This album contains more love than I can hold in my skin, more love than I can express in words, and you know I love words.
Bryan Ralph generously mixed 1/3rd of it (the songs formerly known as 'vol. 47') - and former cover art designs were generously gifted by Maddie Jackson and Ryan Wyrick (vol 269 and vol 47, respectively). And I 'enhanced' (read : made worse) this original album design for vol. 1358.
And I'll tell you the secret code to the 3 album volumes if you haven't figured it out yet...
Well, no wait. That's boring. You can try to figure it out for eternity, I'll still offer my $5 game to anyone who figures it out. $5 whole dollars. Should motivate you to play, no?
Well...that's all. This is an album of friends made, friends I tried to make, friends I wished to make, friends I respected or looked up to, all the disillusionment and dreams that go with chasing after people you admire, some of them finding a home in your heart, some like 'ships passing in the night' or beautiful bright burning stars, some I understand, some I don't understand at all, some I'm best made to love from afar. That's how friends are, not one-size-fits-all, no one is a "good friend", unilaterally. We are good friends to some, terrible friends to others...I'm a good fit for some, a terrible fit for others. For some people, my own self-perceived best points are a source of pain for them...and for others, I accidentally create 'trauma bonds' if I'm not careful (be careful)(it's not the best use of your time)(long story short: try to connect with people on the joyful or inspired things you have in common, NOT on the pains or grievances or bad habits you have in common...unless you plan to keep and nurse those pains your whole life...otherwise, when you're done nursing them, you may want to remove the reminders of said weakness)
People can be cruel, selfish, heartless, escapist, live in a bubble, avoid avoid avoid, accidentally leave you out, purposely leave you out, and more and more and more...I've been a researcher of human dynamics and the one thing I can conclude, tonight anyway, is that there is no one thing to conclude. Every time I have it figured out, the landscape changes.
So, be kind to yourself. Listen to yourself. Be a friend if you can, or at least be a friend to yourself. One surefire way to feel okay socially, is to notice what you have, instead of what you lack. There is always more ( ___________ ) to be had. (success) (friendship) (time with someone) (intimacy) (money) (vacation time) (fame) (followers) (recognition for our work) (healing) (appreciation) (books) (work) (ETCETERA!) You will never have 'enough.' Unless you look at what you have, and say - with GREAT gratitude - it's enough. It's what I have right now, and it's enough. If I have more / less later, that will be enough too. Growing does not mean you are lacking now...you are perfectly whole, I am perfectly whole, we are perfectly whole - and we grow. Like the sky is perfect right now, AND it will be perfect later with different clouds. That idea is Wayne Dyer's not mine, and maybe he got it somewhere too. I don't know. Be you. Take care, friends. xo Jessica
released April 24, 2020
Friend Ship (...to the sky, in your mind!)
*an album of songs 'written' with friends* 2017-2018
by Jessica Fogle & Friends
songs 4, 7, 13, 16, 20 mixed and produced by Bryan Ralph
('written' in quotes because most are improvised, silly moments - pressing record and someone playing or singing along with my spontaneous floaty weirdness...in some cases, like w Micah, I followed them...in other cases, like w Tom Hymn and Jes Kramer, we spent an hour structuring the tune...most if not all lyrics are improvised)
Individual track credits:
(plus links to original YouTube improv / creative moments and music pages of many of these brilliant musicians and friends)
1. Lullaby for Friends
solo, based on this particular songwriting day (in the 365 Songs challenge):
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youtu.be/xfOhOJv2aLI
2. Playyyy [with Ryan Wyrick, field flower]
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fieldflower.bandcamp.com (Ryan's work <3 <3 <3)
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youtu.be/hYNR-niiM2Y (our original songwriting moment together, outside of a Breathe Owl Breathe show in Grand Rapids MI)
3. Be My Friend / Who's At the Door [feat. Micah Middaugh of Breathe Owl Breathe]
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breatheowlbreathe.bandcamp.com (one of my favorite bands of all time)
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youtu.be/9CE3MhVdUKE (our original songwriting moment together, hours after getting to sing harmony vox for them, on stage 'in the clouds' Jan 2018)
4. Wolfbird aka Same Things - with Bryan Ralph
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bryanralph.bandcamp.com/track/beneath-the-steps-2 (one of my emotional-spiritual heroes, and partner in life and love)
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youtu.be/YpwlJo_CXWw (our original songwriting moment for this song, I think it was our anniversary? 4 years perhaps?)
