Joan the Phone

Meet our friend Joan the Phone! She's here to help you stay safe online. Take a listen, share it with someone you care about, and then go update your software.

Lisa Einstein, voice, guitar

Wren Elhai, voice, violin

Jon Stubbs, lead guitar, tuba 

Don Godwin, drums

Mixed by Don Godwin, Tonal Park Studios, Takoma Park, Maryland.

Album art by Wren Elhai. Composition by Lisa Einstein and Wren Elhai. 

Our dear friend Rhaina Cohen wrote an incredible book about people who make a friendship the central relationship in their lives—owning homes together, raising kids together, or caring for each other for decades. She reveals our tendency to undermine romantic relationships by expecting too much of them while diminishing friendships by expecting too little of them.She laments in the book that there aren't enough songs celebrating friendship -- and asked if we could try writing a song based on the book. We had such a meaningful experience integrating some core stories and messages from the book into our new song, "Dear Friend",

Composition by Wren Elhai and Lisa Einstein.

Produced by Justin Goldner for Funky Butter Productions
Mixed & mastered by Chris Camilleri
Artwork by Miranda Bogen

Singers and Musicians:
Lisa Einstein - lead vocals
Wren Elhai - lead vocals, violin
Justin Goldner - bass, guitars, charango 
Richie Barshay - drums, percussion
Micah Hendler - vocals, harmony section lead
Miranda Bogen - vocals
Helen Toner - vocals
Frenio Redeker - vocals

This song was originally written in 2016, when Lisa was a Peace Corps volunteer teaching physics in Guinea, in response to her host brother’s claim that “girls can’t do math and science”. The original was featured in Scientific American and viewed by tens of thousands.  In December 2023, we (dear friends and former students) had the time of our lives giving it an upgrade to Pular, Sousou, Kissi, Malinké, Guerzé, French, and English.

Share it with a girl you believe in! And let’s keep working toward a future where all girls can grow up to be whoever they want to be.

Credits:
Music and lyrics composed by Lisa Einstein and Nicole Magbé Williams
Singers and Musicians:
Lisa Einstein - lead vocals
Nicole Magbé Williams - lead vocals
Zakaria Soumah - Djembe
Koumba Abigael Kondiano - vocals 
Sia Kondiano - vocals 
Ibrahima Issa Diallo - vocals
Produced, mixed, & mastered by CD a la prod
Artwork by Lisa Einstein 

We wrote these songs between 2021 and 2022 to celebrate the love of six couples who we are lucky enough to count as friends. In each case, we asked the couple to tell us the story of their relationship, to talk about how their partners make them feel, and to share their hopes for the future. We turned these stories into songs and shared them at their weddings. It’s been one of the most meaningful activities we’ve shared together, and in celebration of our own wedding, we’re putting these out into the world.

1. Firelight
2. Love Can Hold That
3. My Soul Will Wait No More
4. What If It All Works Out?
5. Bird Song
6. A Miracle Could Happen Here
7. Wisdom from Merlin

Lisa Einstein, voice, guitar

Wren Elhai, voice, guitar, violin, bass

Richie Barshay, percussion 

Cuchulain, bass, guitar (1)

Claire Derby, harmony vocals (1)

Ben Hockenbarron, banjo (2)

Laura Hockenbarron, melodica (2)

Jon Stubbs, bass (2)

Phoenix Gonzalez, harmony vocals (3)

Helen Toner, flute, harmony vocals (4)

Frenio Redeker, trumpet, harmony vocals (4)

Emefa Agawu, harmony vocals (4)

Micah Hendler, Miranda Bogen, Reuben Hendler, Katy Naples-Mitchell, harmony vocals, group honks (5)

Julie Shain, vocals (6)

Daniel, harmony vocals, piano (6)

Mixed by Don Godwin, mastered by Randy LeRoy, Tonal Park Studios, Takoma Park, Maryland.

Album art by Miranda Bogen.

All compositions by Wren Elhai and Lisa Einstein, except 6 by Julie Shain and Daniel, Wren Elhai, and Lisa Einstein and 7 by Lisa Einstein, which was inspired by “The Wisdom of Merlin: 7 Magical Words for a Meaningful Life” by T.A. Barron.