Circle dancing in the church

http://northernharmony.pair.com/northern-harmony/

I went to the concert by the Northern Harmony ensemble at Trinity church, near my home in Stroud. I know this is a blurry shot, but the enthusiasm was infectious. This was the last night of the group's UK tour. Before that they'd been touring Germany and the US.

Northern relates to the northern states of the US, especially Vermont and Mass. But the songs are from many countries, including Georgia. I was particularly struck by the songs from Eastern Georgia, which have three very distinctive parts. The lowest is a bass drone. Maybe it's a Highland bagpipe thing, but listening to it makes me feel held and secure. In the womb? Perhaps my mother listened to the pipes while I was cooking inside her. Her father and brother played the Highland bagpipes, and my brother does too,
now. My mother was living in Ireland during my gestation, but she certainly had some records of bagpiping, so she might have played them on the Ferguson record player.

This concert was definitely the best part of Tuesday.