3 Songs Podcast

Aliya Ultan — cellist, composer, singer, community builder — joins Hope from the hollers of eastern Kentucky, a beautiful conversation follows. They talk about what conservatories won't tell you, why the box-checking version of a music career is a trap, and what it actually costs to be a woman in underground art-making. About mushrooms, animal medicine, the year of the horse, streaming, scarcity,...

In this episode, Hope guides listeners through the ceremony she led at the Salt House in Hopewell, New Jersey,  a healing space where she was invited to build a series of gatherings for a community experiencing overwhelm and creative stagnation.  This episode includes: Opening the 4 Directions — an elemental invocation honoring East/Air, South/Fire, West/Water, and North/Earth The Equinox / Thresh...

What this episode covers I. Beauty as a fundamental human need Theaster Gates' Stony Island Arts Bank, and the idea that a healthy creative ecosystem is one where we are all artists — not a pyramid with a few at the top.   II. Beware the seduction of the archive Why archives alone cannot cultivate community and why the "you had to be in the room" experience is irreplaceable. A meditation on dialog...

This episode explores the work of French composer Éliane Radigue, whose devotional approach to sound and deep listening challenged Hope to reconsider the role of the composer entirely. Drawing on the writing of Julia Eckhardt, the vision of composer/director Heiner Goebbels, and the sonic world-building of Maryanne Amacher, Hope traces a new paradigm: composer as curator, as beekeeper, as ambient...

I discovered Kaki King in high school, spending hours at Borders Books with headphones on, cycling through the CD listening stations. A woman making experimental solo guitar music felt like a conceptual rarity then, and in many ways it still does. Kaki has encouraged so many women of my generation to explore the guitar with courage and curiosity. Her voice on the instrument is unmistakable: double...

Mary Lattimore is a harpist and composer who travels the world sharing her incredible gifts. She visited the Esalen institute in Big Sur California while I was there and we connected so beautifully. We watched the sunrise from the hot springs and talked about life and music and humanity. She is such a generous artist, and human. I was so moved by her steadfast commitment to build a more gentle wor...

I met Laraaji at the Esalen institute in Big Sur California this winter. He is a powerhouse of light and laughter, a deep yogi and a pioneer of ambient music. I had the honor of improvising with him, attending some concerts of his and having some beautiful meals with him and Arji Oceananda, his music partner, during their week long stay at Esalen that I will not forget as long as I live. I hope yo...

Edi Kwon graced my life this year when she started as a fellow through the Lewis Arts Center at Princeton. Her course “The Ceremony is You” which explored Korean Shamanism and ceremonial performance practice, was phenomenal. Additionally, getting to know her these last few months has been one of the highlights of my year. Edi is a deeply caring, phenomenally gentle being who is full of love, creat...

This week on 3 songs, I had the grand honor of sitting with my teacher and mentor Tyondai Braxton.    Tyondai is a composer, guitarist, and electronic musician who thinks about music in an expansive and refreshing way. He became well known for his work in the band Battles, but his work has gone far and wide beyond that into vast and unexplored realms, most recently into the sandbox of orchestra an...

Shahzad Ismaily, where do I even begin. This is a very special soul of near infinite layers. I think one place to begin is that Shahzad, who knows quite literally everyone in the music industry and has played on something like 400 records has a beautiful recording studio in Brooklyn called Figure 8 around which many, many musical souls orbit. Shahzad is honey for experimental/soulful music butterf...

Kimbra is such a beautiful soul. I saw her play a live set of improvised pop music with Exotech in New York City that was truly transcendent and asked her after if she would be open to visiting campus and speaking with the students about her incredible creativity and she agreed. She’s an amazing technician, a life long student, and devoted mind/body/soul to music and creativity.  I hope you enjoy...