Diane Patterson is an international touring musician. She sings for the spirits of the land and the people of the land, wherever she visits. Known as the Folk Goddess, Diane has been writing and performing songs for the global movement for 20 years. The songs on Hip the Hip celebrate life and earth, liberation and love. “Ceremony”, the first track, came from a wedding of some old friends in the foothills of the Sierras. They had hired Diane to bring her band and play, and in anticipation, she wrote them a love song that distinctly depicted their gathering, and then transcended that moment to healing in relationship and ecstatic community ritual and music. . . “Time now stands still as we move in to ceremony.” “Good Friday” compares the legendary martyring of Jesus to the current torture and harassment of political prisoners in a beautiful song that gets requested quite often. “What better day to pray for justice now than Good Friday?” “Seed Song” describes the seed’s courageous journey out on the wind to land on fertile ground, fearlessly, reaching for the sun, all in “the mystery of the land, the mystery of the wind and rain, the mystery of the heart.” The line that makes listeners gasp is, ”You are strong, but no stronger than me, except when I need you to be.” It’s a beautiful piece with a sweet fingerpicking guitar arrangement. “One Drop/Shakti Love Chant” is like two songs in one, the first describing the worst possible outcome of water mismanagement . . . no more water, no more rivers, powerful people fighting over the last drop of water, funky/reggae-ish acoustic guitar groove. The second half of the song is a gorgeous, flowing anthem of wild water and wild wind and . . . “endless ocean, breathless motion, carry me.” Jabali Stuart plays saxophone. “Woman Strong” acknowledges the challenges of this world, for all, for activists, and just for survival. Then the song changes to “swingin’ in the peace-time tree!” Super high-energy song. “Are U Ready” was inspired by Starhawk’s magical book, The Fifth Sacred Thing. It, like the book, is a wake-up call to all who inhabit this earth, to care for earth and each other. Steve Hesh plays dobro. Diane plays a unique guitar hanmmer-on part. “Ballad of Big Mountain” came to Diane in a dream. She woke, wrote the first line in her journal, and then kept writing as the whole story came flooding out. The story is that of the Dineh (Navajo) resistance in North East Arizona. A huge surface coal mine, which can be seen from space!, is forcibly relocating these beautiful, traditional indigenous Americans from their ancestral homeland. Diane plays “Oh, Mother Take Me Home” on her djembe, an African hand drum. It’s a powerful piece, evoking other lifetimes, forgiveness, unity, and connection to the earth. This recording is a super high energy, live performance on a big festival stage. “Climb Down” refers to the kiva ladder. A kiva is a traditional prayer chamber dug into the earth and used by many indigenous peoples. This song celebrates personal healing with the support of a loved one. “Down to the Water” is a really upbeat song all about filling our own cups when other people and circumstances are sucking us dry. “Box of Change” is a very popular song of Diane’s, sung at many rallies and festivals, all celebrating our voices to “Tell Your Story.” It’s a fun and funky upbeat song. This is rather the title track, as the catchy line is “Hip the Hip,” which means simply: inform each other, talk to each other, get the news, find out what’s happening in our communities, in our world, from each other. It’s like, “Hip me. I haven’t heard yet. I’m hip enough to understand. Tell me what you see.” This is a live version from a concert in Santa Cruz, CA. And “Sacred Space” celebrates Love! Activists love the earth and justice, and we all love music and being together, and everybody needs and deserves love. Hip the Hip is called a retrospective because it contains songs from over ten years of songwriting. Diane’s songs come from a deep, intuitive place, sometimes from a dream or from an indigenous elder’s words or from experiences doing peaceful direct action with grassroots groups—or just putting her hands in the soil, growing food and loving the garden and the farm. Diane is delighted to have the opportunity to reprint this beautiful CD with a new cover photo and 50% post consumer paper cover, with GrooveHouse Records. The 20-page booklet of photos, lyrics, and stories from the road of peaceful activism through music still comes with the CD! Thanks for supporting me and my music!