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about

BECCA:
​This song took me years to complete. I started writing it following the death of a dear friend named Kenya Tillery. She was an immensely talented, passionate, and dedicated composer & friend. I met her when she was in her 30s, battling cancer for the third time. When she passed away, I was inspired to write a song to honor her, and to remind myself how lucky we are to be here and to be making music. I had a difficult time finding a version that I was happy with, until I started working with Gretchen & Rebecca. Something about their roles in my life and our time together gave me the inspiration and focus I needed to finish the song. They were the first ones to sing it with me. When Rebecca suggested "Tillery" as a band name for us (without knowing the story behind the song) I was speechless. It's the perfect name for this trio, and a beautiful way to honor Kenya.

REBECCA:
Tillery is perhaps the second song that we worked on together - and if not the second, as I recall it to be, then it was certainly one of the earliest in our repertoire. While looking for a band name, I had been enchanted by the word 'Tillery' without knowing what it meant. A name that hadn't any immediate attachment to anything to me - leaving lots of room for our music to become it. So when I suggested to Gretchen and Becca that perhaps it could be what we call ourselves, I learned that Tillery was the name of an old friend of Becca's, a songwriter who had passed several years prior. The story is touching to us all. I love this song, and our name. It fits us perfectly.

GRETCHEN:
A brilliant composition of Becca’s, i learned it and sang it with her band some years before singing it with tillery. it is so fitting for us, i love the meaning of the song, the name, and feel lucky to honor someone who sounds so lovely. i love blending with both becca and rebecca in different parts of this song, a true testament to our bond as friends and voices in music. each one of our voices is unique but somehow blends together to compliment the others, while still being able to hear the distinction. i cherish singing with rebecca and becca.

lyrics

TILLERY
Becca Stevens
Poetry by Jane Tyson Clement & Becca Stevens

(“Winter”)

The dark emerging trees
from the new-winter wood
are lovelier than leaves,
as cold is also good.

The heart’s necessities
include the interlude
of frost-constricted peace
on which the sun can brood.

No season of the soul
strips clear the face of God
save cold and frozen wind
upon the frozen sod.

The strong and caustic air
that strikes us to the bone
blows till we see again
the weathered shape of home.

No season of the soul
strips clear the face of God
save cold and frozen wind
upon the frozen sod.

(“Spring”)

Dusk settles in later this time of year
fireflies; nighttime’s chandelier.
Night’ll come as days must end
but soon the sun will rise again.

Sadness sheds in layers, leading us here.
Springtime's winter’s souvenir.
Winter clothes, and winter fears,
winter weight is so last year.

I think what makes spring so sweet
Not the roses, but beneath
Is the underlying truth
That everything must go so soon.

(from “February Thaw”)

So may we shout, and may we sing,
Blessed thaw, O holy spring.

credits

from Tillery, track released July 15, 2016
Tillery (5:57)
Becca Stevens
Poetry by Jane Tyson Clement ( “Winter” & “February Thaw” from No One Can Stem the Tide: Selected Poems 1931-1991). Used with permission.
& Becca Stevens (“Spring”)
Becca Stevens Publishing (SESAC)
Jane Tyson Clement, Plough Publishing House, 2000

Becca Stevens: Vocals, Guitars
Rebecca Martin: Vocals
Gretchen Parlato: Vocals

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Tillery New York, New York

Tillery is a uniquely gifted trio that combines the diverse talents of three respected vocalist-songwriters, Becca Stevens, Rebecca Martin and Gretchen Parlato.

Together, on Tillery's long-awaited, self-titled first collective album, the three artists tap into a powerful collaborative chemistry that's more than the sum of its considerable parts. ... more

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