5. Unicorn Song [with Stephanie Bell + Internet Friends]
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youtu.be/2QiOiBgjeCc (original video, fans and friends and family came online on Day 365 of the '365 Day Songwriting Challenge' and gave me a list of suggested words and topics for this final improv song...which was closer to song 440 than 365, cuz some day I did 2 or 3 or 7 songs)
6. Light [feat. Mac Carlson + Bryan Ralph of cloudlight]
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cloudlightmusic.bandcamp.com (music by cloudlight, a band i am also in)
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youtu.be/fjxuatBChX8 (video of this song being improvised/written together - love u both <3 )
7. Surprised (by you)[feat. Fiona Dickinson]
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fionadickinson.bandcamp.com (Fiona's beautiful music, to stream or purchase)
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youtu.be/yzVWBKFDVpg (video of us making up the song together, roughly Dec 2017)
8. Pumpkinpalooza [feat. Bryan Ralph]
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youtu.be/fjxuatBChX8 (making up the song together, before buying pumpkins - Oct 2017)
-longlivetheliar.bandcamp.com/track/someone-still-loves-you (one of his old collaborative projects I love, Long Live the Liar, from his years in Colorado <3 w/ Rob Verosko)
9. Words (with friends)[feat. Hunter Zhao]
- no video / link sorry ! it's a song I wrote in 2016, unreleased...it's had multiple lives and been slated for multiple projects, but no live video
- this version includes a secret buried track featuring a band practice recording with Hunter Zhao, Maddie Jackson, and Charity Lytle, with sparkly layers over it, but the edits were lost in the hard drive crash, so this is a half restored version + Hunter Zhao adding additional cello on top :) here's the two of us playing Auld Lang Syne tho?
youtu.be/Hx_Pz7HrrCY
10. Grow [with Bryan Ralph + Lamp Light kitchen friends]
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bryanralph.bandcamp.com/track/boris-smile-cover-mother-hen-are-you-a-shelter - original song at
borissmile.bandcamp.com/track/mother-hen-are-you-a-shelter (here's a cover we did together years ago, recorded live by Elisabeth Blair )
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youtu.be/n9vw2rYVbKE (here's us making this song up , or part of it before my phone was full or died?)
11. Fly (It's Time) - with Maddie Jackson
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maddiejackson.bandcamp.com (love her, currently art focused but here's an EP from her years of musical evolution - haunting beautiful stuff)
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youtu.be/TWNhTJ4ZfnE (us making up the song, live, I think early 2018? or late 2017?)
12. tiny (in bloom) [feat. Jes Kramer]
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jeskramer.bandcamp.com (one of my musical heroes, gorgeous work - poppy, intelligent, wise, profound, catchy - you'll love it, I imagine)
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youtu.be/5UulukduLzU (here's us making up the song, with Bryan filming)
13. Wonder (Beauty) [feat. Tom Hymn]
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tomhymn.bandcamp.com (a musical force of nature, so much epic and polished and thought-provoking work...including a version of this same chord progression on his most recent release, in 2019)
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youtu.be/vfyum7ZNrwg (our song together - early 2018, just after writing it, so much fun :)
14. Life Changing (kindness, is the point) [feat. Nathan K.]
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nathank.bandcamp.com (so much good work, and fun fun stuff, also a brilliant mind and storyteller, with an eye for details and a love of people)
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youtu.be/q6scVx8OeOc (this is just me, writing this song in real time ***I wasn't bold enough at the time he came all the way from Nashville to play at our house, aka In the Clouds show #2, late 2017, to ask him to make up a song with me...so instead, I asked him later, and we did this collab long-distance, with the song-of-the-day written right after he was here, in the same spot he played so maybe I could feel his vibe still, who knows :)
15. For Evangelie (love Framus) [feat. Van Lente]
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vanlente.bandcamp.com (some of my favorite freak folk music EVER <3 <3 <3 beautiful haunting voice, ethereal stuff)
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youtu.be/vMHcsGShXPc (here's us writing the song together, early 2018 I think, before Snow Angel...our Joanna Newsom + Sufjan Stevens cover band lol :)
16. Belong (i.e. Everything is a Song) [feat. Seth Bernard]
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youtu.be/ZWE-u7U63Dw my favorite Seth song :)
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youtu.be/ldsQFk8GjNc (this was written after my first time playing at Earthwork Harvest Gathering, a music festival in Northern Michigan, which is co-run and founded by Seth, and the ideas post-nerves in this song are very much related to all the worlds and people I've felt "outside" of, misfitting everywhere, when sometimes - like with Earthwork, and others like Lamp Light Music Festival - it just comes down to asking and then showing up and facing fears, despite feeling unknown or outside things... over a year later, Seth did this collab with me long-distance, and I treasure this memory <3 )
(+
youtu.be/XxiOOfFXxbg - song written on the farm 1 day earlier - before performing for the first time, full of nerves and fear...I've now been lucky to play every year, with cloudlight and Jessica in The Rainbow...it's hard for me to be a beginner, and feeling smaller than I already almost always do...but in this case, it was a lovely place to start to grow...)
