Tom affectionately dubbed this song's working title and until it's completed and renamed, I guess the name stays. Ha! Guitar, Irish whistle in low D, Clarke's penny whistle in D! Best heard with headphones due to multiple parts recorded in stereo. 

The Loss And Curse Of Leprechauns I

The first completed in a long, long time. I hope you like it!

Fearless

A haunting ensemble of guitar, Irish low whistle and didgeridoo - all written, played and recorded by me. This was the first song that I added acoustic guitar to - in the last six months alone, I've gotten a lot better so I've revisited it here, re-recording all the guitar tracks and adding new harmonies to fill it out. Thanks for listening!

The Long Fall

This is a song for when you're feeling out of place, out of touch or out of control... an affirmation about the imperfect perfection of life. A reminder that it's alright to stop struggling so much against the external in order to make things "OK". It's also a travel song for me... an expression of appreciation and wonder and pure joy that in a day, I can find myself on the other side of the country... or the planet. :) 

The world is my home
And I wander it at will
Every place that I find myself
Is a place that I belong

My life is a song
A melody so pure
And it's sung in sweet refrains
By a voice divine and true

These thoughts, they are seeds
That I lovingly do sow 
My mind is the fertile ground
Where this world of mine shall grow

Guitar, vocals, Irish whistle and djembe all composed, played, recorded and arranged by Frances Gibbs in 2013. Photo taken by me in Yosemite Valley November 2013

The World Is My Home I

All is quiet while the snow falls. The flurries come and they go, weaving their soft blanket over the landscape from horizon to horizon. But there is that glorious moment when the heavens open up and the sun bathes everything in sudden, pristine brilliance...

I hope you can feel that moment in this song, which is now complete. Acoustic guitar, vocals, miscellaneous percussion and didgeridoo... and this song also debuts my new Low C whistle, which has a really mellow sound I'm pretty pleased with. 

Thanks for listening!

A Quiet Snowfall I

Memento Vivere... Remember to Live

Although I've incorporated plenty of acoustic guitar accompaniment into my songs in the past, it's definitely the main focus in this song. Although I am often frustrated that I still struggle as much as I do (perfectionists can relate!) it is nice to see myself improve in some areas. 

I would love to hear any ideas for titles for this as-of-yet unnamed song. :) Thanks for listening! 

Memento Vivere - Classical Guitar

A short piano part inspired by the beach at night-time in Western Australia - I had a couple night-time swims and strolls along the beach while I've been here, and there is nothing quite like seeing and hearing the wild waves of the dark ocean crashing against the shore under the moonlight! Probably a section of a longer song if I get around to adding to it. :)

Midnight Ocean part I

My sister Eunice and I jammed some improv last night. :D She played the ukelele and I played the low whistle - then she added viola and violin. It was fantastic - we played some great tunes together while I was in Australia but only got to record a couple. She's one of the most musical people I know - the sort who can pick up ANY new stringed instrument and master it within minutes. I wish we lived closer together - I'd LOVE to make more music with her!!!

Airy Fairy Improv

Both Eunice and I happened to have instruments with us when we visited Dad in hospital last one day last week. While he rested, we sat in the hospital courtyard and played some impromptu Kirtan, which I recorded on my phone. It was such a beautiful moment. I believe Aye Kerunene is a song about compassion.

Aye Kerunene - Eun and I

Another piece my sister Eunice and I played - more traditional this time! She played the ukelele while I played my low Irish whistle, and then she added viola and violin. :) 

My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean

Om purnamadah purnamidam
Purnat purnamadacyate purnasya
Purnamadaya purnameva vashishyate

This is perfect, that is perfect
From the perfect springs the perfect
Take the perfect from the perfect, 
And only the perfect remains. 

I feel this mantra describes the complete wholeness of reality, or the divine consciousness flowing through life, which at its essence can't be reduced, improved or divided. Energy and matter is subject to constant transformation but it cannot ever be destroyed. 

Our life's apparent ebb and flow of possession and loss gets us all worked up - we get excited when we get what we want, and upset when we inevitably lose it. But what if gain and loss are just constructs of the mind based on the belief that we are entities separate from the whole flow of life?

