Stories

It’s the end of December, and I’m sitting down to write my final reflection for this inaugural year of Music in Conversation. I’ve loved this practice—each month spending time thinking about how a documentary song can be the spark for a bigger conversation. Many of you may not know that…

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what it means to support artists. Not in the abstract sense—not “the arts need funding” or “artists are essential workers” (all of which is true!)—but in the specific, daily work of helping someone become the practitioner they’re trying to be. Malcolm Brooks, our…

Welcome back to Music in Conversation, where we explore documentary songs as ways to make sense of what it means to be human. This month’s song offers a confession, but also a lesson. The storyteller, Luke, had been fishing for hours, just passing time. Then, he caught a fish. Holding…

“And then the day came, when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” -Anaïs Nin Welcome back to Music in Conversation, where we explore documentary songs as windows into human experience. This month’s song, “Two Front Teeth,” reminds us…

Welcome back to Music in Conversation, where we explore documentary songs as windows into what it means to extend ourselves toward one another. This month’s exploration of  “EXTEND” asks a difficult question: When does holding on become letting go? Clara Schneid’s song “I’ll Hold On,” written in collaboration with teaching…

A mother seeks to renew her temple recommend but finds herself interrogated about supporting her son. When she realizes the institution won’t change to protect her family, she takes on the name Eve and chooses love over loyalty.

“I Took On The Name Eve” explores finding your voice and the courage to refuse abandoning those you love for the sake of belonging.

Welcome back to Music in Conversation, where we explore documentary songs as pathways into understanding what it means to extend ourselves toward one another and the world around us. “I share my faith with the bees,” sings Danie in this month’s featured song, “Key of Love.” “I pray with them.”…

Welcome back to Music in Conversation, where we explore documentary songs as a way to spark conversation about the complexity of being human alongside other humans. This month’s featured song, “Chore,” came out of a collaboration between storyteller Tanisha Lokwani and teaching artist Caleb Edwards. In documentary songwriting, teaching artists…

Welcome back to Music in Conversation, an opportunity to explore documentary songs as pathways into what it means to be a human in a messy world with other humans. This month’s featured song was written by Hazel Delehey in collaboration with her father, Neil—a partnership that itself speaks to how…

This month’s song was written by Lexx Davis, in collaboration with Renovare Music as part of their annual documentary songwriting project. Lexx is a member of My Sistas Keeper, a Black women’s beekeeping collective based in Cleveland, OH, who is working with Renovare this year to write a collection of documentary songs titled “A Hive’s Song: The Frequency of Sisterhood.”