Premieres
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Kris Delmhorst: “Horses in the Sky”
Grief is a beast. Whether it\’s losing a life, a love, a dream, or anything else, the associated emotional trauma must be reckoned with on its own terms and timeline. But treading that ocean of sorrow is also an opportunity to hold onto, albeit in a bittersweet way, the buoyant joy that once was. Their…
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Jake Blount: “Beyond this Wall”
In a world in which the ruling class\’s grasp on power is always tenuous, the erasure of marginalized identities and histories is very real. We can currently see it happening in real time in the U.S., with public health statistics being manipulated to paint a rosier picture of COVID-19 deaths. We can also study it…
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Christian Sedelmyer: “Deacon Waltz”
There\’s a Rolling Stone article currently making the rounds about how the music industry only wants upbeat songs right now. It\’s such an American notion ― obsession, even ― to wish woe away and put on a happy face, no matter the circumstances. But these are not happy, hopeful times, for most people. They are…
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Mark Erelli: “The River Always Wins”
There are numerous reason civilizations settled near waterways. The sustenance of life certainly sits at the top of the list, with travel and trade, industry and innovation also making the grade. In the northeast U.S., so many small towns cropped up around rivers with mills beating at the heart of them. Many of those mills…
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The Lowest Pair: “Shot Down the Sky”
The vastness, power, and beauty of the natural world is a mind-boggling force to be reckoned with and wonder to behold. Always there, just under or beyond our comprehension, the universe and its planetary manifestation keep us honest, even when we don\’t mean to be. Who hasn\’t stopped in their tracks to marvel at a…
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Liz Longley: “Torture”
Science has proven that human touch is a necessary component of a healthy life. A long, genuine embrace sparks a release of oxytocin which lowers cortisol and, thereby, stress levels, while holding hands reduces anxiety. Study after study, experience after experience shows these things to be true. And then there are effects from the more…
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Robby Hecht: “Ferris Wheel”
At a certain point in life, you realize that having hard, honest conversations about painful personal secrets is the only way to lessen the shame attached to them. One of the most stigmatized of those topics is mental health, an incredibly prevalent issue within creative communities, including music. That\’s why seeing more and more artists…
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KaiL Baxley: “In Lieu Of”
With the climate collapsing at a record clip, a lot of people are reassessing their priorities in life. For some, it\’s stockpiling arms with which to protect themselves from dangerous marauders. For others, it\’s stockpiling arms in which to wrap themselves with eternal love. Rather like in the ship-sinking scene in Titanic, do you fight…
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Maya de Vitry: “Better and Better”
There\’s a wonderful “self-help” theory floating about which espouses the idea that grief is part of forgiveness, that we have to let something go and mourn its loss before we can begin to recover any amount of internal peace in regard to it. Some even go so far as to say that the parts of…
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Sarah Harmer: “St. Peter’s Bay”
The world is at the brink, in so many ways, none more terrifying than the climate catastrophe that we humans have created through our capitalist, consumerist selfishness. In times like this, art seems both futile and vital. On one hand, it feels like an overly indulgent luxury stemming from incredibly excessive privilege to focus on…
