Opportunity Fund FY24 (6.0):
Samples of My Work
Fever
Collective action is only possible when we see and experience commonality and cohesion. Empathy is the only way to get past the frustration we have with one another, egged on by those in power in order to keep us apart, distracted by pointless, bitter in-fighting.
Knocks
There’s a sense of exhaustion that we all feel from the intensity of the past decade. Capitalism depletes our energy for positive change – how do we find the strength to keep making forward progress?
Read Me Out
We are in the midst of a mass awakening. Everyone feels the shift that’s in process, even if it’s hard to articulate. Don’t you wish we could flip a switch and just move on to the next chapter?
One Sunday in Autumn
What species doesn’t fight for its own survival? When do we as humans start working together to solve our culture’s biggest, most urgent issues? Let’s ask the Archangel Michael.
Disconsolate Eyes
A letter of concern addressed to the culture. Climate change, systemic racism, economic inequality, and other issues are at fever pitch in the face of our inaction. We all act as if we’re OK, when we are clearly not.
Upside
No one actually convinces anyone of anything – we come to decisions on our own. So if we want to change someone’s mind, our best option is to demonstrate what the other side of change looks like.
About my artistic mission for progressive social change:
Creating change is challenging work. I look at my role as providing people the means to express progressive values in a hopeful, positive way.
The topics that I cover in my work are urgent and important, but sometimes hard to talk about. We don’t change minds by being confrontational, but by offering a view of what the future COULD look like.
It’s been shown again and again that facts, evidence, and data don’t move the needle on public opinion. That’s where art comes in. Art cuts straight to the heart and gets to places that data can’t.
There are two sides to the work I do, performing and recording:
- In performing, I stand at the front of the room and present these songs with positive, progressive messages. My hope is always to give people something to think about. Even if people in the audience agree with my opinion, it still gives them a new way to articulate it to others and spread a good message.
- In recording, I create the means to spread these messages more widely than my community here in Boston. I create shareable objects that live in any of the platforms where people consume music.
It’s nearly impossible to make a living as a musician, and I wish I could devote more of my time to this social justice mission. I’m not looking for fame or even sustainability, I just want my words to matter – to make a difference to those who are open to listening. To make people feel seen and understood. To help people learn – and unlearn – what I have.
Full disclosure: I was the recipient of a past Opportunity Fund 5.0 Grant in 2022, which I used to put on a series of 11 performances by a diverse set of artists. My goal was to spotlight traditionally underrepresented voices – Black, Latinx, queer, trans, and non-binary artists, inviting them in to traditionally white spaces to present their music and tell their stories. These were great evenings that erased boundaries that are hard to cross here in Boston’s music scene. Most importantly, I dispersed 80% of the grant to those who needed it.
How this grant will benefit my community in Boston:
This grant will go directly to the creation of four new songs:
- “Doing Any Good” fostering stamina in activism work
- “Nothing Left” about speaking up for social justice
- “Temperature Drop” about overcoming inaction and apathy
- “Cheap Seats” about the perils of wealth inequality
I will hire a producer to help with arrangements, engineering, mixing, and mastering. The process of working with the producer helps me fully realize them.
I will perform these fully realized songs to bring a positive message to metro Boston and catalyze conversations about social justice issues to raise awareness and empathy in my community.
Streaming: Apple | Pandora | Tidal | Spotify
Social: Instagram | TikTok | YouTube