rla on October 22nd, 2012

"My boy was by my side, so slim /And graceful in his rustic dress!"

We invite you attend to children, in their innocence, their playfulness, their horror too. We have as our guests this time Donovan, the Incredible String Band, Anne Sylvestre, Mokey Fraggle, Randy Newman, Kinky Friedman, and Dylan and the Kinks, with readings from Wordsworth and RLS, plus the myth of Niobe.

"Beaver, I believe her, is gone."

rla on September 24th, 2012

Daphne and Apollo

What relationship develops in that space between the artist and the work of art, between the singer and the song, between the reader and the book? Tone brings it all to life, so we want to open and be attuned to what’s being asked of us in this space. It can happen to us anytime. We invite you to attend, and be attuned, to our show, featuring, among much else, an examination of the Daphne and Apollo story – a mythic retelling of the way the art itself loves the artist. We have on the show the Kinks, and Dylan, and the Fraggles, Leonard Cohen, the Miracles, and also a touch of raga and an ancient Greek hymn, with readings from RLS and Ovid.

rla on August 27th, 2012

Lamplight 84 Ainoma

Ainoma, the space between two structures in a Japanese temple

Ainoma, the space between, where you are in two places at once, or neither, beyond logic, confused perhaps, but open and ready for some kind of enlightenment, “about as near Nirvana as would be convenient in practical life”, as RLS says. We invite you to attend to discussion, readings and music on this theme.

rla on July 2nd, 2012

[To hear the Fire episode, click the icon above with the arrow rather than the “play in new window” or “download” buttons. I don’t know why the page is behaving awkwardly this month. Thanks for your patience.]

We celebrate Summer Fire on this month’s Evening under Lamplight, with songs and readings about real fires and passionate fires and divine fire. We can throw out only a few sparks from this huge subject, but that may be enough to ignite something within you, so take up your invitation to attend to the latest show, with our usual Dylan, Kinks, and RLS, here describing Monterey forest fires, plus Gina Barecca, Randy Newman, the Doors, the Rolling Stones, Al Green, Leonard Cohen, and, of course, Dante – not the Inferno but the Purgatorio. Oh, and also the Summer Meditation from Journey through the Seasons.

rla on May 7th, 2012

We invite you to attend to Hermes, or Mercury, the trickster god, but we also see him crossing boundaries, over the edge, earthing and unearthing, and leading us through dreams to the Otherworld “where the time and the tempo fly”. Poems by Emily Dickinson, Robert Graves, and Karen Yelena Olsen, tribute to Levon Helm and mazeltov to Jim Steinman. And, as always, the Kinks, Dylan, and RLS.

Hermes Logios

rla on December 7th, 2011

Why not give a gift of Evening under Lamplight – to you and those dear to you? All it takes is a click to listen to the show, which this month looks at different aspects of gifts: in Homer, in Irish fairy woods, on Broadway, from Spain, and, yes, at Christmas time too, though there’s something perverse about our Christmas gift songs. You are invited to attend to what’s on offer.

rla on November 7th, 2011

We are attending to the Autumn Energy of Departure: life seems to diminish, and calls us to depart on a new journey, first into darkness, and then springing into new life. But first, the Calling out of the Wasteland, and the testing to see if we are really ready for this journey. It’s threatening only to the ego.  So let’s look at some Wastelands, some methods of Calling and being Tested.

rla on September 12th, 2011


Michelangelo's Jonah

You remember Jonah, right? The prophet who ran away and got swallowed by the whale? Great story, but worth attending to a little more closely. You’re invited to attend with us, to this little literary masterpiece, with lots of interesting, and even sometimes relevant, music to help us along the way.

rla on July 22nd, 2011


We celebrate the first birthday of Cambridge105, and of the second series of Evening under Lamplight – with a triptich of songs about Parties. Are you from Philadelphia? Then you’re especially invited. And there’s  Alice at the Mad  Tea Party, and some reflective looking back and looking forward hoping we all stay forever young.

rla on July 13th, 2011


Alan Breck and David Balfour birstling on the rock in the Summer Heat

We look at Summer Heat – in the actual air around us or in our temperaments and psyches. A special reading from a scorching chapter of Kidnapped, and an interesting Mexican ballad by Dylan. Plus much more. You are invited to attend.