MR. KOJO NNAMDIWhen Jennifer Cutting couldn't find a holiday music album, she decided to make her own. Of course, she wasn't looking for "Jingle Bells" and "Deck The Halls." She wanted something that blended Celtic and English folk melodies with a Renaissance flavor and a solid rock beat. She wanted a collection that spoke to people of all faiths, mingling east and west, old and new. The award-winning folk rock musician is herself an eclectic mix English and Irish heritage, Hindu upbringing and a fourth generation musician.

MR. KOJO NNAMDIBy day, she's an ethno-musicologist at the American Folk Life Center at the Library of Congress. By night, she's a fixture on the local music scene. Jennifer Cutting joins us today for a musical celebration of the change of seasons. Jennifer Cutting is a composer, band leader, record producer and ethno-musicologist. Jennifer, good to see you again.

MS. JENNIFER CUTTINGHello, Kojo.

NNAMDIAlways a pleasure. You come from a musical family whose English and Irish heritage exposed you to those musical traditions at a pretty young age. So why do the themes of that music still resonate with you today?

CUTTINGMy goodness, I think it's encoded in my very DNA, you know. The old themes of celebrating the turn of the seasons in the wheel of the year, that's deeply, deeply engrained in me and I have finally gotten to make a CD that satisfies that longing to celebrate that.

NNAMDIOne part of your family is Irish, the other is English. You were raised in part by Indian Swamis in a Hindu ashram in Florida. Renaissance music, however, is a part of your repertoire, too. What does that add to the mix?

CUTTINGMy goodness, it's the beauty of western art music, all that's beautiful about western art music married to all that's gorgeous about the very linear music of the East and the stacked music of the West. I love it all. It's all good. And I realize my childhood may raise eyebrows, but I will remind everybody who is my age, I'm 52, that back in the '70s the Beatles starting meditating and they started following Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and much of the world followed suit and...

NNAMDIA lot of your own family adopted the Eastern belief system early in your life.

CUTTINGIndeed, they did. As a child, I was taken to an ashram where I studied yoga and meditation and when, my parents died early on, I was left to be raised by my grandmother and she also had adopted Hinduism. So when she died, I was left to the care of Swami Jotre Maya Nonda (sp?) and Swami Lalita Nonda (sp?) in an ashram to be raised as a, well, I'll say it, a nun. I was in a nunnery for many years of my life, but it's an unusual childhood, but one that had many gifts. I learned to meditate and I can cook Indian food like a native.

NNAMDIAll of which has come together to create who you are today. If you'd to join this conversation, call us at 800-433-8850. What's your favorite holiday music tradition? You can also send us email to kojo@wamu.org. You trained as a classical pianist, but you fell in love with British electric folk music when you lived in London in the early 1980s. Why were you so enthralled by that?

CUTTINGMy goodness, I fell in love the night I went down to the cellar folk club in the basement of the English Folk Dance and Song Society and heard a man, a very wooly man, called Nigel Chippindale playing this button accordion. I heard that sound and I said, if it's the last thing I do, I'm going to learn to play that instrument. That instrument is pure happiness in a box.

NNAMDIAnd you not only heard Nigel Chippindale, you ended up working or learning with Nigel Chippindale?

CUTTINGYes, he became my melodeon teacher and I was studying at the time in graduate school for my master's degree in ethno-musicology with a great man, who's considered the father of the British folk song revival, A.L. Lloyd or Burt Lloyd. And I brought the melodeon in today -- one day to my lecture with Burt Lloyd, I had individual tutorials with him. I said, Burt, I'm going to learn the melodeon. And he smiled, it may be the first time he's ever smiled at me, and he said, that's a fine instrument. And he gave me a lot of great melodeon records to listen to.

NNAMDIBut playing an instrument that has no keyboard when you were trained on the piano, what was...

CUTTINGYes, that was a tough adjustment because this thing works like a harmonica. It gives you one note when you push and a different note when you pull. And so it's a very complicated neural thing that you have to do when you play one of these.

NNAMDII'll understand it a lot better if I actually see you playing it. So will you play something on it for us now?

CUTTINGIt just so happens I have my melodeon in the studio.

NNAMDIWhoa, who knew? She brought her melodeon in the studio, but...

