Spotlighting Trans, Nonbinary and Gender Non-Conforming Artists: A Selection

“Can’t forget that I’m a miracle, it’s true”, he sings, “don’t you forget you’re a miracle too”—and it’s damn near impossible not to believe him.

Introducing Say Mother Say Hand

It is a personification of the word despite: survival despite, forgiveness despite, love despite. This book speaks & we can’t help but pay attention.

Literature, Music, AnnouncementsTopaz WintersFebruary 18, 2020Marie Conlan, David Welch, Sara Veglahn, Karolina Zapal

Strong Medicine: A Selection of the Radical Roots of Country Music

I may come from country people, but I’m not country, I used to tell myself.

"The one thing that I know for certain is I need this music and these people to survive." (An Interview With Eric Butler of Mom Jeans.)

Keeping the songs unplugged feels to me like a way to stay connected to our roots.

Somewhere There's Music: A Capella as an Art of History & Evolution

Without a reliance on instruments, a capella is an independent, brave, and vulnerable form.

Personal Essay, MusicHana WidermanJanuary 21, 2020Ella Fitzgerald

The Future is Bulletproof: The Return of My Chemical Romance

My Chemical Romance allowed us to exorcise the terror of being weirdos in the suburbs, forced us to rebuild the world in the image of ourselves.

"I have faith that human beings are really trying their best to be good." (An Interview With Elijah Mann)

On one side, there’s a tumultuous danger that keeps me on my toes—but on the other there’s serenity, hypnotic sound and movement.

From the Editor, Book Launch, & Giveaway: Sammie Downing's The Family That Carried Their House on Their Backs

Step into this House with us. Warm your hands on the fire. We’ve been waiting for you for so long.

From the Editor, Announcements, Literature, Music, GatheringsTopaz WintersDecember 18, 2019Sammie Downing

"Memory is fantasy; what we carry with us has little to do with fact, everything to do with feeling." (Sammie Downing on The Family That Carried Their House on Their Backs)

There is magic in the dissonance.

Literature, Music, Personal EssayGuestDecember 14, 2019Sammie Downing

"I wanted this novella to feel like a story passed down for generations until the truth of what happened begins to feel like myth." (An Interview With Sammie Downing)

Some of the first sounds we hear are our parents’ voices, our family’s songs, and even years later their music can carry us home.