We are overjoyed to welcome special guests to our RiverSong Gathering, to share songs of belonging that nourish the soul and re-enchant the world with song. At our last gathering we were delighted to have Laurence Cole and Aimée Ringle as our special guests.

Laurence brings a wealth of experience and inspiration to the community singing movement, with over 50 years of songleading and music making. He travels extensively to share his love of group singing with people far and wide, and leads the Songlines Choir in his home of Port Townsend, Washington.

Laurence Says: “Part of my mission is to re-acquaint people with their birthright and natural ability to make beautiful and meaningful sound together. Group singing is one of the most ancient and primal ‘technologies of belonging’ that we humans have been using since our earliest times, possibly before speech itself. When we make joyous and passionate song together, it nourishes our souls and offers an enlivening gift back to the natural world. When such an exchange is genuinely made, and the song finds its natural ending, often there is a sweet, lively silence in which we simply stand and hold the ‘enchantment,’ the sense of deep and genuine communion.”

Aimée Ringle is a song-leader, storyteller, and musician based in Port Townsend, Washington. Her work as a song-leader has woven her into an ever-widening community of cultural shifters around the country in the realms of sustainable agriculture, alternative education, community living, personal and interpersonal healing, creative expression and spiritual exploration – all of which are reflected in the songs that she carries.

As a song-leader, multi-instrumentalist and rabble-rouser, Aimée has been an integral part of the Singing Alive gatherings (www.singingalive.org) for the past seven years and continues to teach at a growing number of kindred gatherings across North America. She has led and co-led singing workshops and concerts with renowned song-leader and song-writer, Laurence Cole for many years.

Aimée continues to cover more territory as community singing grows in power and popularity. She is blessed to be a part of this amazing movement of community music-making and looks forward to every chance to teach, learn and spread songs worth remembering and sharing! For more information, visit www.aimeeringlemusic.com