Shara Worden, who performs under the moniker My Brightest Diamond, released her latest, This Is My Hand on Asthmatic Kitty Records earlier this year. She recently took a stroll on the High Line with the Wall Street Journal’s Jim Fusilli to chat about her attest record and it’s heavy percussion influence.
As Worden walked along the repurposed railway track, she talked through the inspiration for "This Is Your Hand." Her exploration of what she called "pre-music" gave her the push to create. Specifically, Worden read Daniel Levitin's The World in Six Songs: How the Musical Brain Created Human Nature, Jared Diamond's The Third Chimpanzee and Robert Graves's The White Goddess: A Historical Grammar of the Poetic Myth in an effort to connect to music's primordial roots. The influence shines through on the lyrics for track "Before the Words," stating: "Before the verse there was the sound/Before the form there was music."
She continued on the inspiration subject, citing her hometown Detroit Thanksgiving Day parade music. For her, the happiness felt by parade goers became a symbol of how music is essential to the community spirit. The translation can be see through her use of marching bands in her live performances.
Through the use of a large backing sound, Worden said she tried "to subvert some of my natural tendencies toward introversion."
Most recently, Worden will be playing the Austin City Limits festival this weekend and next.
© 2024 Classicalite All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
