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 Alexandra Blakely and friends will be recording an album entirely dedicated to grief in July 28-31 2023 with over 150 voices in Sedro-Woolley, WA. The album “WAILS: songs for grief,” is inspired by the five gates of grief from Francis Weller’s book, “The Wild Edge of Sorrow.”

Yes, it will be a 4 day grief, pleasure & rest gathering. Yes, kids can come and there will be daycare during our recorded song circles. Yes, people will pay for their camping/food/choir/tailored experience with elders, musicians, artists & grief-ful ministry. Yes there will be a minor audition process required. And yes, you should definitely save those dates if you imagine yourself there. The event will go live in March 2023.

If you are curious about how to stay updated, signing up the HEALING AT THE ROOTS newsletter is the best way.

 

On this album there is a song for each gate - an opening and closing song and an opening and closing prayer. This album is meant to be like sitting in a circle, a ceremony if you will, to honor grief in a culture that is grief-illiterate & grief phobic.

Visionary/Curator: Alexandra Blakely

Sound Engineer: Todd Boston

Musical Production Support: Max Ribner

Illustrator: Seeds of Spells

GOFUNDME SUPPORT NEEDED

This is it. Dream come through. With your support, Alexandra Blakely and friends will be recording an album entirely dedicated to grief in July 2023 with over 150 voices. This album is called “WAILS: songs for grief,” and it is inspired by the five gates of grief from Francis Weller’s book, “The Wild Edge of Sorrow.” There will be a song for each gate - an opening and closing song and an opening and closing invocation/prayer/spell. This album is meant to be like sitting in a circle, a ceremony if you will, to honor grief in a culture that is grief-illiterate & grief phobic.

 

Update 3-12-23

Although we have reached our online goal, our second fundraising strategy for the production of the album will be through the summer recording gathering we are curating (see more below). This means we are still accepting donations through this gofundme campaign. Every contribution gets poured into the making of the album. 

 

Fundraising history: 

On 11-11-22 we launched this fundraiser and 1 month and 4 days later we collectively reached our goal of $11,111. On March 11, 2023, we had an in-person fundraiser in Seattle, WA and collectively raised $10,000 in one night, in 3 hours! Over a hundred people joined us that evening to support the eagle-eye vision of WAILS. Visionaries are we. To create an album that will reach into the homes of thousands, if not millions, to invoke this apprenticeship with sorrow (as Francis Weller would say), and hopefully inspire the act of not only communal singing but communal grieving.

Will you join us in this project?

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