“Cowboy Take Me Away” | One-Day Choir – Brooklyn, NY

WHAT IS A ONE-DAY CHOIR?

Gaia Music Collective’s One-Day Choir series is an opportunity to sing in a choir for one day only. A celebration of song and the connective power of singing in harmony. An opportunity to build community, make some new friends, and raise our powerfully diverse voices as one.

No auditions. No commitment. No judgment or need for perfection.

Just the joy of creating something bigger than ourselves with a room full of beautiful humans!

For each choir, we pick a piece of music to rehearse and sing our hearts out to. In our time together, we’ll:

• Play some fun singing games, warmups, and connection games
• Work through the piece section by section
• Break down the lyrics and emotions at play in the song
• Shape some key musical moments
• and Record some casual rehearsal videos of the piece to have for ourselves and share with the greater Gaia community

Whether you’re a vocal ensemble veteran or have never sung in a group before, you are welcome here – all experience levels are valued in Gaia Music Collective!

OUR SONG THIS TIME AROUND

For this One-Day Choir, we are diving into the iconic song that is “Cowboy Take Me Away” by The Chicks. A band that has always leaned into activism and protest of war and violence, the Chicks paved the way in country music for others to do the same. Join us as we sing a choral re-arrangement of the song by Gaia’s own Kenter Davies, inspired by an awe-inspiring vocoder cover done by Fire Swimmer. This beautiful vocal layering takes the song to an entirely new place and we can’t wait to find that place with you!

Check out the cover we’ll be taking inspiration from here!

LEARNING THE MUSIC

Sheet music and vocal recordings of each part will be available as learning resources at least a week before the event, to accommodate multiple ways of learning. These resources will either be included in your order confirmation or sent out in an email!

The intention is for us to come into the gathering having already familiarized ourselves with the parts, so that we can spend our time together really diving into the joys of connection and expression in the music rather than simply teaching parts one by one. That being said, we’re just doing this for ourselves, so there’s no need to stress over it (and definitely no need to memorize it or get it “perfect”, ever)! It’s also often easier to sing in person, when the rest of our part-buddies are singing the part with us. The community is here to support! Our primary intention here is simply to have fun and make some great music.

(If this style of learning isn’t your cup of tea, we have other group singing events where you don’t need to prepare at all! Check out our CircleSinging gatherings and House Shows.)

LED and FACILITATED BY:

This session will be facilitated by the wonderful Kenter Davies.

Kenter Davies (he/him) is a vocal arranger, music educator, and choral facilitator based in Brooklyn, New York. He dedicates his work to creating spaces where people can engage with music free from the need for perfection, but full of complexity and joy. He highlights the journey over the destination and firmly believes in making music for music-making’s sake. Kenter facilitates One Day Choirs and Folk Song Sings with Gaia, an organization that truly helped him find his voice. His greatest love is helping others find their voices and having fun doing it!

RESPECT THE SPACE:

This is a beloved venue and we want to honor them! Please be considerate of the space.

PHYSICAL ACCESSIBILITY:

– 2 story walk down to the basement with handrails.
– Narrow doors & walkways.
– Limited seating available (metal folding chairs)
– Uneven walkways outside.
– Bathroom is not wheelchair accessible (narrow stall, low toilet).

LOW-PRESSURE PARTICIPATION

Gaia Music Collective events are participatory, but low-pressure. You’ll be invited to sing along and make music with us, but we encourage you to draw your own boundaries and engage at your own pace – we pride ourselves in creating a judgment-free community where you can express yourself however feels right!

LATE ARRIVALS

We ask that you arrive no later than 30 minutes after start time, after which we close the doors (lovingly) in order to preserve the intimacy and trust of the musical container we’re building. Thank you for understanding!

CANCELLATION POLICY

Tickets are refundable up to 24 hours before the event, after which we are no longer able to offer refunds. This policy helps us keep these events financially sustainable for both our community and our team. If you RSVP but are no longer able to come, please let us know so that we may offer your spot to someone else! We want as many people to be able to experience these gatherings as possible, and since capacity is limited, each spot is precious.

For more info, contact us at gaiamusiccollective@gmail.com.

MEDIA CONSENT

Because we want to share what we’re up to with people who can’t join us in person, there may be photographers and videographers present — by attending, you consent to being a part of that media, some of which may be posted online! If you have any questions or concerns, please email us at gaiamusiccollective@gmail.com.

NO ONE TURNED AWAY FOR LACK OF FUNDS

Gaia is funded by sliding scale ticket donations, with a “no one turned away for lack of funds” policy. It is of the utmost importance to us that these events remain affordable and accessible – we never want money to be a barrier to making music together. If a ticket scale is financially prohibitive to you, feel free to donate outside of the scale at whatever amount is sustainable for you, or to email us at gaiamusiccollective@gmail.com for volunteer opportunities or assistance!

OUR MISSION

Gaia Music Collective is an NYC-based creative community seeking to foster a more connected world through collective music-making. Founded in June of 2021 in a living room in Brooklyn, this project was born out of a desire to create accessible, inclusive, playful spaces for people to explore connection, expression, healing, and release through collaborative song – spaces where folks feel empowered to make music free of judgment or expectation, and to make new friends as our full, beautiful, authentic selves.

We believe that communal music-making is a fundamental human practice, and this project seeks to build spaces for folks to nurture their relationship to music, whether they’re shower singers, professional musicians, or anything in between.

All are welcome in this community. Gaia seeks to foster spaces of belonging for humans of all ages, races, genders, sexual orientations, classes, religions, abilities, national origins, languages, and musical experiences. All we ask is that you bring an open mind, a desire to connect, and a willingness to leave judgment of self and others at the door.