Freak Scene #22: Kimaya Diggs Finds Herself on 'Lost'
A Guide to Music in Western Mass. (and sometimes Connecticut)
This week in Freak Scene, Kimaya Diggs is back with a new single, and it’s not too early to start making your festival plans for 2025.
Kimaya Diggs knew for a while that something wasn’t right, but it took the Easthampton singer and songwriter some time to figure out what was nagging at her. It’s the subject of her new single, “Everything Is Not Lost.”
It’s a breezy track with a tight arrangement built around organ, guitar, drums, bass and, of course, Diggs’ versatile, soulful voice. She sings here as though she’s reaching right into the heart of the matter, with support from backing singers Naomi Nye, Lexi Weege and Emma Pauline. The track also includes saxophone from Sen Morimoto and flute from Melanie Charles.
The song represents Diggs getting back on track following a period of self-doubt. After releasing her well-received 2023 album Quincy (which I wrote about for the Boston Globe), Diggs found herself waiting for the sky to fall.
“I was so confused — I kept having this feeling of, ‘When is everyone going to find out that this is all fake?’ or thinking that I’d somehow tricked everyone into listening to my music and they would realize one day that it was no good after all,” says Diggs, who performs Saturday, July 6, at Antenna Cloud Farm in Gill (more information here).
Though Quincy was the catalyst, Diggs had been feeling detached even before that, stemming in part from losing her mother to cancer in 2021.
“It took a while to realize that part of the issue was that my mom had been a proxy for my self-esteem — she held all of that on my behalf, cheering on my music and writing, and always showing up to every show, which meant that I didn't ever have to flex those muscles of believing in myself,” Diggs says.
She noticed things turning around last year at the Green River Festival, where she and her band played a set on the main stage that included the debut of “Everything Is Not Lost.” That was the gig when Diggs felt like she reconnected with her creativity.
“I had been worried about blazing through the set and not being present, but when I got offstage, I had this deep sense of presence and having had enjoyed the set,” Diggs says. “That felt like a turning point for me. And then I fell asleep at the lunch table because I'd left so much of myself on stage.”
Upcoming Concerts
Capitol Groove in Hartford apparently went so well last weekend that there’s already a date for next year’s festival: June 28-29. There’s no lineup yet, obviously, but stay tuned.
Speaking of Hartford, the New Pornographers play a free show Aug. 8 at the Old State House as part of the Free Live Music Thursdays series. (Pretty sure the last time they played Hartford was in 2011 at BOMB Fest, at the corporate amphitheater in the North Meadows section. They were great. The festival did, however, bomb.) Other acts on tap: Ripe Aug. 22, Max Creek Sept. 2 and Eggy Sept. 9.
Also, it turns out the Webster Theatre is still kicking. Though it’s unclear whether they ever replaced that perpetually soggy carpet in the bar area, they’re booking shows: in addition to rapper KRS-One July 14 and CKY Sept. 19, they’ll host the world’s premier goblin-themed heavy metal band, Nekrogoblikon, on Sept. 28. (The song “Dressed as Goblins,” from their 2018 album Welcome to Bonkers, is unforgettable. Whether that’s good or bad is one of those eye-of-the-beholder situations.)
Kalliope Jones play Sept. 19 at the Drake in Amherst. Cimafunk is there Oct. 18. The Avery Sharpe Double Quartet performs Oct. 26. Check the Drake’s website for more information.
Comedian John Hodgman does his Judge John Hodgman: Road Court show Nov. 8 at the Shea Theater in Turners Falls. There’s more information here.
Next week: Hannah Mohan, formerly of And the Kids, releases her first solo album.
Freak Scene is always open to submissions! You can send music for coverage consideration to erdanton at gmail or reply to this email. Check out these guidelines first. Previous issues of Freak Scene are available in the archive.