Sylvie's Songs

I came across one of those Hallmark-y quotes on Facebook—the kind you usually scroll past—but this one might be worth a share. Many of us...

I just finished writing the lyrics to my new song, “Smile.”  It’s the second song I’ve written for a grandchild.   My  granddaughter has...

Some songs come from a place so pure, so full of love, that the music almost writes itself. "One Love Changes Everything" is one of those...

Some songs are born out of heartbreak. Others are born out of healing. When I wrote "End of the Line," it wasn’t just a song — it was a...

Some songs live quietly in a songwriter’s soul, waiting for the right moment to find their voice. "Heart Break Like Mine" is one of those...

The Joyful Resistance of Veganism By Sylvie Abate Being vegan is pure joy. But it is not simply about what I eat. It is about who I...

One of my favorite radio programs is NPR’s Hidden Brain . In a recent episode, they explored something that feels so simple, yet so...

New Year’s Day—not New Year’s Eve—has always been one of my favorite holidays. Maybe it’s because I’ve never cared much for the noise and...

This morning, as the sun gently climbed over Austin, a letter found its way to my inbox —a letter from the Director of the Austin...

Winter has always carried a poetry I can feel in my bones. I found a beautiful reflection online that felt like it spoke directly to my...

The Pale Blue Dot and the Call to Compassion When Voyager 1 drifted to the edge of our solar system, Carl Sagan paused. "Wait," he...

There is beauty in the familiar. Rituals, simple and steady, become the quiet architecture of our lives. But if we are not awake inside...

I love the silence of a forest —the hush that presses against the skin, the way even the trees seem to be listening. I love the first...

In creating the video for "Broken Year," I was able to step into the visual side of the song —to weave images with melody, memory with...

A Bridge to Nowhere (Hopeville Pond) "Broken Year"  will be the first single I release in 2021. It’s a song that has lived with me for...

My family lives in Austin.And after some gentle persuasion — and maybe a little arm-twisting — they convinced me to join them. I’ll be...

The folk group I was in for almost three years, The BeeKeepers, has come to an end. I will miss making music with Phred and Mandy, two of th