I am very excited about #MeTooMpls, an album (and movement) to lift the voices of women/femmes/trans/nonbinary folks in Minneapolis, to support sexual assault survivors and to raise funds for Planned Parenthood. There are 17 artists on the album; we hope to talk to many of them. It’s an honor to be able to promote such important work. (Also there will be a virtual performance CD release from the Hook and Ladder on September 24.)
Today we spoke with Averil Bach and r0 Lorenzen (from Static Panic) about their songs:
- Averil Bach – Radiation Blues
- r0 Lorenzen – Sides to Lonely
This album touches on so many heartstrings of shared (yet separate) experiences and emotions. It’s great to hear the inspiration behind each song.
Averil Bach’s song (Radiation Blues) is about accountability. It comes from a conversation that she had with a stranger on the street where she asked, “what would your mother say?” Averil was at a point where many of us have been, – just no longer able to turn a blind eye bad behavior. So, she stopped him and educated him on what was wrong with his actions. He listened and it seemed like new news to him. Points for listening but haven’t we all been there explaining (or wanting to explain) to someone why their behavior is bad and wondering the impact. I applaud her initiative!
r0’s song (Sides to Lonely) speaks to personal loneliness in decision making and the solitary path we make through life to get to the next decision or stage. r0 uses a metaphor of carrying a boat over difficult terrain to get to the river adding that is a lifelong trip. Breaks my heart to hear r0 talk about struggling on the journey with feeling woman enough, trans enough, black enough and even assaulted enough while making that journey alone to the river. It breaks my heart because r0 Is enough! But also because I know that “not enough” feeling. Again, the universality of growing up in a patriarchy.
In sharing these stories through song a community, as r0 notes, is the start of important conversations we can having during the major reset brought on by COVID19. Check out #MeTooMpls for previews of songs via videos and to join the conversation.
Mostly Minnesota 