“What you’re seeing is empty businesses, empty schools, empty playgrounds. What is the emotional toll that takes? How can we replace some of that emptiness with images of hope, resilience, anger, and also dreams of a future that is hopefully not far off?” –Mark Strandquist, Mural Arts Philadelphia
quarantined Italians sing from their balconies
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Click here for a Vox.com article, with photos and additional links.
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Avett Brothers interview
“That’s why we make art, music, film…to connect. I mean, our contribution and our duty, above all, is to love people. And our contribution is to make things that relate to people. And through those things, that’s our vehicle to actually directly, physically, emotionally, connect with them.” —Scott Avett, September 2019
Tom Waits quoted by Eric Alper
quote from Steve Earle
“When I write something simple I’m always really proud of it. When you write something that simple with that much air in it and the whole premise behind it is something pretty obvious – that everybody wants to be happy and free – the song is sort of an exercise in not forgetting that’s what you really want and what you really need. We can get caught up in a lot of other stuff.” —Steve Earle, 2016
click here for the full rolling stone interview with Earle and Shawn Colvin
quote from Alberto Giacometti
“When you look at art made by other people, you see what you need to see in it.” —Alberto Giacometti
quote from Sade
“Once a song’s out there, it’s no longer mine. And that the whole purpose of music: to belong to people.” —Sade Adu
Vincent D’Onofrio interview
“There’s something very simple that we overlook. And we have to consciously remember that it exists, and it’s this: There’s always, somewhere in the room, somewhere, a tiny, tiny little thread of goodness. Always. And you have to seek it out. You have to find that tiny little thread. And you have to touch it, and pull on it. And you have to actively, consciously make that choice. And that’s…if you forget about that, then you’re lost.” —Vincent D’Onofrio, August 2017
quote from Arlo Guthrie
“My dad’s songs were really written to make certain people feel as though they had some kind of value. Because they were told from where they work and from the countries they had immigrated from that they did not.”― Arlo Guthrie
open letter from Jay Sweet
As stated on our about page, the idea for this blog was born out of the experience of attending the Newport Folk Festival each year. This letter from the Executive Producer captures some of the reason why.