Spotify Playlist: Winter Maintenance Vol. 1
Listen to the Winter Maintenance Playlist put together by former crew members here:
https://bit.ly/WinterMaintenanceVol1
What Music and Clearwater Mean to Me: A message inspired by an entry in the head journal.
I don’t even like folk music…well not folk music in the traditional sense of the word. This is a big statement to say here, I know, but bare with me.
But music has always been important to me. It’s been a healthy part of friendships throughout my life, whether it was in the garage bands I played in, the music my friends and I listened to on the way to school, road trips, dance parties or just singing in the shower. Music has gotten me through some tough times and has helped me celebrate some of the best times.
So when I came to the Clearwater as an apprentice, it was a pleasant surprise to find music as a consistent heartbeat throughout the boat. It connected us to each other and to the boat’s past.
I had never heard of Pete Seeger before I came to the boat to sail. The crew I worked with, I don’t think, played any folk music that season.
But that didn’t stop us from breaking silence, waking up to a song, rocking out while we did dishes, playing guitar on the aft deck, and moving the main cabin table for a dance party.
Music was part of what brought us together. Music, working together, a focus on education, belief in a better tomorrow, a need for environmental justice, and an idea of an importance in community, is what knit us together as more than shipmates or coworkers, we were a family.
The same as it’s always been, just with a little less folk and a little more base.
So when I was asked to share some of the songs we listened to that season, I got excited. I got excited to remember the community, that time, and the music we shared.
And all I had to do was share the playlist I was already sharing with my crew.
-A Crew Member Out There Somewhere
