Documentary Songwriters

Richard Fisher – Story Source
Will Foote – Teaching Artist, vocal and guitar
 
Richard Fisher rebelled against requirements to graduate from his high school. He wanted to convey what was truly going on inside and around him, not merely what was “finished and shiny.”
 
Every student had to carve a wooden panel,
Set into the walls of the school
I carved the scene over a couple of winter months.
An alley, two drunks and a wall,
Until, I was told you can’t do that,
Try again, go do something else
 
They say “You need to show
What’s finished and shiny”
But I need to show
Broken bricks and broken bottles
I need to show
Another side of life
More…

Sometimes all one can do is live moment by moment. And sometimes it’s unclear where each moment will lead. Will Foote works on living with uncertainty.
 
It could be good, it could be bad
But I don’t know
That’s just the way that my life flows
 
Wakin’ up
Goin to School
Wakin’ up, goin’ to school, and comin’ back
Doin’ a lot of work and going to bed
 
I see my breath
I bite my teeth
I see my breath, I bite my teeth, It’s getting cold
I wanna hibernate inside until it’s warm again
 
It could be good, it could be bad
But I don’t know
That’s just the way that my life flows
More…

Chloë Isis – vocals, teaching artist
Will Foote – vocals
 

Ken Goldman– drums
 
Alex Wilder – electric guitar, keyboards, electric bass
Malcolm Brooks – story source
Eliza Cuevas – cover design
Shawn Russell – photography
 

I want to be that way with you.
 
I missed you so much, you moved to Boston
To a new home with new friends
Who fight the dragons you fight, fear the things you fear
Swear to stay together to be strong
 
All this in the week of the Boston Marathon
Runners run, trusting no bombs explode
I want to be that way with you
I want to love and let you walk your own road
More…

Beverly Pacheco – vocal, piano, synthesizer, story source
Will Foote – vocal, shaker, tambourine
Jeb Smereck – guitar
Malcolm Brooks – guitar, teaching artist
Joaquin Contreras – guitar, hand drumming
 
I feel like I’m on automatic,
Holding my breath through the day.
And I’ve been wondering out loud
I don’t even know what I say.
I get up, go to school, I come home.
Everything is the same.
 
Looking for the space of summer,
Looking for the space.
I’m looking for the space of summer,
Looking
More…

Androulla Shati, story source, and Melodi Var Öngel, teaching artist and vocalist, at the Home for Cooperation in the buffer zone in Nicosia, Cyprus.
 
As part of the Songs Across Boundaries project, Melodi Var Ôngel interviewed Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots and created documentary songs from their spoken words. (Click here for a complete playlist.)

Suli and I
Androulla Shati tells of a childhood when Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots would play together.
 
Dali, my village
The only one left with people
For centuries
People lived in peace
Together
 
My house was between
A church and a mosque
Sharing each other’s
Joy and sorrow
Every moment
More…

Malcolm Brooks – story source, guitar, bass
Will Foote – musical sherpa, vocals
Chris Finn – musical sherpa

Caleb Edwards – musical sherpa, vocals, percussion, mandolin

 
Malcolm Brooks finds he cannot grasp beauty in its complexity and detail. Especially when the beauty lies in his beloved Barbara.
 
When I walk into the room
I see the glorious rug from Persia
All the whorls and the swirls overwhelm me
It feels so beautiful to see
I never know, never know where my eyes should go
 
When I look out of the window
I see a million trees in sunshine
All the whorls and the swirls overwhelm me
It feels so beautiful to see
I never know, never know where my eyes should go
More…

One night on the boat under the stars, Will Foote watches a seal, who seems to know that he is there.

Will Foote – Story Source, Vocals
 

Chloë Isis – Teaching Artist, Vocals
 

 
On the boat I stayed above
To look at the stars.
Out in the quietness I heard a splash
Close by me.
Little seal came right up to the boat.
I said, Hello, hey what are you doing?
I felt welcomed into his world.
It danced under the water,
Opened up to be seen by everyone,
Especially me.
 
© 2016 Beauchamp Point Music
 

The Push Farther Project:
Alex Wilder – story source, vocals, guitar
Nora Willauer – cello
Will Foote – guitar
Chloë Isis – vocals
 

Heather Kahill – violin
 
Produced by Alex Wilder

Alex Wilder likes how he’s been changing and he knows who’s been the source of that change. But now she’s leaving…
 
In a month or two
She’ll be gone
She’ll be flying to Barcelona
I’m losing a life that feels so easy
When she’s near to me
 
And I guess I’m scared
That I won’t see
The beauty in everyday things
Cause seeing things through Eliza
Is to see them again
 
Like how the rain sounds
Or the view from Beech Hill
She’s got a love of life
That calls to my own
And I don’t want to be with anybody who can’t see
The beauty in everyday things
More…

How do you fully love someone when a painful past holds them back?
Will Foote‘s relationship becomes challenged by memories and difficult ties to past relationships.
 
When we were at the beach,
We put our feet in the water,
And talked for a half an hour.
We got back up and dug a big hole in the sand.
The sun was shining,
And there were no clouds in the sky.
 
And then I can’t believe
I heard you say
He still likes you.
Don’t you know
That was the past.
more…

Chloë Isis makes it through the Maine winters, because the summers are so sweet.
 
I’m tired of winter, I’m tired of snow
I’m tired of the sky weighing me down
I’m tired of waiting for summer
To come around
 
I miss it every winter, I miss it every fall
When it’s here, I wish that it would stay
I wish I could skip ahead
To summer days
 
They say winter has to come for summer to feel sweet
I know it’s the place for me
In the summer in my bare feet (bis)
Continue reading “Summer – Chloë Isis”

Chris Finn–Story Source

Will Foote– Sherpa, Lead Vocal
Prodigal Man
 
Chris Finn remembers his uncle’s homecoming after a sojourn not unlike that told in the Prodigal Son parable.
 
I was seven years old
My dad and I
Went to the airport
Uncle Dave arrived
You were shrouded in mystery
Decorated in war
Disappeared to Las Vegas
 
You’re the prodigal man, appearing like a dream
From a prodigal world I’d never seen
Continue reading “Prodigal Man – Chris Finn”