June 25, 2021 - Issue #3 - Past Issues

Greetings, song lover! Welcome to the third newsletter from Uncaged Bird. I found a bit of a theme in this issue, which I’ll call “bleeding for your art.”

Is pain the most potent source for good music?

HBO just released a Tina Turner documentary, prompting this look at revisiting past trauma in service of art.

“I don’t think people want records about my new glasses”

Nelson George explains hip hop this way: “…hip hop was for a generation of young men from single parent homes, who…were primarily raised by their mothers and tried to figure out what manhood meant.” The glasses quote is from André 3000, who, in middle age, has decided his life isn’t fit rap material anymore.

The Barber of Chicago

Speaking of hip hop, my jaw dropped when I learned about The Factotum, a production of the Lyric Opera of Chicago, based on Rossini’s Barber of Seville (think “Figaro, Figaro, Fiiiiiiiiigarooo!”), combining operatic singing with hip-hop, barbershop, gospel, funk, neo soul, and R&B music. I love it.

Slow-roasted creativity

Stephen Fretwell was new to me, but I love this story of how, after a 10-year hiatus, he recorded his latest album entirely in one take. It drops next month.

From the head of Zeus? Nope.

For 20 years, Allison Russell has collaborated in roots-rock groups, avoiding center stage. For her wonderful solo debut album, she, too, digs deep into her past trauma. Brandi Carlile called it “one of the best conceptual albums I’ve ever heard.” Plus, more than one track features a clarinet solo!

Have a lovely weekend!

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