This Album is called ALIVE. It's a play on words in some way. Its a collection of live recordings, which have a very different sentiment than a studio recording. It's lively, it is in fact ALIVE. BUT also, secondarily, and perhaps more importantly it is a collection of songs that are telling of the time. A time where the veil has been lifted and we want people to WAKE UP, to be WOKE, to be ALIVE. To feel and be present and work to make this crazy world more just and humane. We hope that our music can in fact be a tool in consciousness, and encourage people to be more aware, more engaged, and more awake. It is a collection of our favorite tracks from a year of touring across the country through palpable life-changing experiences, from being on the ground at Standing rock, to the election of the current president, from Jazz Fest to the launching of our Slow Music movement. THIS album carries the nuances of years of fine tuning, and the every growing energy of this movement that we are a part of…the powerful communing of music and justice and storytelling in this rich time in our countries history. We also have the honor of touring and recording our beloved friend Arouna Diarra’s contributions, and 12th generation griot and folk musician from Burkina Faso who has been on the road with us sharing his own rich history through the power of music. We hope this album will create empowerment and catharsis. We are living in extremely intense times. We hipe to make music that creates a platform to EMOTE. To feel the things that are happeneing around you and in your community. We hope to make music that is universal and reached everyone in their own personal ways. We ALSO hope that ANYONE can connect to this music. That it contains universal themes. There are love songs and heart breakers. Uplifting anthems. Traditional ballads. Appalachian old-time tunes. Funky spoekn word riffs. WE hope that this music reaches everyone and meets them where they are. Music is an international language. We try to evoke that sentiment.