There are women of resistance here from another time: Emily, Elinor, Helmi and Maybelle. History repeating, persistence, of the homesick, of the lost, the wild, the muse, the painter, the singer. All the ordinary hungers, the ordinary telling, the listening, the luck, ordinary goals to continue onward. Ordinary moments, shy moments. Equilibrium and resilience. And those wild winds of summer, brief songs of summer. All those ways to make them last.
This is just me, captured live. Complete with real life hesitations and buzzes. The ordinary sounds of a performer. My audience was a family of doves, goldfinches, cardinals, chipmunks and rabbits that I could view outside my basement window. I want to thank them for adding that Beatrix Potter tableaux.
I want to thank Matthew Zimmerman for lending me the sound equipment so I could roam around the roads of old songs and new, and also for mixing my vocal and guitar tracks so beautifully. I want to also thank John Reinhard for kindly sending me lyrics over all the years that I took and ran with and attached a tune. And thank you to Mary Overson for generously offering her poem that seemed to invite a melody. Acknowledgment goes to Helmi Mattson for inspiring the song I’m A Volcano and also to my mother Aili Jarvenpa for translating Mattson’s amazing poem. Helmi’s words launch each verse of this song.
And the most important thank you goes to my daughter LiLi who has been nudging me to make a recording of new tunes for a while now, all in English. And a big thank you to her for singing with me on the last track on the CD. And for taking the photos that appear on the jacket. This was a family DIY. All gratitude and love to her for her vision, voice and wisdom.
This past year drove home how an ordinary day often contains the extraordinary. Grateful for them all.
Listen to Twin Cities Weekend interview with Diane Jarvi on PRX: “Diane Jarvi Turns Towards Americana on Her Recent CD”
All songs Diane Jarvi · vocal and guitar
Except on Brief Wings of Summer- LiLi Jarvenpa: backup vocals
