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Well, what can we say. but that Spirit Awakening was oh so mahhhhhvelous, to say the least!!!! Upon arrival, our hosts greeted us with open arms, readily available to help us get settled in and comfortable, and were beyond hospitable. Thanks Klingers, and all of the awesome staff; Blinky, Krissy & Micky, Duckee, Satch, Dragon (you rule!), Gabby, Dawn Marie, Jimmy, Rijka, Geoffrey, Rowan, and BOO (Boo rocks our world!)!!! (If we missed anyone, let us know and we'll whip ourselves. And add their names.) We got to hang out with lots of our old friends, and many new ones, too, which was swell. Introducing some of our new friends to old ones was also most entertaining. We danced to the sounds of Snakes Rising, and shared some pounding rhythms with one another. Then, blessed as if with a gift, the wondrous and amazing Sede joined us during our performance with his guitar, some percussion & and vocals, and we even got to accompany him on his two tunes, "All In All," and the new "Enigmatic Blue." It was a magickal combination of his own "haunting vocals" and ours entwined within, and a once in a lifetime moment for all of us. Little Joe joined us on mando for a tune or two, and did a fine job of doing our sound. Our new friend Jim did some amazing dancing, as did Raymere, during our show, and both Jim & Johnny spun some wicked poi. Thanks guys! Children and grownups alike were hula hooping with our colorful hoops, listening to our new cd's and wearing our tee shirts! It was a grand time for all. Our cohesiveness grows! (And so does our schedule!) Thanks for having us, for watching, us, for playing with us... We loved your festival!!!

"It was the first chance I had to see the full group of BellaWyck perform. These musicians are totally awesome and if you get the chance to see them, I heartily recommend doing so." - W Lyon Martin

"Wanted to thank you all for a great performance. You have helped make Spirit Awakening a wonderful success and wanted to say thank you." - Gabby

"New CD is FLIPPIN AWESOME!!!!!!!!
If you haven't bought one yet I highly suggest you go out & do it NOW. Not in an hour, NOW! Hell, buy two. I saw a guy do it three days ago & he looked really happy about it. You should too." - Holly the MayQueen

"You ladies rocked at SA ~ it's a shame the camera took one for the team........ (it got dropped in the cooler!) much love to you all :)" - Lady Moon

"We had SO MUCH FUN! Thank you again for your music. You gals really rocked the joint with your lovely harmonies and sensuous rhythms. It was an AWESOME concert. Woo hoo! The music of the beautiful witches of Bellawyck is such a passionate pagan pleasure. Megakudos to all three of you." - Cern

"Is is cool to say how much we rock when I am in the band?
Oh wait a minute...I don't give a F___!
We rock, we rock, yeah, yeah, yeah!!" - Jennie Starr, Leader of the Pagan Posse

On Saturday evening at Spirit Awakening , we watched as the main act of the night, Bellawyck, took the stage. I absolutely adore the ladies of Bellawyck-- Beltana, Kittin and Jennie—and the blesséd blend of their voices. I unabashedly admit that I so enjoy the lovely harmonies and sensuous rhythms of these gals. Bellawyck also brings together a unique and special mix, drawing upon a variety of musical cultures and spiritual traditions. Listening to the music of the beautiful witches of Bellawyck is such a passionate pagan pleasure.

These belles of southern Missouri opened their concert with "Didn't Leave Nobody But the Baby". You will recognize this coming from the song of the Sirens in "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" But what you may not realize is that the movie was based on the Pagan classic "The Iliad" by Homer-- considered a sacred text to the ancient Greeks. Hey, you can't any more Pagan than that! And so, like the Sirens of old, the new goddesses of Bellawyck invoked the Gods and seductively lured our souls into listening for the rest of the evening.

Early on in the concert, a new song written by Jennie called "Pagan Posse", was debuted. This song is an invitation into a fun fae frolic with the Bellawyck gals and their friends. Hanging out with this "Pagan Posse" gang is a blast.

Jennie also treated us to her rendition of S.J. Tucker's sultry "When the Horned One Comes", accompanied by drumming, howlings and some heavy breathing in the back. After this song, anyone with a pulse was ready to "reach out and touch someone". Humma, humma.

It was a pleasure to see Jennie pick up the bow and get the party going with a jig on her violin. Though I don't know the name of the tune, that didn't stop me or anyone else from being carried along by the upbeat Celtic melodies and rhythms.

Later on, Beltana brought out her guitar and treated us to the Wolvenwold classic "Ballad of Bogtane". This song is about surviving through a rainy mud-filled Beltane—something familiar to most seasoned Pagans. I have always imagined this song to the tune of the Beverly Hillbilly's theme song, but "Bogtane" has its own ballad-like and enjoyable tune to this time honored tale.

And if anyone has truly reclaimed a song for the Goddess, its Bellawyck's version of "Amazing Grace". No references to wretches, nor lumps of pain, shame or guilt, this reincarnated lyric and tune takes on new life via our southern Missouri Sirens. Ah, how sweet it is.

Turning to Eastern spirituality, Bellawyck brought out a couple of Hindu chants set to a Western tonality to a very receptive Pagan audience. "Om Asatoma" ("Take us from the false to the true") is a potent and liberating mantra from the Vedas and one of my favorites. The other song, I believe, was "Tumare Darshan" ("Now is the time for bliss"). Yes, even dusty old Sanskrit comes alive again with BellaWyck's transforming touch.

Another new song, this one written by Beltana, entitled "The Secret", premiered at this concert. "The Secret" is inspired by the recently popular inspirational book of that name, but this song of Bel's takes on a clearly Earth-based tone and power. And one very cool line in the second verse echoes ghostly with:

And with the addition of background "aums", several spiritualities are successfully woven together with a new message for today. This new Bellawyck song deserves a hearing by Pagans and New Agers alike.

When the spotlight fell upon Kittin, she purred out the classic "Summertime". Kittin brings an originality and an enchantment upon this often covered ode to the season of the Sun God's reign.

Sitting in with Bellawyck was the Pagan rocker/balladeer Sede, who sang his heart out with his own solo, while our princesses swooned over the bard. Damn, I hate that guy! Just kidding. Sede is a brilliant singer-songwriter and we are glad to see him back on the Pagan scene. I especially enjoyed hearing him singing and playing unplugged.

Poi spinning friends of Bellawyck were also present, namely Johnny and Jim, who added to the entertainment by swinging glowing balls in front of the band.

The evening came to a close with Bellawyck singing the witchy Clapton rock tune "Strange Brew". The beautiful witch trio sealed the spell leaving a dose of wyrd magickal healing tonic inside of each listener, imparting a Pagan blessing for our souls and ears that will last for a long time.

You can enjoy Bellawyck for yourself by hearing some of the songs mentioned above at BellaWyck on Myspace, right here.