Heatherlyn – Storydwelling

Where have all the storytellers gone? There have been generations of tradition passed down over and over by storytellers with a guitar in hand. Where have they all gone; this generation’s Baez or Dylan, Chapin or Guthrie??? Sure, there is a show on VH1 with the title, but is that the tradition we want to pass on to our children? Thankfully, the fiercely independent Heatherlyn has something to say about it.

Storydwelling, the second release (available on October 4^th) from Minnesota-based Heatherlyn “is about cultivating courageous and compassionate curiosity for each other by deeply listening to and authentically sharing our stories with one another, thereby healing ourselves and our world. Storydwelling, the album, is a collection of songs from our shared human story, deeply personal songs from my story, and songs with imagination for the story we will write together with our lives…”

Unlike her first album, this one has a backing band, The Story Dwellers (Zach Miller, Aaron Fabbrini, Alexander Young, Matt Patrick, Ben Rosenbush, Tyler Burkum), that put some meat on the bones of these tunes. She has a beautiful voice and evokes emotions like few of this generation, but an upbeat track like the “Put on Your Climbing Shoes” creates even deeper images with the twang of the guitar and backing bass line and percussion.

A tribute to the famous speech by Martin Luther King, Heatherlyn uses images of Moses and the Exodus and her own words to push the listener to reach for their own mountain top. You can close your eyes and see the words she uses to create an image. Opening track “When I Dream” provides the perfect example when she refers to going to sleep and not having a remote to control her dreams, just praying for “surround silence.”

References to MLK return in the reggae-based “We Have a Dream.” Using his inspiration, she strives to get the current generation to rise up and do something about our current situation. The lyrics are blunt and honest, “… having the humility to admit that we’re part of the problem and we can all be part of the solution. Sometimes giving up our pride is harder than giving up our lives.”

Inspiration doesn’t end there as the song “Be the Love” calls for the listener to “be the star that guides us through the haze.” The song is soft in a coffee house way, and her velvety voice plays off the lonely guitar wails. The cover of the traditional “Wayfaring Stranger” is soulful, haunting and yet filled with hope. Her voice is filled with unyielding strength that can only help us rise above what is holding us back.

The songs are not all broad in scope though. “Home With You” is a song that could easily be the first song at wedding all over the country. This ballad takes us through several stories, but the underlying principle is that “my home is with you” regardless of the location.  The final track, “You’ll Never Know,” may be the most personal of the lot. Touching on the subject of growing up without a father is never a lighthearted one. Featuring a piano, this is one of strength, not loss as she tells him “you’ll never know what you’ve been missing.”

This is a beautiful album. It is filled with raw emotion, pure inspiration and beautiful imagery. The album title is so perfect, because the listener stops and lives in each of these songs for a short period of time. There is a mis-step here and there, but that makes the overall product that much more endearing. None of us is perfect, but we all strive to be better every day. If you need a little inspiration, listen to Storydwelling and you will find it.

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