Number 28, June 1, 2022

Music in a Time of Grieving

On May 6, the world lost a very bright light, and I lost a very dear friend.  Cam Sanders was a brilliant soul, gifted, skilled, loving, generous, kind and so funny!  He was a beacon of light and happiness whenever you saw him, and for those of us lucky enough to work with Cam and know him over many years, he was one of our joys.

Cam was so brilliantly present in his life that it seems almost impossible to think of him gone.  Our grief at his loss is so brightly keen and sharp, like daggers to the heart.  And he was so young, too young to leave this world:  only 56.

I sang with Cam in Canterbury Choir of All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena for many years, and he had lent his brilliant photography vision to our band since 2007, both in rehearsal and live in concert.  My most cherished photography of my performing life has come from Cam, and I will share a few below.

Cam fought a years-long battle with cancer that we all prayed he would win.  He fought hard, with humor, kindness, honesty and determination.  But at last, cancer had the upper hand.  And I hate that so much.

The deep grief I felt at his loss has now been brought up to the fore again in my heart and soul with the senseless tragedy of the shootings in Texas last week.  Because of the loss of so many innocent children who had just begun living their lives, I felt this heaviness very deeply.  And this event has brought up again the awareness of mortality and the existential reminder of the temporary nature of our lives.  When I saw, and felt, the emptiness that resulted from all of these deep losses, my mind and heart began to wonder again about how much longer I, myself, have in this life.  What can we do, now?  What should we do?

I know a few things:  I know that art can save lives, and that music opens the heart to a place of loving, of joy, of togetherness and understanding.  So.  We must honor the memories, grieve the losses, and then resolve to walk into the best thing we could ever do:  sing.

There are many songs of reflection we could sing in our world now, but to me, this one is powerful.  Stephen Foster’s Hard Times.  Sing along with us.

Play “Hard Times” on Soundcloud

Let us pause in life’s pleasures and count it’s many tears
While we all sup sorrow with the poor
There’s a song that will linger forever in our ears
Oh, hard times come again no more

‘Tis the song the sigh of the weary
Hard times, hard times, come again no more
Many days you have lingered around my cabin door
Oh, hard times, come again no more

While we seek mirth and beauty and music light and gay
There are frail forms fainting at the door
Though their voices are silent, their pleading looks will say
Oh, hard times, come again no more

 ‘Tis a sigh that is wafted across the troubled wave
‘Tis a wave that is heard upon the shore
‘Tis a dirge that is murmured around the lonely grave
Oh, hard times, hard times, come again no more

Love and Blessings to you all ~ keep singing and hug your loved ones close.

All my love,

Susie

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Award-winning recording artist, Broadway singer, journalist, educator and critically-acclaimed powerhouse vocalist, Susie Glaze has been called “one of the most beautiful voices in bluegrass and folk music today” by Roz Larman of KPFK’s Folk Scene.  LA Weekly voted her ensemble Best New Folk in their Best of LA Weekly for 2019, calling Susie “an incomparable vocalist.”  “A flat out superb vocalist… Glaze delivers warm, amber-toned vocals that explore the psychic depth of a lyric with deft acuity and technical perfection.”  As an educator, Susie has lectured at USC Thornton School of Music and Cal State Northridge on “Balladry to Bluegrass,” illuminating the historical path of ancient folk forms in the United Kingdom to the United States via immigration into the mountains of Appalachia.  Susie has taught workshops since 2018 at California music camps RiverTunes and Vocáli Voice Camp.  She is a current specialist in performance and historian on the work of American folk music icon, Jean Ritchie.  Susie now offers private voice coaching online via the Zoom platform.   www.susieglaze.com