Upcoming Shows + VINYL + ♥
In Our Softening 12" vinyl records are finally here! This physical artifact was put into pre-production last summer and to finally hold it in my two hands is, well, a dream. It looks and sounds incredible. You can get yours here.
I have some concerts coming up in March (which is next month if you can believe) in Brooklyn, Albany, and Troy. Scroll down for details about those. I'll be trying out some new things at each and it would mean the world to see your faces at one or all of them.
In other news, I recently received a message from a stranger that I simply can't shake. It has wiggled into my heart and I'm compelled to share it with you, along with some lingering thoughts it stirred. Here it is:
Hi! I hope you don’t mind this random message, but I wanted to tell you how much I love In Our Softening. I found you and your album when a track was played on the Classical 24 network. I had a deeply emotional reaction to the video for The Seas That Made Us, unexpectedly bursting into tears as the dancer welcomed the viewer to run back to the piano and find everyone gathered there. It made me think of the beauty and power of sharing music with others and how that has shaped and defined my life in so many ways..... My 5th grader just had music sharing day in music class and shared the story about the piano and one of the tracks. His music teacher said he went home that night and listened to the entire album in his headphones. So - that was a lot of words to simply say, thank you. Your music means a lot to so many.
To think that through a random listen on a radio station, a child is sharing the story of an old, upright piano with their class. A classroom of fifth-graders all listening to the sounds of a quiet piano. My music. Reading that message, I stopped whatever I was doing. I can't remember. I texted my husband, and I wept.
It's so easy to forget why we're making art in the first place. Lost in the grant deadlines, lost in the algorithms and streaming metrics, lost in the dizzying confusion of a culture that expects music to be free. Don't get me wrong, those conversations are crucial*, but they cannot overshadow the reason for the season. 😉
Musicians have a unique responsibility to create with intention and care. Music is a physical phenomenon. It moves through time and space. It quite literally moves through people's bodies and shakes us. It alters an environment, which means it has the capacity to alter people - their perceptions, their hearts, their minds. When music moves out into the world, it starts coursing a path that the creator will never know. Music is the in-between: weaving a thread, moving through hearts, connecting us.
I believe the most radical act we can do as artists is to be honest. It's easier said than done, but this is the task. To tell the truth. Our truth. The truths that can change from moment to moment. The truths that are relative. For me, this is precisely the purpose of art: to synthesize our inner truths into something outside of us that can be a point of connection.
The idea of doing your art for that one person is a cliche, an embarrassing thought that gets whispered shyly, if it's uttered at all. It's almost too obvious. There's a moment at the end of the movie (untitled) (a hilarious send-up of the contemporary art and music worlds that manages to make me cackle on each viewing) that speaks to this. The main character, an avant-garde composer dripping with disdain and cynicism, learns that he's made a difference in one person's life. It's meant to be humorous, for he has exactly one fan, but also a sincere moment of growth for a character who had always equated connection ("accessibility") with lesser art. Both parties, the creator and listener, had been transformed.
There are all sorts of reasons to make art. And not all art is meant to be shared. But for me, yes, I'll say it, there is no greater reason than that one person, or a classroom of fifth-graders. The threads that connect us become more intertwined.
We're all in this together.
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Upcoming Concerts
Friday, March 3
Greenpoint, Brooklyn
Sofar Sounds
8:00 PM (doors at 7:30)
Tickets and more Info
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Sunday, March 19
Albany, NY
Picotte Recital Hall at Massry Center for the Arts
1002 Madison Ave, Albany, NY 12208
4:00 PM
Free
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Wednesday, March 29
Troy, NY
The Lift Series: Piano Day
Troy Music Hall
6:00 PM
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What I'm Reading
*There is a current campaign spearheaded by UMAW (Union of Musicians and Allied Workers) to change the pay structure at the major music festival SXSW in Austin, Texas. Pay for musicians has stayed between $100-250 over the last decade and does not include a $40-55 application fee. You can read more about this here and sign the letter if you wish to support.
Currently reading: White Noise by Don DeLillo, but I'm truthfully having a hard time getting into it.... 😬