The transition from winter to spring seemed to be in suspended animation this year, as if the seasons themselves were on hold until further notice. Small signs of life emerge as bright green buds appear in the forest, flecks of color waking the grey winter sleep. The golden-winged warblers and mourning doves arrive in a fragrant wind of magnolia blossoms. We have all been waiting for things to settle, and there is comfort in this natural order.
Back in early March, I was honored to share the first listen of “Arrival” here at Folk Radio – a live recording (watch the video above) of the first movement of Cathedral, my most recent record. We tracked the live session in the mill building of my friend Robert Stark’s painting studio. I wrote some words about creating in such a living, breathing, storied place, and was equally excited to share the accompanying performance footage. Then a state of emergency was declared as a wave began to swell, grounding all scheduled performances of Cathedral. Everything was put on hold as the incoming shock of what we’re now in the midst of took center stage.
Releasing music seems like a trivial gesture with so many lives lost. The rest of us are on hold, so many variables in limbo. All of us touched in our own way, each of us coping, learning, adapting. Some of us turn to art as sustenance, creating inspiration and momentum. We take and we give. To stay healthy as an artist is to keep moving, ingesting, and exchanging. As we improvise our way through this peculiar pandemic, I am happy to share the footage from this recording and I hope it provides some comfort and escape.
This is a twilight season. We concede to time and place, climate, and circumstance. We’re all involved in a strange collective experience that is at best a common bond, at worst a great reveal. Or maybe it’s the other way around. The curtains of comfort are pulled back, illuminating the fragile illusion of security while challenging the very definition. It’s easy to feel exhaustion and frustration, and it seems that there’s an open nerve close to the surface. Something as simple as a mask is a gesture of solidarity, of respect. A way to signal that one’s concern is for a community above their own sense of personal freedoms.
For some, this experience might be a pacified inconvenience, whose savings, if any, have not been drained. Moving through each day, I am both aware of my own privilege and thankful for the closeness of my family. I am thinking of my friend who is thousands of miles away from family and expecting her first child this summer. I think of the conditions in the tenement where my grandfather was born over 100 years ago during the pandemic of 1918. I imagine the scene, the conversations – the smell. I think of how absurd it would be if they discussed the importance of social distancing or the moral obligation of disinfecting shared common facilities. They certainly weren’t being pummeled with a zeitgeist of misinformation, blasted with warnings of deep-state conspiracy while organic wild-caught salmon was delivered to their door.
I engage every day, making sketches and demos that will all make sense at a later time. It’s more of a meditation that follows the arc of the situation. Ideas are flowing, but without the urgency to knead them into completion. There are projects on the burner, Lewis & Clarke mixes, Cedar Sparks music to release, scores to finish. They’ll be fine as they simmer, there are larger issues at hand. I find myself immersed in my family, making sure my sons are up to speed with their lessons and studies, exploring the woods regularly. We are working to create memories of this time, to handle frustrations and to prepare for the next with strength, resilience, and empathy. I wish everyone health and sanity as we ease on down this strange road, as the forest appears through the trees and the seasons transition once again.
-Lou Rogai
Delaware Water Gap, PA
USA
For a limited period, digital releases by Lou Rogai/Lewis & Clarke are being sold as ‘name your own price’ on Bandcamp. Now is a great a time as ever to discover his music if you’ve yet to experience it.
https://lourogai.bandcamp.com/ – https://lewisandclarkemusic.bandcamp.com/
www.lourogai.com
www.lewisandclarkemusic.net