Our experience seems to be that "I" ends at the physical limits of this flesh and blood body. But is there actually any place where "I" ends and reality or life or the universe begins? Aren't we part of the whole? And if I am the universe, is anything truly ever given or taken, gained or diminished? 

I believe every moment of life is a blessing, whether we seem to be experiencing ecstatic abundance or heartbreaking loss.

Om Purnamadah

A little something I was playing around with today - this represents about 1 1/2 hrs of coming up with a basic idea, working out the accompanying tunes & harmonies, recording rough tracks as I go. 

In a case like this I will probably get most of the whole song put together with scratch tracks like these and then go back in and redo the individual tracks with a cleaner sound for the final song. I have so may songs on my lap-top that only got halfway put together or just didn't make it past the scratch tracks..!

The usual combo of acoustic guitar and low Irish whistle with a bit of Djembe thrown in for now.

Untitled April Song preview

Here's a composition with only guitar and a little ambient vocals accompaniment as I continue to practice and exercise and improve my guitar playing. Coming up with the tunes and harmonies is the easy part... It's getting my fingers to cooperate and play it decently that takes a long time and many, many takes, but I think I'm getting better at it. 

This melody was inspired by a very calming walk through horticultural gardens in Lansing while Delia was having her radiation therapy today. This is a "working draft", if you will - you might be able to catch Tom talking to the cats in the background here and there. Haha!

A Bloom Amongst The Briar I

An upbeat yet chilled out tune, the main melody of which showcases my new Shaw Irish whistle in low G - a warm, breathy sound that compliments my low D whistle very well, which I used for the harmonies. Acoustic guitar accompaniment. I hope you enjoy listening, I'd love to hear what you think of it! 

The Berry Brambles

This is something I made for one of Tom's new songs about his favorite holiday of the year... Krampus day, Dec 5th! I modified it a bit to show off the fruits of my cello practice. 

I would have debuted my super fancy cello work earlier but I was too busy snapping the neck off my cello. That's a bad thing, right? Luckily the guys at the music store really don't seem to care if you mutilate your rented musical instruments... one replacement later and I'm back in business. :)

The Bells of Krampus I

Let's drive down to the ocean 
By the mouth of the river
We'll watch those waves come tumbling in to shore
For what feels like forever

Because time, it seems to slow right down
As we find our souls gazing out across the blue
Feel that subtle connection with the inner
Found in quiet reflection of the vast beyond in view!

Something a little different, this time... just one verse so far, although it may be all it needs. Short and sweet. All music written, played, sung, recorded and arranged by Frances Gibbs! Inspired by that unspeakably magical feeling I experience every time I find myself by the sea, no matter the state, continent, or hemisphere...!

The Vast Beyond in View

I've had this song idea rolling around in my head for a year now, I felt it had a lot of potential and I always knew I would return to it some day and complete it... and here it is, I'm excited to finally have it done!

This was one of the rare instances that the whole whistle line was formed entirely in my head while driving to Crooked Lake with Delia before I ever even picked up my instrument. :) Guitar, djembe, low whistle, rattle.

The Crooked Lakeside

It's been a long time since I've polished up a track good enough to share. Although I've been working on a lot of unfinished bits and pieces and a few longer songs, here is a short and sweet thing I did in a few hours. Guitar, cello and vocals. 

It's both relaxing and soulful... Put your earphones in, close your eyes and let me take you somewhere else for a few moments.... :) 

Aeon

Getting back to making music.. it's been a long while. A laid back little untitled tune to get my feet wet.

A midsummer night song

A more complete version... 100% composed, sung, recorded etc. by me.

A Curious Turn II

Low tin whistle and didgeridoo. 100% played, recorded, composed, arranged etc, by me. Yes, I have a didgeridoo. Yes, its made of painted PVC piping... haha!

Didgeridoo I

Dedicated to my wonderful mother, Rhoda Verbaan, for her birthday. She helped instill in me a love of creating music from the heart and a tendency of staying up way too late to do so! 

A song inspired by a beautiful day! For the first time this year, it really feels like Spring is on the way. Acoustic guitar and Irish low whistle... as usual, written, played, recorded and arranged by me. 

https://soundcloud.com/francesgibbs/an-equinox-belated 

An Equinox Belated I

I have written, played, recorded and arranged everything here, unless noted otherwise. Just sharing with the world something I love doing! :)

Willow Gibbs

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