CUTTINGAnd for those of, you know, our listeners can't see, but it's all bedecked with ribbons, tartan ribbons and red ribbons and silver ribbons.

NNAMDIIt sure is.

CUTTINGBedecked for the holidays.

NNAMDIOur listeners have great visual imaginations. So here we go, Jennifer Cutting.

CUTTINGThis is my favorite gig, "The Matelo (sp?) Jig."

NNAMDII was just about to get up and dance.

CUTTINGIt makes you want to dance. And the thing about this button accordion is there's no equal to it when it comes to bounciness, which is why it's great for playing for dancers. You cannot be sad in the presence of this instrument.

NNAMDII wanted to bounce myself. In some of your work, you take traditional folk instruments, like the button accordion, fiddle and bagpipes, you put them together with electric instruments like electric guitar and bass. You've said you like to have your folk music and dance to it, too. How did the Beatles and rock music of your youth influence your songwriting and your composing?

CUTTINGWell, gosh, Kojo, everybody my age grew up with a backbeat. You know, the backbeat is what follows on two and four of a one, two, three, four measure. It's the lifeblood of rock music. So I grew up with all my music having a backbeat and when I took up folk music, when I took up traditional music and the melodeon, I wanted that to have a back beat too, because these old tunes are meant to dance to. They've been dance music for as long as anyone could dance, and so in our, you know, contemporary musical lingua franca, that's a backbeat on the drum set, so I added one to it.

NNAMDIWe're talking with Jennifer Cutting. She's a composer, band leader, record producer and ethnomusicologist. She joins us in studio along with her melodeon. She's been playing for us, and you'll be hearing more of her music, but you can also call us tell how your family heritage and musical favorites fit into your holiday rituals. 800-433-8850, or send email to kojo@wamu.org.

NNAMDIIn some of your work, well, on your newest album in particular, the song "Solstice," it's a collection of holiday music for all traditions. Talk about how east meets west and old meets new on this album.

CUTTINGWell, you know, in me, as a person, east meets west because of my Ashram upbringing, and then my life, you know, outside the Ashram. I am a meeting of east and west. I wanted to make a holiday album or people of all stripes, Jews and gentiles, Christians and pagans, believers and non-believers. Because what I'm trying to do here with this -- with my album "Song of Solstice" is to dig down to the deeper layers and completely bypass all those politics of religion that give us so much trouble, and dig right down the heart of why we celebrate at this time of year here in the northern hemisphere.

CUTTINGIt's the return of the light. Now, we all live under the same sun, and it's all about our relationship with the sun this time of year. So many cultures have festivals of light around the end of December. I mean, today begins Hanukah, if I'm not mistaken.

NNAMDIYou are exactly right. Today's the beginning of Hanukah. My Jewish friends told me this.

CUTTINGThat's right. And Happy Hanukah to all of you out there who celebrate that. There's a festival of light. The ancient Persians celebrated the return of the light with the birth of Mithra who was born on December 22 of a virgin, and personified all that is light and good in the conquering of darkness with light. So this is pervasive through all cultures, through all historical periods. That's what we all have in common, is our relationship with the sun, with the light, with nature. So in colder climates, the idea of celebrating the return of warmth and light is something we can all get behind.

NNAMDISpeaking of your influences, I'd like to talk about that some more, or let me let Liz an Annandale, Va. talk about the influences on Jennifer Cutting. Liz, you're on the air. Go ahead, please.

LIZHi, Jennifer. I wanted to find out about 11 in your music. Basically, you have combined prog rock, Bollywood, renaissance symphonic music, and you've made it into something new. How do you keep, you know, it's so easy to sound derivative. How to do you manage?

CUTTINGWell, I believe that each soul comes to this earth with a kind of originality, and I love Bollywood. I love bong-ra, I love soukous. I love it all, and I'm a classically trained musician. Here's the thing. Anything that drifts into my transom goes into the blender and comes out as Jennifer Cutting music, and that's exactly what happens. My mind is like a blender, and I put it all together in my own unique way, the way that every musician does.

NNAMDILiz, ask her about "Spinal Tap."

LIZOkay. (unintelligible) I understand you studied at his feet.

CUTTINGI have to tell you, "This is Spinal Tap" which is a mockumentary produced by...

