“If this is my life and my adventure, let’s explore!”: an Interview with Harpist/Composer Martha Gallagher
“If this is my life and my adventure, let’s explore!”
-Martha Gallagher
Anyone who has met Martha Gallagher has witnessed this sense of adventure in her. Martha is the kind of person who says, “Yes!” to life. She’s the kind of person who Walt Whitman would have loved, “sounding [her] barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world”.
Inspiration
“I find inspiration everywhere. I just try to use it. That’s what our lives are made out of…we have these big glorious moments, but a lot of life is made up of these little beautiful moments.”
Martha finds inspiration everywhere: in the woods and mountains of the Adirondacks, in the waves crashing on the shore, in the thyme that she uses to make focaccia bread, and even in scrap wood that she noticed at Dusty Strings’ workshop.
Hope the Harp
While out in Seattle Martha spent some time visiting Sue and Ray Moore’s harp workshop at Dusty Strings in Seattle she noticed that there were some harp pieces left off to the side. Ray called them their “Orphans” because they were left over pieces of harps that are good enough for a harp, but they don’t have enough pieces in the same type of wood to build an entire harp out of them. Martha became inspired and asked Ray if they could build an, “Orphan Harp” for her. After some persuading, the harp Martha lovingly named, “Hope” came to be.
Just a Moment Music
Hope is Martha’s main performance harp and she appears on Martha’s new project, “Just a Moment Music”. This is a subscription service where every day you receive a moment of music to start your day. Martha wanted to find a way to bring the healing power of music into people’s lives. It is her hope that in the stressful times we live in she can persuade people to take just a minute for themselves. Here is a quote for one of the subscribers:
Hello Martha,
In times as they are, your moment is a beautiful way to pause and take a breath before my day begins. I love that your moment comes at the wee hours of the morning and drifts away at day’s end making room for a new moment to carry me through the new day. Today’s gift felt extra special.
-Just a Moment Music Subscriber
Martha didn’t start out as a harpist, but fell in love with the instrument just as she was finishing college. She even built her first harp. She studied music arranging/performance and recording in college. She sang in jazz and rock bands, played folk guitar and classical flute. Her love of singing with the harp and playing with the voice of the harp highlights the versatility of the instrument going from the flowing peaceful music that most people associate with the harp to playing blues, rock and improvisation on the instrument.
Martha’s Music Monthly
Another one of Martha’s projects is “Martha’s Music Monthly”, It is a sheet music subscription where players get an opportunity to play some of her original compositions. “Beach Sketches”, based on her time playing harp on the beach, was first in the series. Martha decided to compose more music so subscribers could receive a new piece of music every month.
Meditation and Self Care
At the end of our interview Martha leads us in one of Thich Nhat Hanh’s guided meditations. The background music is one of Martha’s, “Just a Moment Music” compositions. What a lovely way to end our interview and to remind everyone to take a few moments every day for yourself to recharge.
LINKS
Martha Gallagher website: adkharper.com
Martha Gallagher Music FB page: www.facebook.com/MarthaGallagherMusic/
Martha Gratitunes Videos (FB): www.facebook.com/MarthaGallagherMusic/videos/?ref=page_internal
Martha Gallagher Music YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/channel/UC0EVkw6K6Xpgzi0xPEmP_tA
Just A Moment Music website: JustAMomentMusic.com
Just A Moment Music FB page: www.facebook.com/JustAMomentMusic
Just A Moment Music YouTube Channel: www.youtube.com/channel/UC-UE5_sGhB-IaEJ9b0aAx1g
Bandcamp: marthagallagher.bandcamp.com/merch
Dusty Strings: dustystrings.com
The Orphan Harp Story: manufacturing.dustystrings.com/blog/building-orphan-harp
Thich Nhat Hanh: plumvillage.org/about/thich-nhat-hanh
Somerset Folk Harp Festival: www.somersetharpfest.com