Hey there Reader... The final installment of my music video trilogy, "Two Truths," is out! And boy, do its themes of looking out for each other in tumultuous times feel relevant right now. (You may recognize yourself flashing by, somewhere around the 3:28 mark - if so, thank you for sending in footage that helped make this amazing moment in the video possible!) From an interview I did with V13 Media about the project: I gave a kind of impossible task to my music-video collaborators: this song...
about 2 months ago • 3 min read
Here's a holiday-ish story for you, Reader... Why are there 40 pounds of toasted shredded coconut in my hallway? Well, it all started with an innocent brainstorming session... We've Got You: the era of overthinking With as delicately constructed a music project as We've Got You, it seemed time for a new merch collection: one as clever and, well, overthought as the songs. So we created some special limited-edition items, including one that just went up on the store: an engraved flash drive...
4 months ago • 4 min read
Hi Reader... I have music coming out this Friday, and tour dates coming up, but that's not why I'm writing. (Not mainly, anyway.) Yesterday I ran into one of my favorite neighbors. She's always upbeat, ever inviting people to something fun she's organizing. But yesterday she seemed jittery, oddly subdued as our kids ran around a courtyard together and shared snacks. Finally she sat down. "Sorry," she said. "I've got election anxiety. It's hard to think about anything else." She looked up....
6 months ago • 3 min read
Hi Reader, It's music release season around here! Start of a new school year, full swing of election campaigning: it's a time of forward motion, of choosing who we want to be now. It's a good moment to send something out of the recording studio, into people's ears at last. This Friday, I'm releasing "We've Got You (i - Spark)," a kind of love letter to inspiring leaders and thinkers. This song took a very, very winding way through the thicket of the recording process. Early on, we got golden...
7 months ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader! Exciting new-music-release things are afoot, and I'd love you to be part of it. I'm working with some wonderful collaborators on a trio (!) of music videos, and one of them just asked me: "Do you think you could get a few hundred people to submit selfie videos of themselves singing part of this song? In about a week?" A few hundred people? In a week?My friend, this is where I need your help. It's a really beautiful, moving part of the music video's story - a grand finale of sorts....
9 months ago • 2 min read
Hello there Reader, Another newsletter mere weeks after the last one? I'm know - I'm surprised myself. But it's because I have exciting news about an event that's booking up quickly... PRESENTING MULTITUDES: A GATHERING For years, Alex Wong and I have tossed around the idea of hosting some kind of intimate, multi-day gathering together. This year, thanks to our fabulous co-producers Amy Cox and Leah Light, our scheming has come to fruition. We're thrilled to present: Multitudes! This...
11 months ago • 3 min read
Hello Reader, I'm typing this on our patio in Washington DC, on a rare idyllic day - shocking blue skies, pollen grounded from recent rains, that warm sweet spot between early-spring chill and summer swelter. The trees are in lush leaf and bloom, and our planter box of spinach and cabbage is unfurling new growth almost as we watch. I'm behind on many things, flat-out neglecting a few others. But I'm deep in music-making and being present with my family and showing up for my community, which...
12 months ago • 4 min read
Hello Reader, Greetings from Saratoga Springs, where clear autumn light is pouring through my window and I'm about to kick off four packed days of community visits, shows and workshops. I'm high off a week of performing, teaching, and bonding with the fabulous musicians in Founders, including a glorious two-show romp at Joe's Pub in NYC. I hadn't realized how much I've missed playing with other people, and how much I love being in an ensemble-of-equals like this. Then, as they say, "after the...
over 1 year ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader! Welcome to a new school year, for those of you who celebrate in the northern hemisphere. I am now a parent of a pre-Kindergartener (!). She has been totally chill about walking into a new school, in a different part of town, with lots of bigger kids, new teachers and new classmates, no one she knows at all. I do not question life's great mysteries. In this dispatch: some unusual upcoming gigs, the Cliff's Notes version of a climate action workshop, and some thoughts on this...
over 1 year ago • 5 min read