Jessi & Yam welcome their listeners into a conversation with artist and educator Aaron Johnson about the ways intentional closeness can interrupt oppression. They discuss singing as a form of resistance, love as a disrupting force, beatboxing, anti-racist song circles and the transformative qualities of tender touch. Jessi shares a brand new song inspired by Aaron’s words and work. Aaron encourages listeners to take a risk. The podcast lives to see another day.

If you'd like to learn more about Aaron's offerings or attend one of his many workshops, check out The CUT Project, Holistic Resistance, and Grief To Action. You can also connect to Aaron on Instagram @holistic_resistance.

The lyrics for today's song teaching are :

Risk Something
(by Jessi Rado)

What is it
that I feel
that I have to lose
being here
open-hearted with you?

What is it
That I feel
That I have to give
Being here
Taking a risk with you?

If I don't risk something
Will we see what's possible, ever?
Let it mean something real 
To you and I

If we would risk something
And do it gently together
What if Love could grow and fill
The spaces between us?
MmMmm

Give something
That’s worth something
To you

*This show was written by Jessi & Yam,  engineered and produced by Traesti, and edited by Yam. Additional music and sound effects for today's episode were sourced for free or with permission from freesound.org, pixabay.com and premiumbeat.com.

Special thanks to Full Bloom Sanctuary for making the recording of this episode possible, to all of our listeners and patrons who so enthusiastically bolster this work, and to our top patrons Alyssa B, Amanda B, Jesse F, Dawn M, Helaina P, and Timmo for sharing in reciprocity so freely with us. Your support makes so much possible.

Join our Patreon community to attend our next online singing circle!

INSTAGRAM : @blissisordinary
PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/blissisordinary
CONTACT : [email protected]

Jessi & Yam welcome their listeners into an intimate conversation about Real Love, their lasting affinity for voicemails, and the song-centered origins of their 7 year relationship. A young listener submits a song about how good it feels to be alive. Yam talks about how making music and making love are the same thing. Yam & Jessi share a song about being reminded to let go called Your Love Reminds Me. Major crush energy abounds.

The lyrics for today's song teaching are :

Your Love Reminds Me
(by Yambaby)

Your love
Reminds me
To let go of my mind
and die into my heart

Your love
Reminds me
To let go of my mind
and die into my heart

To let go of my mind and die
I'll have to die a million times
To let go of my mind and die
I'll have to die a million times more in this life

*This show was written by Jessi Rado, Engineered and Produced by Traesti, and edited by Yam. Music interludes for today's episode were provided in part by Shamsi Bluesky and LaLa Robinsong. Additional music and sound effects for today's episode were sourced for free or with permission from freesound.org, pixabay.com and premiumbeat.com.

Special thanks to all of our listeners and patrons who so enthusiastically bolster this work, and to our top patrons Elizabeth C, Sara M, Amanda B, Jesse F, Dawn M, Helaina P, and Timmo for sharing in reciprocity so freely with us! Your support makes so much possible.

INSTAGRAM : @blissisordinary
PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/blissisordinary
CONTACT : [email protected]

Jessi & Yam share a special song from one one of their youngest listeners, and the two of them have a conversation with community grief tender Alexandra 'Ahlay' Blakely about whales, dreams, ancestors, and her burgeoning communal healing project, 'WAILS : Songs for Grief'. Ahlay shares several songs, including one from her upcoming album entitled  ‘Apprentice’.

If you'd like to learn more about the WAILS project and other facets of Ahlay's work, you can check out her website, bandcamp, instagram, or YouTube channel.

Additional live audio clips provided by Siena Tenisci of Pacific Healing Circles.

Additional music and sound effects for today's episode were sourced for free or with permission from freesound.org, pixabay.com and premiumbeat.com.

The lyrics for today's song teaching :

Apprentice

(Pt. 1) 
I trust this grief 
To return me
Again
Again
Again

(Pt. 2) 
This work is holy
Soul cleansing, slowly
Again
Again
Again

Special thanks to all of our listeners and patrons who so enthusiastically bolster this work, and to our top patrons Amanda B, Jesse F, Dawn M, Helaina P, and Timmo for sharing in reciprocity so freely with us! Your support makes so much possible.

INSTAGRAM : @blissisordinary
PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/blissisordinary
CONTACT : [email protected]

Yam shares a story about catching a song in the bathroom of a Rite Aid. Jessi & Yam wax poetic about forbidden love, undercover artists, odd jobs, and the virtues of spontaneity in the everyday world. Yam teaches Jessi a song inspired by one of their listeners (a poet named M) called Come Sing With Me, and the two of them sing it with the help of their housemates.

