Paul Godwin: Ritual In Remembrance
Saturday, November 8, 2025
Odd Fellows hall, Nevada City
One Morning Contains
Creating the video for "One Morning Contains"
Composed and recorded in 2020, One Morning Contains is an emotional release in musical form written by Paul Godwin and performed by Dogon.
I created this video just before Paul's memorial, in direct conversation with Paul's spirit. I searched thousands of photos I’d taken in the morning over the past eight years—dawn lighting up a river valley, dark clouds on a frozen lake, pasture with tall grass, cows resting. Interspersed with these quiet images are snippets of face, body, hair, objects, piano sketches and rehearsal moments. Paul's lyrics move through an inventory of ordinary things—link, letter, thread, rope—each object balanced against something invisible, tender, or broken: the fragile architecture of a relationship changed by loss.
The line “One morning contains the fragment of a broken memory” repeats like breath or prayer, until the song crests in a lament for trees to heal a stressed-out mind, for just one more forest bath. And then he leaves—his message cut mid-phrase. The video is my way of holding and interrogating this moment. —Ameera
The Ritual Program
Greeting & Gathering, Grayson Howard, Guitar
Indigenous Prayer, Sara Raskie & Tony Cervantes
Processional & Ofrenda Altar
Video: One Morning Contains, by Ameera, Music by Dogon
Ameera Speaks
Largo by Bach, Robin Mayforth, Violin
Jewish Prayer & Reflections, Rabbi David Azen
Buddhist Prayer & Reflections, Lakshmi Prasad and Adam Stonebraker
Manzanita (Blink and I’m gone), from The Botanist
Melinda Velasco, Guitar and Vocal
Indigenous & Buddhist Reflections, Bear
Video: Monarch (I’ve come a long way to find you) from The Botanist
Dance, Rebecca Wilson & Crispy Sircello
Words from A Brother, Zak Zaidman
Adrift, Poem by Mark Nepo, Read by Cate Regnier
Video: Helping the Sun to Rise, Composed and Performed by Paul Godwin, Songs of Grief & Gratitude Concert, Besemer Hall, November 30, 2024
Oseh Shalom, Crystal Bowls & Vocal, Kimberly Bass
Video: Processional Close: Hills, Dreams, Secrets: The Closing, by Ameera, Music by Dogon
Sharing, Refreshments & Altar Offerings
Video: Paul: Photo Reel by Mark Verlander, Music, All My Relations (at peace) by Dogon
Live Music, Bodhi Godwin & Friends
Helping The Sun To Rise
Helping The Sun To Rise, Music and lyrics by Paul Godwin.
Performed at the Songs of Grief & Gratitude Concert, Besemer Hall, November 30, 2024
Originally appears on Dogon's Smellucinations, Vol. II, 2018 NEWdOG Records.
MONARCH
"I've come a long way to find you... you can stay right here."
Monarch, from The Botanist: A Plant-based Song Cycle, premiered Sept. 21, 2025.
Libretto/Concept by Ameera Godwin. Music Composed & Directed by Paul Godwin
SUSTAINING PAUL'S LEGACY
Those who wish to remember Paul Godwin in a lasting way may donate to Myrtle Tree Arts, helping to preserve and enhance his artistic legacy and supporting emerging artists he championed.
To learn more about him, please his Obituary, In Memoriam.
Paul: Photo reel
Video by Mark Verlander
Music by Dogon. The track, I Lay Down, from album, All My Relations (at peace), released November 2015, available on Bandcamp and Spotify.
Gratitude to All Who Made the Event Possible
Infinite gratitude to our dear Friends and Family, Neighbors, Colleagues and Contributors who came together with such generous offerings for the event. Production expertise by Amy Critchett and Kimberly Bass; Additional Production by Seth Dickerman, Mark Verlander, Jameson Randall, Taara Hoffman, Cate Regnier, Rachel Resnikoff, Patrick Davis, Sara & Tony, Rene Medina/Comedor, and the Nevada City Odd Fellows Lodge.
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