NNAMDILoved it. Loved it.

CUTTING...Rob Reiner. It is my favorite movie in the world because every performing musician will relate to that movie because we've all lived it.

NNAMDI"Spinal Tap" is one of the big influences on Jennifer Cutting. Now, Liz, thank you very much for your call. Back to the title of your new collection. It's called, as you talked, "Song of Solstice." I'd like to -- let's listen to "Song of Solstice."

CUTTINGOkay.

NNAMDIAnd Jennifer Cutting and I are dancing in our seats to "Song of Solstice." But you put music on this album that encourages brooding, encourages introspection. Why is that?

CUTTINGWell, here's part of the secret of surviving winter. I myself am a person who has a rough time with winter sometimes. I brood a little bit too much. I miss the light. I have cold hands and feet.

NNAMDISame here.

CUTTINGSo this record "Song of Solstice" is like a little winter survival package. The keys to surviving the darkness and the cold are -- oh, there are about three things we can remember, and one is that the darkness brings its own gifts. If we can honor those and be grateful for the darkest parts of the year, we're already in a better frame of mind, and the gifts of the darkness are -- it's a fabulous time for turning inward, just like the sap withdrawing to a place deep within the tree.

CUTTINGIt's a great time for reflecting and dreaming of new realities and incubating ideas. So, you know, why should we be any different from the rest of nature? A seed needs time below the ground in the darkness, in that nourishment, to gather strength for pushing outward when the sun comes back and we are the same. So we should honor the darkness and we should take enough time in this manically social season to give ourselves the gifts of solitude and reflection on winter's long nights, and we need to balance those times of reflection and solitude with times of quality togetherness.

CUTTINGNot just any togetherness, but our winter traditions such as our parties and our caroling, the holiday meals that we have together. They draw us together to keep one another company through the cold and dark, and to keep our spirits up and remind each other that we're not alone. So we need to balance those times of reflection with times of quality togetherness. And the third thing is to remember that the solstice, which is only two days away now, the solstice is a turning point.

CUTTINGIt's kind of a magical gateway through which we pass into the New Year and in the title cut, I've used the metaphor of a blazing Yule fire burning away all of last year's troubles, so we can start new again, purified by those fires. It's times to pitch the old wounds and grudges and fears straight into that fire so we can burn them away and start the new year unfettered by all the baggage. I have plenty of that to work on myself this year.

NNAMDIWe all do. Here's Madu (sp?) in Fairfax County, Va. Madu, you're on the air. Go ahead, please.

MADUHi Jennifer and Kojo. I'd like to share some thoughts on comments Jennifer made a little bit earlier. First of all, Jennifer, I think it's amazing that as a westerner you've been able to embrace Hinduism and yoga and meditation. And very often you hear people associating these practices with Hinduism, but I think there is a much broader perspective and application for yoga in general, for physical well being and meditation for emotional and mental well being regardless of what religion people practice.

CUTTINGAbsolutely. I agree with you, Madu.

MADUYeah. So I just wanted to share that and get your comments as well.

NNAMDICare to comment at all?

CUTTINGWell, I think that the broadest tenets of Hinduism, taking responsibility for our own actions, the broad tenet of we're here to evolve. We evolve over time through purifying our thoughts and actions. These tenets...

NNAMDIAre universal.

CUTTING...and the tenet of rebirth, these tenets are universal and gosh, what's not to like?

NNAMDIMadu, thank you very much for your call. When you're not writing music or producing albums, you're working as an ethnomusicologist at the American Folk Life Center at the Library of Congress. What's in the Folk Life Center's collection? Okay. I should know. I sat on the Board of the Folk Life Center for many years, but I just want you to tell our audience what's in...

CUTTINGAnd we thank you for your work on our Board.

NNAMDIYou're welcome.

CUTTINGThat was wonderful to have you. Well, we've been around since 1928, as a collection, and the idea was that we would gather together and collect cultural documentation of traditional culture from all around the world. And I mean, we've got everything from a wax cylinder made in 1890 of the Passamaquoddy Indians, all the way up to a digital recording of our latest -- our most recent immigrant groups to the United States.

