, and shifting times.

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.

Music for Shifting Times

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.