Exciting summer events coming up…
Our annual Campout in Wales August 7-10
Our Sing Out weekend with Helen Yeomans Aug 30-31
Our Look Up retreat in Paros October 20-25
AND ….
New album – This is the Fire - Songs of Hope and Connection – full Crowdfunder details soon to be announced!
Read more about This Is The Fire
Watch this space for a July launch of the crowdfund
What makes a great protest or community song? Is it the message, the melody, or the way it brings people together?
Throughout history, movements for change have been powered by song—We Shall Overcome, This Land Is Your Land, Blowin’ in the Wind, If I Had a Hammer. These weren’t just soundtracks to activism; they were tools of resistance, uniting voices in community, on marches and at gatherings. But in today’s divided world, where are the universal anthems, the songs of hope?
With renewed interest in the legacy of protest music—sparked in part by the new Bob Dylan biopic—we have to ask whether we’re on the verge of a new era of communal singing. Could the next great protest song emerge not from a recording studio, but from the voices of a crowd, around a campfire, in the streets?
With this background narrative in mind, I set about writing songs for the first time in spring 2024 after meeting and talking with Gitika Partington. I'd just heard her 'All The Bees' album that she did with Kirsty McGee and I immediately thought that I would love to work with her in putting together some ideas I had for new community-led songs, which might work around the campfire but also in the recording studio.
Gitika ended up leading some stirring community singing sessions at last August's Campout and it was thrilling to hear the new songs 'This Is The Fire', "If I Had a Voice' and 'Bubble of Love' in this social context.
On another level, this project has enabled me to find my own voice, both as a songwriter and a singer, encouraged greatly in the early days by Gitika. I feel as if I have found new levels of self-expression which have been bottled up for years. Music has always been a passion but being able to see new songs emerge in a context of community connection and social change gives me the inspiration to be doing more work in this direction.
As Brian Eno infamously said "Singing together is the key to world peace". There is an indefinable quality to the buzz we can all feel when in glorious song with others, each playing our part but creating harmony together. It's a great starting point in imagining the changes we need to be making to find hope and inspiration through connection and through finding our voices, individually and collectively.
Interestingly, during the songwriting course that I attended online in January that was led by Eno, he surprised and delighted me one week when he set his homework task as writing a song of revolution. A song that asks the question 'What future do I want for the world?'
These songs don’t always need to be a rally cry or a protest song, but universal songs of aspiration, of love and connection, Above all of hope…
Protest music comes from the heart and the times we live in . It’s a visceral response. But equally, the spirit of ‘Kumbaya’ needs to be reclaimed, taken back from the cynics. It’s needn't be mocked to be starting from a position of utopia,.. dreaming a new world into being through song.
We're putting together an album of community songs, rooted in a hymnal folk tradition that will hopefully work in a variety of settings - the campfire, the community hall, the school or even the football terraces. It’ll be my first album in almost twenty years.
Here's a video outlining the original inspiration for the project. I will post further updates around the process of making this album as it takes shape. (currently being edited - please check back later!)
A Crowdfund will be launched in July 2025.
Plans are afoot for a relaunch of Campfire Radio this summer... To make it work, we will need volunteers. Are you interested in hosting a show, compiling playlists around specific musical areas? Doing vox pops for programmes? Technical backup and research? If so we'd love to hear from you.
Meanwhile you can tune into our test transmissions.
https://tinyurl.com/campfireradio
Many people ask me what are the values and principles of both the Campfire Network and our current annual gathering, Campout.
Here is a taster from our 2024 event in south Wales, ethos and values co-created by our editorial team
This year’s principles are a co-creation from our Campout 2024 organising team and represent the ethos we bring to this event and ultimately the wider world:
Campout
We come together in a beautiful outdoor setting to share and make a collective experience. Through compassion, shared values and vision, we connect as a community to come together in celebration. We invite everyone to make a positive impact on our surroundings, including our relationships with all beings. We are invited to quietly be present somewhere in the Three Pools landscape at some time during this Campfire gathering and to be with the Land.
Connection
We invite you to connect harmoniously with all beings - our own selves, our human family, flora and fauna, the animals, the wild things and the elements. With open minds, curiosity and a sense of wonder, we surrender and connect with our own true nature. Discover others afresh with this opportunity to learn and grow from each-others’ journeys. The rest will unfold in beautiful and magical ways.
Compassion
We invite you to engage in random acts of kindness, to recognise, witness and celebrate others, with the intention of making someone else's experience more positive. Each small act of kindness can create a ripple effect that can impact the entire event and help to encourage a culture of generosity, empathy, and mutual support. Through compassion we naturally foster a deep sense of connection.
Co-Creation
We invite conscious participation in sharing our imagination, listening and action - to enable a harmonious and vibrant way of being together.
Community
Through shared experience, we co-create an inclusive and non-hierarchical space where everyone has a voice. At Campout we value face-to-face, heart-to-heart connection and communication in real physical human presence. We believe that by working together, anything is possible with the support of the circle allowing for releasing, unfolding, unveiling, enabling the emergence of discovery and magic.
Celebration
Communal celebration has been practised for centuries - historically expressed in a variety of ecstatic and bonding rituals. We are all capable of generating pleasure amongst ourselves through collective co-creation, self-expression and human diversity.
An attitude of gratitude in these beautiful surroundings raises the vibration of our reality.
Have Fun!
Namaste - “The divine in me honours the divine in you"
KEEP IT LIT!
2023 Campout Values & Principles
This year’s principles are a co-creation between our organising team and represent the ethos we’d like to bring to this event and perhaps the wider world :)
Universal Inclusion "No VIPs" Everyone is invited to participate in Campout and we embrace diversity in all its forms. We believe that by bringing together a wide range of perspectives and experiences, we can create a truly transformative and enriching environment.
Active Participation: We encourage active participation in all aspects of Campout, encouraging attendees to co-create the experience with us and to contribute to the community in their own unique way.
Community Building: We foster a sense of community and encourage connections through shared experiences, workshops, and activities that promote collaboration and co-creation. We believe that by working together, anything is possible.
Harmonious Connection: Everything you say and do can affect another soul. If you constantly engage in battles, you become embattled yourself. If you constantly give love, you become love itself. We invite you to choose love at Campout.
Self-Expression: We celebrate artistic expression and creativity in all its forms, providing a platform for participants and performers to showcase their talents and inspire others to embrace their own self-expression.
Openness & Curiosity. Our willingness to embrace new ideas determines our capacity for self discovery and personal growth. Rediscover your sense of awe and wonder by allowing yourself to be curious with an open mind, the rest will unfold in beautiful and magical ways.
Be Here Now: Our level of conscious awareness in any given moment determines the quality of our experience. In a world of chaos and distraction we invite you to ‘be here now’ at Campout. Take a breath, enjoy the gift of being fully present in the moment.
Create your own experience: We encourage attendees to take responsibility for bringing the experience you wish to see at Campout. We invite all participants to exercise personal responsibility for the conscious creation of an enriching experience for themselves and others at Campout.
Random Acts of Kindness: We invite all participants to engage in random acts of kindness towards others throughout Campout, with the intention of making someone else's experience more positive. Each small act of kindness can create a ripple effect that can impact the entire event and help to foster a culture of generosity, empathy, and mutual support.
Leave it better than you found it: Many of the world’s challenges are created as a result of us not making the decision every day to leave the world just a tiny bit better than we found it. We respect the world we live in and invite you to apply this principle at Campout and our beautiful surroundings.
11.HAVE FUN!