Ten minute tea with Afternoon Tea. Spend ten minutes with Afternoon Tea. In the time it takes to boil one kettle, and let one cup of tea steep, we will have your daily art + music fix covered. Take your afternoon tea break with our Afternoon Tea curators.
Today’s tea + soundtrack + visuals curated by Rose Morrison.
An artist embodying the roar of the sea with a pure and delicate voice, Rose Morrison has seen, and done, a lot in her almost 25 years as a professional musician. The versatile fiddler from Baddeck, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia has recorded and toured with Oscar and Grammy Award winner Glen Hansard, Irish folk legend Breanndán O Beaglaoich (Breanndán Begley), and celebrated Scottish-Canadian tenor John McDermott. She’s performed twice at Carnegie Hall, recorded three albums and won three East Coast Music Awards.
On her latest album, The River She Knows, Rose explores new territory, and after living away from Cape Breton for more than a decade, discovers a new connection to the land and how it shapes her music. While she has firmly established herself as a fiddler drawing from a deep well of fierce, untamed wildness, Rose has also been writing songs for years, though rarely singing or playing them for many people – until now.
The songs on this album have been written over the past four years, but began to find life when Rose stepped into the studio with producer Dave Gunning in November 2021. The focus track, “The River She Knows,” was inspired by a conversation with a genuine friend who taught Rose to be still, walk the river, and connect to the good around her. For Rose, the river is a place that holds deep knowing.
Watch + share the official “The River She Knows” music video:
My previous two releases were instrumentals and allowed me to establish myself as a fiddler and composer. I was still very much exploring my sound. It has taken time to understand the fierceness and wildness with the delicate light and ultimately trusting my sound. I am rooted in traditional Cape Breton music, drawing from the lilt and air of my ancestors, but always collaborating and exploring something unknown. – Rose Morrison
Natalia Lafourcade- De todas las flores
I love Natalia Lafourcade’s music. She shares from a rich place of knowing her deep connection to land, people, and innermost self. She often reminds me how healing music can be. It’s full of light and wisdom.
The Gardener
Have I lived enough?
Have I loved enough?
Have I considered Right Action enough, have I
come to any conclusions?
Have I experienced happiness with sufficient gratitude?
Have I endured loneliness with grace?
I say this, or perhaps I’m just thinking it.
Actually, I probably think too much.
Then I step out into the garden,
where the gardener, who is said to be a simple man,
is tending his children, the roses.
Mary Oliver, A Thousand Mornings, p. 7
© 2012 by NW Orchard, LLC
First published by Penguin Press 2012
This poem brings stillness. It speaks of humility, how we can fall into our own thoughts. It’s a pull back to presence, nature and beauty.
White Peach Oolong
This tea is gentle, fresh and balanced.
Hand painted river by Áine Ní Chíobháin
This is included in my album artwork for ‘The River She Knows.’ Áine is a brilliant artist based in West Kerry, Ireland. We became friends when I lived there for three years. I love the wildness of the place and feel inspired to further connect Cape Breton and West Kerry through art and music.
Tea + Me 