Freak Scene #19: Carrie Ferguson Thrives on 'The Many I Am'
A Guide to Music in Western Mass. (and sometimes Connecticut)
This week in Freak Scene, Carrie Ferguson tells us about their new song “The Many I Am” and the video they shot in Turners Falls in April. Also, the Stone Coyotes have released a pair of new songs, which singer Barbara Keith says will be their last.
Carrie Ferguson has been concerned as politicians in some states across the country essentially attempt to erase the existence of trans people with bans on bathroom use and gender-affirming care. For one thing, it puts trans and gender non-conforming people in physical danger, and ultimately it’s silly.
“Like all types of hate, it’s a total waste of time,” says the Northampton singer and songwriter, who is queer and non-binary. “The environment is collapsing, and there's rampant inequality everywhere and why are you trying to control how people express their gender? Also, it isn't going to work.”
That’s a point that Ferguson often makes in their music, including the songs “Girls Like Me,” “She, He, They (A Pronoun Song)” and their latest, “The Many I Am.” It’s an upbeat take on gender diversity with a funky, pumping bassline, wah-wah guitar and big blasts of brass. Ferguson screens a video for the song today at Pushkin Gallery in Greenfield (that’s Friday, June 14; information here), followed by an a cappella performance of “The Many I Am” and a Q&A with the dancers, directors and videographers. Ferguson will follow that up on Saturday with a full-band performance at noon at Franklin Pride in Energy Park in Greenfield.
“This is not an angry song, it’s a joyful, fun song,” Ferguson says.
It’s been a long time coming. Ferguson started writing the tune eight or more years ago, after reading about a student in Maine who had been kicked out of school for using the bathroom that corresponded with their gender identity.
“When I first started singing it, I wasn't sure if I had the right to sing it because it was about somebody else's story, and I wasn’t sure how I figured into that story,” Ferguson says. “My relationship to the song has actually been almost like a tool for becoming clear about my own gender identity as an as a non-binary person. It's been a little bit like a mirror.”
“The Many I Am” began evolving into a more expansive project a year or so ago, when Ferguson and their partner came across the video for Chaka Khan’s song “Like Sugar,” which features super-stylish people getting down in an unspecified urban space.
“I thought, wow, this is amazing,” Ferguson says. “What if we made a video for my song that was just a group of queer people, queer bodies, trans people, non-binary people, just dancing? And I was really enamored with the idea.”
So, Ferguson recruited a group of dancers, found a queer videographer in Salem and set up a shoot April 21 in Turners Falls. Filming the video lasted all day and the weather was cold and blustery, but the experience was unforgettable.
“It was just a great mood all day long,” Ferguson says. “Everybody really believes in the project and the message that we're sending. My whole goal for the day was to sort of was to create a community and a feeling and then infuse that feeling into the video, really wanting to send this message of inclusivity and acceptance and fun and creativity, and it felt really successful.”
After the shoot, Ferguson was beset with doubts about the whole enterprise until they could review a rough cut of the video.
“Not because I doubted the beauty of the dancers or the skills of the filmmakers, but because I had spent so much time on this thing,” Ferguson says. “It was like, what if it's not good? It was such a relief when I saw the first draft that I ended up throwing myself on the floor and screaming, to the amusement of the people I was with.”
The Stone Coyotes Take a Final Bow
Barbara Keith is putting the Stone Coyotes to rest. The singer, songwriter and guitarist has released a pair of new songs, “Play That Song Again” and “Waiting for You,” that will be the Greenfield group’s last, according to the band’s website.
The new songs come a little more than a year after drummer Doug Tibbles, Keith’s husband of nearly 50 years, died in April 2023. After Keith found an unfinished track with drums and guitar, she wrote and recorded new lyrics for what became “Play That Song Again.” John Tibbles and Doug Tibbles Jr. added bass and guitar, respectively. Though it’s somber and stripped down, the song shows Tibbles’ rock-solid chops behind the kit.
The other new song, “Waiting for You,” is even simpler, featuring just Keith’s voice and electric guitar as she offers an elegy to her husband and bandmate. “If you’re ever passing through / Take the coast highway, say hello to / The girl who’s waiting for you,” Keith sings, her voice tight with emotion.
After releasing a self-titled album with the band Kangaroo in 1968, Keith released a pair of self-titled solo albums, the first in 1969 and the second in 1972. In 1973, she married Tibbles, who had been working as a TV writer for programs including The Munsters and The Andy Griffith Show. They quit the entertainment business in Los Angeles and moved to Western Massachusetts, where Keith had grown up. The Stone Coyotes released their criminally underappreciated first album, Church of the Falling Rain, in 1998. The following year, their songs featured in Elmore Leonard’s novel Be Cool, which he dedicated to the band.
Upcoming Concerts
If you missed Richard Thompson when he played the Academy of Music in March, you’re in luck: he’s coming back Oct. 11 with a full band. DSP Shows has more information.
Chicago blues guitarist Toronzo Cannon plays the Iron Horse in Northampton July 18. Jeffrey Foucault performs with a full band Sept. 6. Larry Campbell & Theresa Williams are there Oct. 4. Odie Leigh plays Nov. 12. DSP has the scoop on those, too.
The Drake in Amherst hosts Whitey Morgan & the 78’s on Aug. 8. The Wolff Sisters are there Oct. 10 with Jake Swamp and the Pine. More information here.
Lisa Gutkin performs at Bombyx in Florence on Nov. 14, and will give a klezmer workshop beforehand. If klezmer’s your thing, and you’re already looking ahead to 2025, Mames Babegenush is there April 25. More information here.
Next week: We learn all about “telepathic ASMRcore” with Hedgewitch.
Do you know a musician you’d like to read about in Freak Scene? Let me know! To submit your (or their) music for coverage consideration, send a note to erdanton at gmail or reply to this email. Check out these guidelines first. You can find previous issues of Freak Scene in the archive.