Concert of 2 independent female artists from the South West
The Assembly Rooms, Glastonbury
7.30pm 8th March
Empowered Women with Ruth Blake & Magdalena Atkinson
According to the statistics of PRS for Music, only 20% of music creators today are female. To find the voice, courage, and time to create, independent female musicians must often launch themselves on a heroic journey to achieve their dreams, whilst frequently along the way fulfilling many other social roles, like being a mother, carer, employee or business owner.
Two singer-songwriters, Ruth Blake & Magdalena Atkinson, share their stories of becoming artists and overcoming their fears & challenges.
Magdalena Atkinson – a singer, a songwriter, a multi-instrumentalist, a yogini, a mother, a dreamer…. Born in Poland, she has so far lived in 5 different countries on 3 continents, travelling, learning & experiencing many different cultures. She has a Masters degree in Musicology and a cultural scholarship from Bali, Indonesia.
Magdalena started to write her own songs as a young student in Poland in the late 90s with the group ‘Elipsa’, but somewhere between her travels and the beginning of her family life, the creative juices stopped flowing for nearly 12 years.
“My story focuses on overcoming my deepest inadequacy, that of simply being different. On my journey I needed to shed my skin of old beliefs, starting from not being good enough writing in English, to healing my relationships with my health as I was frequently losing my voice. Those factors stopped me from fulfilling my unique gift – the gift of singing and song writing. Now I call it, “sharing a better part of myself.”
My first song /chant in English was called “Powerful woman” created in 2012 during the walking meditation at the time of the deep healing process related with becoming a singer again – I am a powerful woman who is walking on this Earth / Come with me, let’s dance together / Come with me, let’s sing this song”
In 2014, while being a mother of 3 young children, working as a Polish Interpreter and a music teacher, I asked myself a question: When if not now will I start fulfilling my dreams? The question was profound and vibrated deeply in me. The answer was – now! The same year I graduated from the teacher training of Shakti Dance -yoga of dance, and I began slowly recording, week by week, my first album “Beauty & Power” – published in 2016. This was my healing album, which helped me to become who I am – an independent artist.
While writing I constantly fight my inner demons popping up and saying: “Hey, who cares about your story or inner process?” – well, I believe that the authentic sharing allows me to tap into the human archetypes of fear and victory over it. My message is simple – we are all unique beings sharing over and over similar stories, we fall in love, we dream, we lose and win, we struggle and flow! Since I started a transforming process of self-discovery as an artist I often feel like a heroine of my own story overcoming obstacles created by the outer and inner world. At the end my intention is to leave my listener empowered, encouraged for change and yes, touched by beauty which sometimes flows between and with the music.
On the 1st of March I will be publishing my 2nd album “Love & Light” across the digital platforms, further healing my fears and questioning the measurements of success and the purpose of my work and my efforts. Each time I become stronger, more committed and in love with what I do. Now I feel empowered to share my music, preparing 2 new projects, one in English one in Polish.”
Magdalena regularly performs across South West England and in Poland, sharing her original music and her workshops of yoga, dance & chanting. To know more about her & listen to her two albums – “Beauty & Power” and “Love & Light” – you can visit: www.magdalenaatkinson.co.uk and find her music on Spotify, YouTube, i-Tunes, Amazon, & Bandcamp.
“Magdalena’s voice is simply beautiful; Tori Amos meets Joni Mitchell. Her range is
fantastic, her love for performing live shines out.” — Sheila Vanloo presenter / manager of Radio St. Austell Bay
“Magdalena’s songs ebb and flow through the core of the spiritual heart bringing s healing to the unrested mind and quells the vexatious spirits that knock on my door” — Steve Lee Glastonbury 107.1 FM Presenter of „The Drive-Thru”
“Her tunes and the way she performs are compelling – great music and lyrics obviously pouring straight from her heart!” — Simon Neild Producer/Presenter Source FM
Ruth Blake is a singer-songwriter, guitarist, voice empowerment coach, carer, and fierce advocate for self-knowledge, authenticity, and the dissolution of hierarchy. She also works to support others connect with their hearts and find their true expression in the world. She has a first class bachelors’ degree in Film & Theatre, and has released two studio albums with a third and fourth on the horizon.
“I never felt encouraged by school or family to pursue a life as an artist, and I feel that is the sign of the patriarchal era we are leaving behind. Attending a private school – the ultimate in entrenched patriarchal ideologies – it was deeply imbedded in that culture that success could only be found in academia or the pursuit of conventional career paths – doctor, lawyer, dentist, accountant… Art and drama were seen as mere hobbies. My mother wanted me to find security as a teacher or a nurse, but the idea that I might be a performing artist was an absurdity; the idealistic and unrealistic dream of a foolish child. And she was right in a sense – there is no security in being an artist. Culturally we have forgotten the fundamental importance of the arts and so to be an artist in the world, you have to be prepared to dig in the dirt; to give your life in service; to be a warrior.
