Photo by Anna Demetrides
I’m releasing my third album, Lake Accotink, next week on Friday 10/19 through Antidote Records. You can pre-order a copy through my Bandcamp here, and while you’re over there, you can also listen to some tracks that are already out, like “Zoysia Grass”, “Grayson Highlands”, “Of the Lake & Land”, and “Open a Window”.
To celebrate my upcoming release, I hosted a site-specific show at Lake Accotink. If you’re wondering the significance of this place, I grew up right by the lake. I learned how to walk on those trails, and I have spent lots of time at this park connecting with nature.
I have daydreamed about playing a show at the park for over a decade, and I got pretty close to doing so this summer. I was invited to perform at Braddock Nights, a summer concert series at Lake Accotink, but the show was cancelled due to impending rain. I still went down to the lake that evening and sang to myself while the softest summer rain fell. I promised to myself that I would make my own rain date up and perform at the lake on my own terms.
So I started scheming up ideas for a show *around* the lake rather than *at* the lake. I was inspired by my friend Dan Goldberg’s Mountain Show series, which I actually got to play at in 2015. The trail around the lake is about a 4 mile loop. I did my best to pair most locations with a song based on themes, observations, and aesthetics.
I sang “Hold the Space”, a prayer for the Water Protectors of Standing Rock and around the world, surrounded by a small creek.
Photo by Anna Demetrides
I shared “Grayson Highlands” on top of a hill with one of my favorite vistas of the park
Photo by Anna Demetrides
I am really grateful for all of the people who signed up to be a part of this show. This was my first time doing anything like this, so it was an experiment! We had a great group of interested and friendly people and I even got to make some new friends. As we started our walk, I told everyone about my vision and encouraged people to connect with each other and their surroundings throughout our time in the park. Besides sharing some of my songs, my other intentions for this event were to build community as well as deepen our collective appreciation for nature. The whole experience was really good medicine, especially since we were all feeling pretty heavy from the current news cycle. I emphasized as well that it’s important to make time to do things like this, to get together, to gather, to have conversations, exchanging ideas, about issues that are happening. It may have been a walk in the park, but to me, it was much more than that.
As we were nearing the end of the hike, I called my family to let them know I was getting ready to do my last song. They had to do some things earlier, so they weren’t able to come for the event. My Dad is also having some trouble with his knees, so I’m not sure he would of been able to do the whole loop. So invited them to come down for the last song, since it was a short walk from their house. It was a really powerful moment to see my family walking towards us on the trail. I can’t remember the last time when I was down at the lake with my Mom, Dad, and sister. I had to go run to my friend Mike’s car real quick to fetch the harpsicle for my last song, so everyone waited by the shore. As Mike and I were walking back to the group, he asked me if I was familiar with the I Ching. I wasn’t, but he told me there’s this symbol for the lake, Tui, which denotes the youngest daughter, the smiling lake,and its attribute is joyousness. Hearing this was really fascinating and relatable, as I was radiating with joy as I walked back to the shore to meet the group.
I Ching Hexagram 58 – Tui / The Joyous, Lake, designed by Marian McLaughlin
I sat down on a log to play my last song, “Of the Lake & Land”, and dedicated it to my family. The song is about my memories with them outdoors, especially at the lake. It was a special moment to reunite with them right by the lake to share this song, especially with my next sitting next to me.
Photo by Vianney Paul
At the end of the hike, we went back to my parents, enjoyed some refreshments and a cake! We noticed some awesome orange mushrooms cropped up in their backyard, so we went and checked them out. A big tree used to grow where the mushrooms are now. In the past I missed that tree, but I took comfort knowing that other things like these mushrooms are thriving from their roots.
My show at the lake was everything that I wanted it to be. Thanks to everyone that took a part in making it happen. I look forward to sharing the album, it’s out soon!
Photo by Anna Demetrides
Photo by Anna Demetrides