Music
Gypsy Soul — Grace and Tranquility
The Grace and Tranquility album musically captures the beauty and hard edges within nature and tranquility, in an electric and acoustic soul collaboration inspired by Eric Alan’s books Wild Grace: Nature as a Spiritual Path and Grace and Tranquility. Gypsy Soul creates songs that express the same grace and fierce persistence in the face of constant challenge.
Halie Loren — “Roots,” From the Wild Sky, new song
One of the finest vocalists in jazz and beyond, Halie Loren has been recognized worldwide over the course of ten albums. “Roots,” the lead track on her tenth album, From the Wild Sky, is an adaptation of Eric Alan’s lyrics set to Halie’s inspired music.
Heather Hutton — Softened by Our Grace
An original song by Heather Hutton, which takes images and thoughts from Eric Alan’s book Grateful by Nature as inspiration. It was written for their duo collaboration, which integrates live music, readings, photography, and meditation.
Laura Kemp — Rembrandt in the Meadow
An adaptation of one of the twenty-two song lyrics contained in Grateful by Nature, created for a full-ensemble event at Tsunami Books in Eugene, performed with added harmonies by Halie Loren and Beth Wood, embedded in spoken word by Eric Alan.
Lauren James/Kimberly Hawkins — Taizé meditation service, “The Nature of Gratitude”
During World War II in the town of Taize, France, meditative, non-denominational musical services were held to create unity across boundaries of faith, in a time of division and war. That form persists, and is now practiced across the globe. This Taize service features a focus on gratitude, with Eric Alan’s readings from Grateful by Nature merged with live music from Lauren James and invocation and prayer from Rev. Kimberly Hawkins.
“The Nature of Gratitude”
In 2015, authors Eric Alan and Tom Titus began to collaborate, after discovering the common themes of gratitude and nature in their respective work. Their first shared event at Tsunami Books was such a success that it has grown into an annual tradition, with other musicians, authors, slam poets, and community service activists, all coming together to support an awareness cause through an exploration of gratitude. “The Nature of Gratitude” has been brought to cities including Eugene, Portland, Corvallis, Cottage Grove, and beyond.