If you'd like to hear bonus recordings of M reciting more of his poetry, consider becoming a member of our growing patreon community (where we share extra goodies and bonus content from the making of each episode). To read more poetry by M (aka M.E. Forbes), check out his buy me a coffee page or his website. 

The lyrics for today's song teaching :

Come Sing With Me

(Pt. 1) 
Come, come, sing with me
We'll lift our souls
We'll lift our voices
Come, come sing with me
We'll lift our spirits up
Together now 

(Pt. 2) 
Fill the air with joyful noises
Until the whole wide world rejoices
Fill the air with joyful noises
Unto the whole wide world

(Pt. 3)
Sing, sing
Sing, sing
Tell me will you sing, sing
Will you sing with me?

INSTAGRAM : @blissisordinary
PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/blissisordinary
CONTACT : [email protected]

Jessi & Yam share a special message from their listeners, and the two of them have a conversation with legendary ambient/new-age artist Laraaji & his partner Arji Oceananda about the medicinal qualities of laughter, the portable and lightweight aspects of the human voice, why singing in the grocery store might be a good idea, and what it means (and sounds like) to live a higher-vibrational life.  Laraaji covers the Beatles, and Yam shares a song with Jessi inspired by meeting his personal hero called Hello Forever.

/// If you're interested in attending one of Laraaji & Arji's many laughter playshops or sound healing events, you can find upcoming tour dates on their website. If you'd like to dive into the vast ocean of celestial sound that is Laraaji’s music catalogue, you can check him out on Bandcamp, Spotify, or anywhere else you might stream music. Also, Yam personally recommends watching this tiny desk concert, listening to this meditation and watching this phenomenal music video of Laraaji so that you can only bliss out f’days and days.

INSTAGRAM : @blissisordinary
PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/blissisordinary
CONTACT : [email protected]

Yam & Jessi announce that Bliss Is Ordinary now has a Patreon page, and the two of them have a conversation with their bandmate Yin (a self-described 'vessel of song') about being a good friend to yourself, the self-soothing aspects of vocal exploration, and why everyone should consider losing their minds for a little bit. Yin shares several songs, including one about miracles that happen every day.

/// If you're interested in exploring your voice with Yin, you can contact her via Instagram. You can also listen to today's featured song, "Everyday Miracles" (sung by Earth Practice), via Bandcamp. 

INSTAGRAM : @blissisordinary
PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/blissisordinary
CONTACT : [email protected]

A few choice minutes of additional wisdom & music from our interview with community song leader Laurence Cole that weren't included in episode 4, but are now here for your listening enjoyment.

https://www.laurencecole.com
https://soundcloud.com/laurencecole

INSTAGRAM : @blissisordinary
PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/blissisordinary
CONTACT : [email protected]

Jessi & Yam travel to Port Townsend, WA to have a conversation with song leader Laurence Cole about being an elder, grief-tender, and community crooner. Laurence shares wisdom and insight about finding belonging, transforming trauma, and how to refresh yourself with grief. Laurence sings many songs with Yam & Jessi, including one about the afterlife being potentially groovy.

/// If you're interested in spending more time with Laurence, visit www.laurencecole.com, check out his soundcloud, or find your way to one of his many workshops or grief rituals in and around the Pacific Northwest.

INSTAGRAM : @blissisordinary
PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/blissisordinary
CONTACT : [email protected]

Yam experiments with auto-tune. Yam & Jessi talk about the audacity of Spring. Yam teaches Jessi a song about inner freedom.

INSTAGRAM : @blissisordinary
PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/blissisordinary
CONTACT : [email protected]

Yam announces that Jessi is the new co-host of Bliss Is Ordinary, and the two of them have a conversation with songcatcher Meg Yates about Julie Andrews, the importance of singing while doing the dishes, the virtues of megalithic structures, and what it takes to be an everyday 'Art Monk'. Meg shares a song with Jessi & Yam about seeds, fruit and new beginnings.

/// If you're interested in spending more time with Meg, visit innerlifecreations.com, meg’s bandcamp, or follow her on instagram, where she hosts a weekly online chant service that Jessi & Yam both agree is incredible and genuinely worth checking out.

INSTAGRAM : @blissisordinary
PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/blissisordinary
CONTACT : [email protected]