Page 311 – Bohemian | Sonoma & Napa Counties

Inauthenticity cure

Noted

Daedalus Howell

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Aug 12, 2020

Some flack from West L.A. beamed me a release for a premium, naturally-alkaline spring water from some Nordic country that hopes to inspire individuals to find their own “pure authenticity.” Ha. When I lived in L.A., I visited the FAQs on the municipal water company’s website. The answer to the question, “Is my water safe to drink?” was a shruggy, “Probably.” I’ve seen Chinatown—everyone knows L.A. and water don’t mix. But here’s the real irony—“authenticity” is a trigger word for creative types, or more precisely, it’s photo-negative, “inauthenticity.” Thanks, flack.

Maybe it’s a Gen X thing, or an artist thing, or a byproduct from all the Fake News we read. Maybe it was because Nirvana’s bassist played a Guild B30E Semi-Acoustic Bass for the Unplugged album, which technically is not totally unplugged.

Fortunately, I was fortified against the pitch, thanks to art. Not in the hippy-dippy “art will save your soul” kind of way but rather through an art installation at the stARTup Art Fair in San Francisco three years ago, when we could still go to such events.

The fair took over the entire Hotel Del Sol and each guest room was converted by an artist into their own exhibit space. Situated in the courtyard by the pool was an artist named Hunter Franks, who was in a booth described by the event’s organizers as a space to open up to a stranger and share a fear to receive a custom, typewritten philosophical prescription from a certified Fear Doctor. So, I sat down and told the Fear Doctor about my fear of inauthenticity.

This is my prescription:

“Fear of inauthenticity: You have identified what you want to do and who you want to be, that is the hardest part. Now comes the fun part. Take five deep breaths daily as reassurance that you are headed to where you need to be. Take two tablespoons of faith that the process is part of the deep beauty of the journey.”

Instead of washing up writing press releases for water or drowning in printer’s ink, I’m gonna dog-paddle in those two tablespoons of “faith in the process” until I’m safely ashore. Better yet, the prescription is still good. It never expires (unlike the SRRIs in the back of the cabinet). Per his website (HunterFranks.com), “His participatory installations in public space break down barriers and help us reimagine our relationships with each other, our neighborhoods, and our cities.”

I’ll take a swig of that. — DH

Open Mic: PG&E erects unsightly monster

Open Mic

Bohemian.com

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Aug 12, 2020

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By Mary Naples

Once again, PG&E is up to its dirty tricks. Without specific prior notice or a public review process, PG&E erected a gargantuan power pole with banks of unsightly transformers and a high voltage electric switch in a densely packed residential street across from a public park in Sausalito. We have been told by PG&E officials that these same power poles will be appearing in residential neighborhoods all over Marin, as a means of combating wildfires by shutting off power with specificity. Who’s next?

Because this neighborhood and our city officials were taken by surprise—PG&E had simply informed us they were doing “routine maintenance”—this pole is obstructing views for many in this middle-class neighborhood occupied by tiny homes with big views. As a result of PG&E’s negligence, many homes in the area now have unsightly views of power transformers where pristine views of the city and the bay once were.

In fact, with this power pole planted in front of it, a recently listed house has had to reduce its sale price substantially as its once pristine view is now obstructed. But aside from obstructed views and impacted home prices, there is a concern about the inherent dangers and possible health hazards from the EMFs this contraption emits so close to homes and directly across from a public park where children play. Lastly, the area of town where this pole was installed is known for its heavy winds—many have already witnessed the transformers swaying in winds that are not considered heavy for this neighborhood.

In order to safeguard our views, Sausalito is known for its tight permit process, yet we have been told by city officials that there is “very little” they can do to help residents combat PG&E’s reckless placement of this monster in our midst. It is indicative of an era of corporate dominance that PG&E has more authority over the quality of our lives than our elected officials do.

Mary Naples lives in Sausalito.

Ariel B. Keeps Busy During Pandemic

Music

j. poet

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Aug 12, 2020

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San Francisco singer Ariel B. is facing the pandemic that has shut down the Bay Area with a heart full of song.

Her video for “Keep On (Quarantine Style),” a song she recorded in San Rafael with Grammy winning producer Narada Michael Walden, opens with her walking down the deserted streets of the Mission district. The song’s rhythm suggests the beating of a distressed heart, one that’s soothed by Walden’s tranquil keyboard fills and B.’s stirring vocals. She gently sings, “Sometimes it’s hard to sleep at night, worried about some fears inside…” before sliding smoothly into the uplifting chorus: “I just keep, keep, keep on.”

“Keep On” is one of the songs B. and Walden have been recording together over the past year. Although she’s well known on the local club scene for her dynamic performances, her work with Walden was poised to catapult her onto the national stage. Then everything shut down. “We have a lot of things we’ve been working on, in various stages of completion,” B. says, “but we have to abide by social distancing guidelines, so it’s harder to get things done.”