17. Like A Bear [feat. Siiuh Allen, Bryan Ralph]
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bicycleshortsmi.bandcamp.com (Siiuh's music :) more to come <3)
- no video of this one cuz it looked too weird and up my nose and is reaaaaally long and this is a tiny cut of the part that was good :) but I think it's around Day 273 if u wanna look for it
18. Hole [feat. Nicholas Stutsman]
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nicholasstutsman.bandcamp.com (so much good music made by this man...so many bands, so much talent <3)
- no video sorreeeee
19. Friend Ship (to the sky, in your mind)
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youtu.be/2-V_onocg9I (this one is solo, but it was the inspiration for album title ...the lyric came before album title...as a very heavy somewhat sad thought tho...oh well! :):):)
20 The Sky! The Heart! (in the mind)
- this one came later...there's a YouTube original, but I don't know where...replayed it to add to the very short vol 47 (compared to vol 269 and 1358)
FORMER BONUS TRACKS <3 (Bandcamp only - Spotify/Apple Music ends at Track 20)
21. Lullaby for Friends 2.0 (for David, theme from 'The End,' an unfinished musical)
- had an idea to include this, and also talked with my friend David about doing something if I needed it, in a pinch, after the harddrive crash...this is an old melody from an unfinished musical...he has an MFA in Directing and works in Theatre still, maybe we'll collaborate on this lullaby for the musical it's from someday (nothing to link tho...except maybe our collab of You Belong to Me? we went to our friend's wedding and making up improv songs isn't his thing but we always sing this one together, whenever I see him and there's a ukulele
youtu.be/kILLgi_mRF0 so at least u can meet him? here you go)
22. Magic Show [feat. Eric Bennetts, Pozzetronics]
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pozzetronics.bandcamp.com (such good electronic music, by a friend who said I've inspired him to just do it...which makes me feel all kinds of good and symbiotic things :)
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youtu.be/Qu0COuzCrRQ (a video of making Magic Show , w Eric at the end I think...when he says 'all day' ...and this was before he became Pozzetronics...he was Pozze already tho :) such proud mama bird vibes for this one...hugs to you Eric, thx for the endless fountain of kind support over the years. Grateful for you. (and thanks Carl Swifney for the use of your microkorg and room to film this :)
23. Making Up Songs (is fun to do!) [feat. the Bell kids]
- I included this one at the last minute too, but after a fun visit in Wisconsin with these beautiful kids, I realized your own nieces and nephews can be friends too...so can your grandparents, your parents, babies, anyone. Why segregate life? These kids mean the world to me, as do my other nephews and niece on the Fogle side, but Alice made a song with me when I was in Minnesota and it's not my creative property (she totally led the way on that one, link below)...but this one, I led the way and Brooklyn made sweet echo harmonies, on the fly, and the boys played drums and instruments and danced and were cute...it's better as a video but it's on the album because I plan to remake it with them all this summer, high-quality version with gang chorus vocals and harmonies, I hope.
youtu.be/LarELfa5T-c (Making Up Songs)
+ for fun
youtu.be/UuWcVIRT65Q (my niece Alice's original song - she's a beautiful songwriter already...fun dancey vibes as a person, but writes serious contemplative songs :):):)
From the 'Ruff draftt' (written 2018, STILL TRUE!):
Thanks to everyone who worked with me, and wrote with me, and played with me, and made me feel heard and loved this past year (and some of you still, 3+ years later). I feel like a dandelion, growing fast and suddenly...turning into those blowing things, spreading seeds all over my yard and the yards of others. Whether or not you think that's a good thing is up to you (if you care about lawns and order?), but personally I think it's pretty neat. xo Jessica
