Interview:

SOUND stirs my blood, deepens my breath, quiets my mind,
caresses my trust, cultivates my passion,
restores me to ‘right size’, reminds me to move,
reminds me that I am movement, reminds me that I love to move,
reminds me that I am ageless,
reminds me of times past that moved me to tears,
to joy, to the depths of grief,
to clarity of NOW,
to remember, yes, to remember that I am connected to something greater,
yes, I AM… oh thank you, my heart and belly sings,
I had forgotten again…
and you, SOUND, you, Strings, you, Heartbeat, you, Rhythm,
you, Dissonance (that matches my fabric), my Form,
you, Sonic Light, beam me free again, each time, you never fail,
to Awaken me to what is real,
what is important,
and you always teach me to let go of that which is burdening me,
you always help me to empty my vessel
that I may have room for love and hope and compassion for this living…
you, SOUND, you MUSIC,
remain my teacher and guide.
You teach me to follow the path through my blood,
through my Nervous system,
YOU teach me to listen,
but mainly you show me over and over
that this is the Path of over and over,
to forget and to remember and to forget and to remember…
and that you, SOUND
have the power of alchemy
to change that which has become coagulated in my liquid form
to be restored to an elixir of Ease…
for this I am grateful,
each time I come to you.

Sounds literally shape our realities. Everything that occurred in our lives is recorded in our bodies. These events are recorded in our tissue as memories that actually exude a sound, and respond and change shape when engaged by our voice. Sound touches us where hands and words cannot reach. Sound has been my teacher, inspiration, mentor, path of discovery and awakening my entire life. I would love to share with you some of the experiences gained from this relationship.

Music and Sound used as an evolutionary tool is music of the present to create a future for memory, a future for possibility. Evolutionary music is not used to cultivate memory so as to repeat the past, but to gather enough memory, enough self to un-hook the past.

Closed systems, fixed systems, maintenance systems, that we are all very familiar with, maintain the status quo: The Past… Doesn’t mean that it doesn’t work. Doesn’t mean that it is not good. Doesn’t mean that it isn’t creative. Doesn’t mean that you can’t tap your foot to it. Doesn’t mean that it doesn’t change your mind and even change the time. But, it does mean that you nearly always know where it’s heading, and how much time you have; and, essentially keeps you in a terrain that is familiar; nearly always you’re in a place you know. So you can feel fairly certain and confident of what your position is… and how to best maintain it or how to best out-wit it. Closed systems are dependable, they basically tell you what you already know; so you can feel safe and secure that you know whatever there is to know. Closed systems work because everyone knows the rules and the only variety is what part of the wheel you get to play. But, to take the risk of not-knowing, to take the risk of becoming present, conscious; is to dwell in new terrain.

It is to listen for the possibility of evolution; and to Sound and Play with the intention and invitation to unravel that which is numb, to awaken that which is asleep, to bring memory to the amnesia, to embrace not-knowing-what-wedo- not-know… with the knowingness that our lives depend on such action. Here lies the freedom for the possibility of awakening. The possibility for greatness. The possibility of striking a tone to create an irreversible experience. An opportunity to be re-leased from the closed system network into an evolutionary threshold. I started Sounding to stay alive. I keep Sounding to stay sane. I encourage Sounding to evoke enough will to want to become real.

Extract taken from the liner notes of Joe Fonda’s “From The Source” (1996) available from Konnex Records. © Vickie Dodd, All Rights Reserved. Used with permission.

“Sounds literally shape our realities. Everything that occurred in our lives is recorded in our bodies.”
– Vickie Dodd, author of
“Tuning The Blues To Gold: Soundprints”