Carry Me River

Ever since I closed down my game company (and to be fair, for all of my life), I knew I wanted to make music. But I didn't really know where to begin, and how to channel that creative impulse.

Then, a year ago, for the first time I was part of a big singing circle, hosted by Uria Tsur, in his vocal freedom weekend. This is basically a big workshop where you use your voice as medicine, to unblock yourself from whatever is in your system holding you back. This had a huge impact on me, as I discovered that the voice is powerful medicine, especially when we sing together. This vocal freedom weekend opened a portal to a new life, one that I am living now. I'm eternally grateful to Uria and the other facilitators last year, and I am honored to be part of the facilitation for the upcoming workshop (more on that soon!).

My first singing circle happened not long after, at my local yoga studio Ebb & Flow, and that kicked off a series of events. I hosted several more singing circles, and started trying out this singer-songwriter artist thing. One of my goals I to be free to work where and when I want. So I created a sacred space, a place where I can focus on music creation and recording. Over the past months I've poured my heart and soul into building a studio like that, and it's all finally coming together in this song.

This is the first song where I recorded my own voice, and that's a pretty big step for me. It's not something I'm used to, and I'm still learning so much every day about the creative journey and the magic of music making. It's like a wondrous fairyland, and I feel like I've just set three tiny steps into this unexplored realm.

BIG thanks to the artists who collaborated with me on this: Ralf Hekkenberg (guitar and charango), Joshua Samson (percussion and bass), Rubén Garcia (bansuri flute), Estée Makampo (violin), Esther van Beek (ukulele) and my dear Marlies van Kampen for the backing vocals.

This song is about the journey from the head to the heart. That's my journey, and perhaps it's yours as well. Enjoy. -Derk