As we shift into a whole new phase of things that could have been prevented, it’s helpful to know about some good things from 2021. 

Brian wrote about 7 Good Things the other day. Honestly, every single one of his recommendations is on my list too. So, I thought I would just add 6 more, to bless you with a lucky 13 to close out this year. 

Here are six records that sustained me in 2021. 

Allison Russell, Outside Child

In a year that has required all of us to expand our capacity for grace, this album is an object lesson. Allison Russell’s autobiographical expression of abuse, liberation, and forgiveness is testimony to the power of love. When I say love, I’m thinking of James Baldwin. He wrote, in The Fire Next Time, “Love takes off the masks we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within. I use the word love not in the infantile American sense of being made happy but in the tough and universal sense of quest and daring and growth.” Seeing Allison perform these songs at Newport with her amazing band was transcendent.

What I love most about Adia Victoria’s writing is how it, to quote a friend, “gets into you.” It’s not just that I find myself singing the songs, which I do, but it’s also that I find myself wondering about the songs, the people, the places, the moods, the things not said. Adia Victoria is the one of the most restrained lyricists I’ve ever heard–she squeezes more story into a single line than many songwriters get in a verse. Short story writers talk about economy of language, and there’s really no one else I can think of who writes songs without wasting a word. Adia has plans to release a companion volume of poetry to A Southern Gothic, which I anticipate will just keep folk wondering and wondering more and seeing the world through blues-gothic glasses. 

You know when you hear the first line of a song and you love it immediately? It had been a while since I felt that feeling, but “The Timing,” made me say “Yaaaaaaassssss” and turn up the music and roll down the window of my car and turn it up louder. It is, as the kids say, a bop. This EP as a whole keeps me coming back because it expresses the wide range of interests and sensibilities that inform Alisa’s work.

When we lived in the Boston area, my family and I went to Arlington Street Church most Sundays. Part of the service is sharing joys and sorrows–that is, sharing our lives. Lighting candles, holding grief and gladness together in the light. I have sung along to this album for most of the year and the songs keep shifting–sometimes I hear joy, sometimes sorrow. It’s a long way of saying that I hear life reflected on this record and the questions that keep life mysterious.  “If it comes in the morning, will I be grateful? If it comes in the morning, will I be thankful?” This album was good company in a hopeful and heartbreaking year.

God, I love this record. It’s just honest.

When in doubt, play Ben Cosgrove. His music never fails to surprise me and make me listen with more intention. It’s a joyful thing to hear a small detail you’d missed the first ten listens or so. Ben’s vital engagement with the world is evident in his compositions and listening to his music sharpens my ears on a walk or while just sitting still. If you can catch Ben live in 2022, make sure you do so–totally mesmerizing every time I have seen him play.

• NY Times Five Weeknight Dinners. As a dad, this is a godsend every week. 
• Call & Response. Adia Victoria is a gifted interviewer and her podcast is a must-listen. 
• The Age of Phillis. The book of poetry knocked me over–the imagined life and times of Phyllis Wheatley, by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers. 
• LOJO. Here in Durham, NC, there is no shortage of great musicians with day jobs. Stephen Munoz creates a space every Friday night called “Log Off, Jam On,” that is a collaborative open mic.  Stephen’s encouragement and enthusiasm are infectious, and people hop in on each other’s songs in ways that are truly about serving the song and each other. It’s special.

As we close 2021, I hope that 2022 is kinder to musicians and venues. Get vaccinated. Mask up. Stay safe.