Humbird’s latest album, Right On, is a gorgeous snapshot of a time and place. It is the perfect soundtrack to showing a visitor around town because to calls out specific locations and catches the ethos of what’s happening in the community now. Or what many of us are trying to make happy. It was great to get to ask singer-songwriter Siri Undlin about the album and the upcoming show May 31 at the Turf Club.
You paint an amazing Midwestern picture in your songs, from Cornfields and Roadkill to Blueberry Blog (including a mention of Mikkel Beckman at the 331?) – it that intentional or just what comes from a natural Minnesotan/Midwestern life?
In the case of this record, there was some intention to pay homage, in an honest way, to the place where I live and feel at home. I do think a midwestern ethos is fairly present in all my work – I can’t really help it. But to do so intentionally brought certain emotions to the surface that I didn’t anticipate: loyalty, rage, mysticism. It’s amazing how the most familiar topics can transform before your eyes through creative focus.
Child of Violence has a different, more driven feel a direct call to be a chink in the chain. The connection to George Floyd in song seems clear, but what inspired the song and called you to call others into action in such a positive way?
This is a song I wrote as I continued to reckon with my own responsibilities, legacies, and debts as a citizen of this country. What does it mean to move with integrity on stolen land? Within systems of racial capitalism? I don’t think you have to have all the answers to be one small part of a more equitable future. In that way, the song is like a weird pep talk. I can be a break in the chain, I can disrupt these things in small ways, and collaborate with others in big ways…. I’m still learning and unlearning all the time. This song is part of that.
Ghost in the Porch is one of my favorite songs on the album. In part because I can be so sure in who I think the woman on the porch is one day and completely change my mind the next. Who is/are the ghost(s) on the porch?
Ah! I’m so glad you like it. This song is a hybrid of a ghost story and a fairytale. And as it goes with the folk wisdom of storytelling, the characters can be whoever you need them to be 🙂
What are you proudest about in the new album, Right On?
I’m proud of these songs. I’m always trying to be a better writer and storyteller and I think this is the latest iteration of that. And I’m really proud of how we recorded these songs to tape, playing as a band in the room. It wasn’t easy but it was so satisfying.
Please tell us more about the upcoming show at the Turf Club.
I’m hoping the Turf Club show will be a celebration of these songs and this time in the project’s trajectory. As things continue to grow, we’ve spent more and more time away from home on tour. But at the root of this music is the supportive community and scene here in the Twin Cities. So as much as it’s a celebration of the new music, it’s also our way of saying thank you to our friends and family who have helped us continue on this weird song adventure.
Mostly Minnesota 