CUTTINGIt's America's first national archive of traditional life, and one of the oldest and largest in the world. And we have everything from, as I mentioned, Native American song and dance. We have ancient ballads, Tales of Brier Rabbit told in Gullah dialect of the Georgia Sea Islands. We've got oral histories galore. The stories of ex slaves told in their own voices while those memories of slavery were still vivid in their minds, an Appalachian fiddle tune that's been heard on concert stages around the world.

CUTTINGBill Stepp's "Bonaparte's Retreat."

NNAMDIMm-hmm.

CUTTINGThat's the recording that became rodeo, inspiring our composers, inspiring Copeland. We've got recordings of a Cambodian wedding in Lowell, Massachusetts, St. Joseph's day table in...

NNAMDIDon't you have Rob Bamberger stashed someplace in that building?

CUTTINGWe've got Rob -- we've got...

NNAMDIRob Bamberger of (unintelligible) Saturday night.

CUTTINGAlistair Cooke, the broadcaster over in the recorded sound section, but yes. I mean, you name it, we've got it.

NNAMDIYeah. You can find Rob there, too. How did you use the archives there to write two of your songs, "Time to Remember the Poor," and "Fall Leaves Fall"?

CUTTINGWell, I will say of "Time to Remember the Poor," which is an old British Broadside ballad, this was common in the English language diaspora everywhere. There are versions from Canada. There are versions from England, Ireland, Scotland. So what I can do in the archive is find all those different versions, put them side by side, compare them and say, well, what are the strongest bits of each one of these versions? And I can take the strongest bits of all of them and put them together, which I did for my version of "Time to Remember the Poor."

CUTTINGAnd I don't believe that things are engraved in stone. I believe that tradition is a continuum and it changes in the heart and mind of each person who carries it.

NNAMDIWell, let's give listen to some of "Time to Remember the Poor."

NNAMDIJennifer Cutting. That is simply beautiful.

CUTTINGThank you so much. And if you come out to our Birchmere show on Tuesday, December 27...

NNAMDI7:30 p.m.

CUTTINGYeah. At the Birchmere.

NNAMDIIn Alexandria, Va.

CUTTINGTwo days after Christmas, right. At the Birchmere, you'll hear the whole song which goes into a kind of apocalyptic psychedelia. I mean, it's like a combination of "Inna Gadda Da Vida" and "Carmina Burana." So we'll have the Revels Chorus signing singing with us. Washington Revels are terrific. I've partnered with them many years now to produce programs together, and so they'll be signing on that, and gosh, we're gonna have Morris Dance teams doing original dances, Highland bagpipes piping people in. It's just an extravaganza, and there's nowhere else in the country you can see a holiday show like this.

NNAMDIThat's Tuesday, December 27, 7:30 p.m. at the Birchmere in Alexandria with Jennifer Cutting. You're not the only songwriter who uses the resources at the American Folk Life Center. You see rock stars coming in there, folk musicians, what are they looking for?

CUTTINGEveryone has this vague knowledge that to come to the old stuff is a good idea, because the old stuff has survived for so many hundreds of years. That must mean something about its quality. So people have that good instinct to come to this ancient well to dip from it, and that's a good instinct, and I want to encourage all of you listeners to come to the American Folk Life Center to the Folk Life Reading Room, the Archive of Folk Culture, to dip into that ancient well.

CUTTINGI was lucky to be on the reference desk one day when Eddie Vedder and Pearl Jam showed up, and they were looking for something old to make new again. And I think they walked away with some important information. And, you know, going back to Harry Belafonte and he found a lot of his calypso stuff in our archive.

NNAMDIOh, yeah. Yeah.

CUTTINGWe've been inspiring people for a long time.

NNAMDII've gone through that archive and believe me, it is remarkable. I'm afraid we're out of time. Jennifer Cutting is a composer, band leader, record producer, and ethnomusicologist. Jennifer Cutting, so great to see you. Good luck to you.

CUTTINGThank you, Kojo.

NNAMDI"The Kojo Nnamdi Show" is produced by Brendan Sweeney, Michael Martinez, Ingalisa Schrobsdorff and Tayla Burnie with assistance from Kathy Goldgeier and Elizabeth Weinstein. The managing producer is Diane Vogel. Our engineer is Andrew Chadwick. A.C. Valdez is on the phones. Thank you all for listening. I'm Kojo Nnamdi.