GUEST POST: BETH WHITNEY: THE TREES ARE LAUGHING
Beth Whitney released her first album Leave Your Shoes in 2007, which garnered heavy airplay in the Seattle area. She released Yellow in 2010 and Ukulele in 2012, both of which won songwriting awards and were put into heavy rotation by local AAA stations.
In 2013, after the birth of her son, Beth partnered with neighbor and fellow artist, Bradford Loomis, to write and record a self-titled album, The Banner Days (2014) and Hand Me A Hymnal (2015.) The collaboration garnered critical acclaim while they toured extensively across the nation including a performance at the Lincoln Center in New York, and garnered over 2 million streams on Spotify for their co-write, “My Beloved.”
Abounding with nature-themed undertones that call to the beauty of the PNW, Whitney’s new album Into the Ground is an introspective collection of songs that transports listeners in flights of wonder, digging into the messiness of our daily lives and inspiring the audience to look inward in search of a common humanity. Into The Ground is set for release on May 28th via Tone Tree Music.
Last week I was driving through town when my 3 year old gave a little gasp and said, “The trees are laughing!” And sure enough there they were, all along the road full of spring and sunshine, and a breeze of laughter. “You’re right!” I said. Then I saw her smile in the rearview mirror as she added, “The people are too.”
Of course I had been preoccupied revolving through the chaos that seems to be moving in and increasing around us. This pulled me right back into the moment though and I looked around and saw what my 3 year old saw. A beautiful moment. A beautiful day. Of course our job is to protect our kids and help them grow, and this takes thinking ahead, but kids are the masters of mindfulness and being present. Life, as it turns out, plays out in the tangible, not in our heads.
I can’t imagine Into the Ground without my children’s handprints.
“Wild Roses” sprang from something my dad said to me after my daughter was born. He said, “Sometimes we can look out on a field in winter and forget that the ground underneath is humming with strength and design, preparing for spring.” There can be a sort of quiet desperation wrapped up in the sacred hum of a 3am lullaby. There is a push and pull underneath what can feel monotonous. The tug from unearned love in the gaze of a little person who looks up at you, like you have all the answers. The letting go of expectations for your life and who you thought you were.
There is so so much happening in those early years and yet when someone would ask me what I was up to, I’d fumble through my mind and mumble, “Yeah! Um...laundry...nursing...we go for walks...uh...might be getting teeth...I’m tired...?” The toughest part about describing motherhood is that the moments of pure heavenly bliss are beyond description...like, “Well I was doing dishes and overheard my 7 year old helping my 3 year old with letters and my heart filled up.” Moments when your chest cracks open and light comes in. It’s all stirred in there. The brutal and the beautiful.
We’re all growing and it’s uncomfortable and sleepy, but then a little person reminds you that the trees, in their wisdom, are laughing.
Socials:
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