juliatindallbloom

[juliatindallbloom]

Black Hole

“Black Hole” is a song I wrote and recorded in 2020. Then, a couple years later, I came across this essay on one of my favorite websites, publicdomainreview.org. During the Great Depression, the US Farm Security Administration sent out photographers to document people’s living and working conditions. This project brought us well-known photographs like Dorothea Lange’s “Migrant Mother.” It also…

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Spring Break 24

In March, Nathan and I took our son and his best friend (oh yes, and the dog) on a spring break road trip to Red Rock Canyon near Las Vegas. We shared a delightful week of travel, camping, hiking and rock climbing, met up with friends and family along the way, made some music and lots of memories together. It inspired this song: There’s just so much to live for And there’s only so much time But…

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Psalm 139

Here is the song I wrote on the very first day I decided to try songwriting as an early-morning habit, March 8 of this year 2024. That habit stuck well and produced a pile of songs which are still in various levels of tweaking, and as I wrote in my last post (at the end of April!), I batch-recorded four of them to post on Youtube as I had time. (I shared one of the four in that post.) Nobody’s…

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Life is the Way You Make It

This year I started a new songwriting routine – I take my coffee and my laptop into my tiny basement studio, and work on songwriting for 30-40 minutes before I leave for work at 7 am. I’m not writing and recording and posting a song a week like I used to, but a surprising amount of writing is actually happening. I recently did a batch recording session of four songs I wrote in March and April,…

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Seventy and Sunny

I’ve been easing my way into 2024. Here we are in March and I’m sharing a song I wrote for my mom’s surprise birthday party in January (her actual birthday is in Feburary). But why not draw out the celebration for such a lovely human? I could tell that the monumental number felt a bit frightening to her, so this song was partly to remind her that seventy and sunny, which she now is, is just about…

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24 Trippel

My life partner/bandmate/audio engineer extraordinaire Nathan likes to give unique names to our music albums. With our Americana band The Foragers, we just this week released a three-song album on our Soundcloud page, and I think it turned out pretty good! Have a listen if you like –

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Lastly . . .

Bye-bye 2023. It’s been real and life is good and bad and downright ugly, but here we still are. I’m sharing this evening with beloved friends and family, and I’m ready for what’s next (as I’ll ever be). Love and peace and joy to you! Here’s my family’s holiday video –

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If I Go On / In Western Lands Beneath the Sun

Here is my last song for #songaweek2023. This year I slowed my songwriting pace from weekly to monthly, and it has felt right. Next year I will probably continue with this pace. The first part of this song drew inspiration from some painful news my faith community received last week, that our 15-year-old church’s founding pastor is moving on to a new church call. When you’re part of a good thing…

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Blue Sky Baby

November seemed like a good month to finish up this song I’d started writing maybe a couple years ago – since November is the month of one of my kids’ birthdays and also when we think about what we’re thankful for. I sure am thankful for these two people. You’re my blue sky baby with a heart of gold Steady sunshine radiating from your soul Though you do cloud over and it rains on your cheeks…

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To the Sea

This past summer into early fall I reread The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and I’ve been making music for several of the songs from those books. This one was sung (the words at least) by Legolas in The Return of the King. I’m no elven musician but I enjoyed putting some music to J.R.R. Tolkien’s lyrics. Last week Nathan and I spent a couple days in Duluth and I took several what I…

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Peace of My Mind

This song came at the right time for me. I needed to relax. Somewhere in the past week someone called to my mind the story of the burning bush, where God says to Moses, “take off your shoes, you are on holy ground.” And for the first time in my life that idea hit me in a whole different way. Take off your shoes, sit a spell, take it easy. Holy ground is hallowed ground, is sacred space, is an…

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Upon the Hearth the Fire is Red

I’ve found a wealth of song lyrics in my summer reading, specifically The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy. So my August song is made from yet another Bilbo Baggins invention (who in turn is a J.R.R. Tolkien invention). Upon the hearth the fire is red, Beneath the roof there is a bed; But not yet weary are our feet, Still round the corner we may meet A sudden tree or standing stone That…

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Stay Alive With Me

Another last-day-of-the-month posting of my monthly song! This means my summer is keeping me busy with lots of fun and very little time home alone to write or record. But I got the song written last week and recorded today in some snatched moments. You might recognize some of the influences in this song. One, repeated smoky days here in Minnesota from Canadian wildfires. On one of these days I…

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Roads Go Ever Ever On

June is nearly gone but once again I’m getting my monthly song posted in time! Wish I had more time to do a better recording of this one but my summer is full of distractions, interruptions and plenty of fun that gives me little time to spare for recording. Reading, though – I’ve been enjoying rereading The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and this is the first but may not be the last…

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Love is Always Beginning

So I write a song a month this year instead of a song a week, and May’s two-minute song makes it in on the last day of the month! Busy times but love is always beginning and life starts over again (that’s about a third of the lyrics right there). In May I celebrated my 25th wedding anniversary with my beloved Nathan, who also celebrated his 50th birthday. This song does feel apropos for those…

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Another Spring Unfolds

Here’s my song for April, a meteorological rollercoaster ride in Minnesota. Green returns tender and true April dawns ancient and newI remember how this goes, another spring unfolds Shoots break through, blossoms open Skin drinks in warmth of the sun I remember how this goes, another spring unfolds Nothing’s new under the sun Still I thrill once again Snow recedes, snow falls again We hold…

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Tonight the Light

February often feels like the longest month. And then comes March. Here’s my song for March 2023. Let’s take it easy, take a deep breath, let it go We’re gonna make it, we can take it, I just know we will Tonight the light feels cold and blue Hello my love oh how are you? I lost the feeling in my fingers, in my heart Winter is leaving, guess that might mean we can start again Tonight the…