“At my school, that you would attend university was pretty much a given rather than a choice, which was an enormous privilige that I can appreciate much more today than I could then. Still, it took courage and determination to take the path I took, to ignore my mother’s haranguing and my school’s conditioning in order to study Film and Theatre at the University of Reading. I couldn’t understand how everyone around me was choosing subjects that seemed so unrelated to who they were; artists and actors choosing history and business studies – I was gobsmacked by people’s lack of grit to stand up for what they wanted and what they loved. To recognise your gifts and follow your passions was seen as ridiculous! Even at that tender age I could feel the destructive force of the patriarchal system and knew that it was a madness. For me it was a deep instinctual commitment to follow my heart without having any clue of where I would end up, and I now recognise that experience as the mark of a courageous heart; a heart that was willing to stand alone and fight for what she believed in.
“As with every path, mine took many twists and turns and certainly wouldn’t be described as easy. I believe those early years of patriarchal conditioning – perniciously undermining so many of my values – took a heavy toll including regular bouts of depression and low self esteem. Despite the spirit of rebellion that prevented me from falling into conformity, I couldn’t quite find myself. I lived my passion for music vicariously through boyfriends, always feeling somehow inferior and insignificant, and often ashamed of my own conflicting perspectives. Eventually though, I found myself on a healing path, and along that path, my voice began to rise. People began to notice me. They began to say to me, “We want to hear your songs…” And something inside began to thaw, and songs began to come. Slowly at first, but before long a gushing river that I could not stop. Being seen was like sunlight to a plant that had always been kept in the dark. It wasn’t long before I had crowdfunded, recorded and released my first album, Lullabies for Grown-Ups. Each song was a teacher and healed something deep within me. I was realising that the music from my heart was powerful and not only that but it was needed. Perhaps one of my most important songs to date, ‘Baba Yaga’, came to me in the midst of writing my earlier lullabies, like a thorn amongst roses.
“Send your plough o’er the bones of the dead
And let the ground renew the skin that you shed…”
— from ‘Baba Yaga’, Creation
Baba Yaga is a fierce archetype of death and transformation and in the song I call to her. The song uses the lower range of my voice and is not pretty or ethereal but a strong driving force with groove and grit. The song called in the death of the ‘me’ that solely identified with the more gentle feminine qualities; as mother, as carer, as healer. Out of the ashes of Baba Yaga’s fire began to emerge a woman so committed to speaking her own truth that the need to be liked lost its hold on her and ruffling feathers became inevitable; a woman that no longer wanted to apologise for who she was and what she felt; a woman beginning to recognise and honour her own courage and power. However this was a journey, and in fact I found it utterly terrifying to play this song for at least two years after I wrote it! It expressed something of my spirit that I hadn’t acknowledged or consciously shown to anyone before, but now I can recognise the same fire and courage of that 17 year old determined to follow her heart’s calling. I hadn’t changed. I had just gotten to know myself outside of the constraints of what my culture told me was beautiful and worthy of love.
“Step by step, song by song, Baba Yaga has begun to live through me again, breathing a new power into my life and my song-writing. She found a family of songs to live amongst in my latest album, Creation, which I released at the end of 2018, which is an album that I hope will inspire people to recognise their own gifts and find the courage to follow their own hearts. I believe we are moving into a new age of equality where we are redefining both what is to be a man and what it is to be a woman, and it is women rising up from the ashes of their suppression all over the world who are paving the way.”
Ruth Blake regularly performs in the UK and her two albums, Lullabies for Grown-Ups and Creation are available from Bandcamp, iTunes, Amazon and her website www.ruthblake.com
“A force of nature, Ruth deserves a global platform so that the rest of the planet can heal through her unique offerings.” — Steve Lee, Glastonbury FM
“As with her namesake William Blake’s, Ruth Blake’s are visionary works that defy categorisation or label.” — Jennifer Leach, Outrider Anthem
“With its delicate harmonies, Ruth Blake’s music seems to emanate from a waking dream. Her compositions are made of shades of love, sweetness and strength.” — David Mboussou, Film Director
You can follow Ruth on Spotify, Facebook, , SoundCloud, Instagram and YouTube.
https://www.instagram.com/ruthblakemusic/
https://soundcloud.com/ruth-blake
https://www.youtube.com/user/RuthBlake
For Magdalena.
You can follow Magdalena on fb & youtube
https://m.facebook.com/MagdalenaAtkinsonMusic/
https://www.youtube.com/user/magdalena4music
