“No matter who you are, what name you choose
The miles you’ve walked in someone else’s shoes
Who you are, the work you do
Does not define our care for you
You are welcome here.”
Dear Friends, what a time this has been!
The last few months have been a whirl of activities, including the release of Emergence and a variety of concerts in addition to my work as a therapeutic musician with Hospice. Here are a few highlights:
An article by Margaret Bikman in the Cascadia Daily about my life and work.
Emergence was released and reviews are coming in.
And there were concerts -
Feb. 24, 25 - Vox & Friends: Uncorked! Great fun! They are a terrific women’s choir under the direction of Wendy Bloom. I was a guest in their concert, performing “The Plague”.
Feb. 2 - Chuckanut Radio Hour. Jess Walters, who wrote “Cold Millions” was the guest. I sang three songs during the radio program, and led a sing-a-long of work songs along with Dave Tucker and Scott Slaba. The book is a great one, historical fiction about the IWW in Washington State.
Feb. 4th - CD Release and Food Bank Benefit at the Firehouse in Fairhaven. Wow! Sold-out concert with so much support from 11 musicians and many other volunteers. We raised money from the event and had a hell of a party!
March 20, 22 - House Concert and Presentation of “Here’s to the Women!” in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Working vacation as we fell in love with the people and the towns. I'm back home now, and things arequieter until Friday, May 26th, where I’ll preview Emergence at Folklife in Seattle.
So thanks to everyone for all the love and support during this time! It has been quite a ride for the past year and a half. Now it’s time to slow down and put some seeds in the ground. Spring is coming any day now….
In wild anticipation –
Linda
The March 4th Fundraiser and CD Release Celebration was great fun! To be surrounded by wonderful musicians, friends, and community acquaintances in such a loving and upbeat environment was incredibly special. Perhaps most important, it was an honoring of Linda and her role as songwriter, poet, and powerful musical presence in this community, and a loving recognition of the amazing body of work she has produced for over half a century, continuing right up to this remarkable CD, “Emergence.”
Thanks to all!!
Part of that fun, too, also extended beyond the event to being able to hand over to the Food Bank the money that was raised through ticket sales and donations. The picture above is me delivering the check you see to BFB’s Administrative staffer, Erin Vonnahme. And in case you’re a numbers nerd like me, directly above is a snippet of how we arrived at the amount donated,
Scott Slaba
You can view the short, 3-minute trailer to the “Here’s to the Women” performance above. For more information on booking a showing of this film, please contact me: www.lindasongs.com
Thank you!!! And please share!
Linda Allen
Women’s Suffrage
One-hundred years ago, Suffragists were state by state launching their final campaigns to secure the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment. And then the Pandemic struck, active from 1918 through 1920. As today, people were told to wear masks and to stay home. In 1920, Carrie Chapman Catt was still trying to recover from the flu when she made her way to Nashville for the final push in a dramatic battle for passage.
I’m happy to announce that my 53-minute film of “Here’s to the Women” and the trailer (see above) are now complete! It premiered at Seneca Falls Women’s Rights Historical Park on August 23rd, and is now available for individual or group showings.
You are invited to visit our Suffrage Page to find information about the virtual program, explore both traditional and my more recently composed music of Suffrage, books, movies, links and a host of other Suffrage resources. You can also visit our store to see other Suffrage products: jewelry, note cards and more.
Be safe and celebrate our victories. And, as always, may we honor our ancestors by continuing their work for justice.
Linda
“To the wrongs that need resistance, to the right that needs assistance, to the future in the distance, give yourselves”
“Whether tender or strident, lyrical or percussive, her vocal eloquence adds to the power of her lyrics and music
”
To listen to tracks and read about each song, click on the image above.
““Allen’s life work uncovers the injustice, focuses on that and brings song to help mend and move through our life cycles. Congrats to Allen on fifty years.”
”
“Linda Allen: Hear Her Roar”, Entertainment News Northwest, April 2019. Read the article here.
Back in the late 1970s, when I was newly arrived in Bellingham, I put together a CETA grant to create the Rainy Day Songbook and an accompanying cassette. I worked with the Whatcom Museum, the library, and a host of wonderful musicians, some of whom have now passed on. The Rainy Day Songbook is long out of print, but I recently found the master for the cassette, and Phil Heaven re-mastered it. With copyright considerations, it is not available to download, but you can listen to it all. The Songbook is only available used, but some of the highlights are also online.
I have just loved hearing these voices from out of the past. For a taste of the fun stuff that’s in this collection, click on on the audio track to “Silver Tip” just to the right.
To access all the songs on the album, go to our Washington, My Home link and click the ‘Listen” button.
Have fun!
To listen to an archive of the Rainy Day Band in concert:
The Rainy Day Band