B. grew up in San Francisco’s Bayview neighborhood and studied classical music and opera at the Ruth Asawa School of the Arts, but was more moved by popular music artists like Whitney Houston.

“I remember seeing Narada Michael Walden’s production credits on her records. I always dreamed about working with him,” she says.

Through her connections to music producer Kenny Allen, B. suddenly found herself driving to Walden’s Tarpan Studio in San Rafael last year.

“I still get chills remembering it. Whenever I thought of the magic behind my favorite songs, it was always a Narada production,” she says. “After I got home from our first meeting, I opened my email one day. He’d sent me the synthesizer track for ‘Keep On.’ It took me 10 minutes to write the words and create my own vocal melody over the changes.” The next day, she was back in Walden’s studio finishing a rough draft of the song.

B. kept working her day job, but spent every spare moment at Tarpan studios. The plan was to record and release a song a month onto the usual digital platforms, leading up to the release of an EP. Although things have slowed down, B. is keeping busy, working on a Christmas album with producer Jeff Weber and honing her songwriting skills.

“I work from a place of pure emotion, based on heartbreak; something I have a lot of experience with,” she says. “I also write happier stuff. I write all the time, but sometimes I take a break, if I feel like I’m in my head too much. A lot of songs are just floating in space. You just need to get into a place where you can hear them, but I have to feel them deeply. If you want to evoke emotion in someone else, you have to feel it yourself.”

Watch the music video for “Keep On” at arielbofficial.com/latest.

Letters to the Editor: News Talk

Letters to the Editor

Bohemian.com

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Aug 12, 2020

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People need to continue to speak out against the toxins in our food (“Roundup Row,” News, Aug 5). The only thing I don’t agree with in this article is that people can’t afford to buy organic. I have eaten almost 95 percent organic for the past 4 or 5 years. I can buy an entire box of tomatoes at the organic market near me for 5 dollars. I spend about 50 dollars a week there.

I think people buy too much junk. Our country needs to ban all glyphosate and toxic products. In Europe and Russia they are already banned. Russia is the first country to go completely organic. What’s wrong with our government? It seems to me they care more about money than people’s health.

Patricia Dougherty

Via Pacificsun.com

Thank you for this wonderful article (“Roundup Row,” News, Aug 5). In terms of the history of grapes and wine, glyphosate is a newcomer. We have made wine for centuries without it and I look forward to a time when all grape growers recognize that they don’t need to use it.

Barbara Sattler

Via bohemian.com

Yay for Nikki Berrocal (“Roundup Row,” News, Aug 5). She’s doing great work. We need all the help we can get to help make Sonoma County and Cannabis Growers create a better relationship. It will be a ‘win-win’ for all.

Nancy Birnbaum

Via bohemian.com

“Organic” wineries are among the worst point-source water polluters in American agriculture (“Roundup Row,” News, Aug 5). Their use of copper sulfate—an approved organic pesticide—is the reason. As to “organic” food production—it is more of a contributor to climate problems than modern farming practices. It also results in less food per unit area. Just what a starving World needs.

Ben Thomas

Via Pacificsun.com

Ivan Escobar is in Heaven

Rolling Papers

Jonah Raskin

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Aug 12, 2020

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Ivan Escobar works in cannabis heaven, or as they say south of the border, Estamos en la gloria. Born in Michoacán, 21-years-old, and fluent in English and Spanish, he’s employed by a commercial cannabis farm in Sonoma Valley. He couldn’t be happier than he has been this summer, though on a recent day he worked from 6am to 11pm. It’s harvest and not a minute to be lost. With his language skills, Ivan plays an essential role. The jefe —the boss—doesn’t speak much Spanish—and the workers—the trabajadores, don’t speak English. Ivan connects them. He also matches the tasks to be done with the skills of each member of the equipo or team.

“Alejandro is good with machines,” Ivan tells me. “Francisco knows computers, Oscar is good with construction and Adrian is a plant expert.” Ivan aims to bring out the best in each one and help them learn new skills. “Down South you can work and work and work and not get anywhere, because wages are so low,” he says. Field workers on cannabis farms typically make $18 an hour, slightly more than at a vineyard. Ivan is learning to use nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. “The plant chemistry is amazing,” he says.

Californians know vegetables and fruits are cultivated and harvested by Latinos and Latinas, but they usually don’t know that Lantinos and Latinas also at the heart of the cannabis industry. Field workers are men; indoor work is often done by women. Ivan wants everyone to work at more or less the same pace, no one faster or faster than everyone else. “The team members all have a great work ethic,” he says. “They learn at an early age.”

Ivan attended school in Mexico and took English classes as a boy, but he learned most of his English after he arrived in the U.S., attended middle school and Sonoma Valley High. “Growing up, I never thought I’d be working in the cannabis industry,” he says.

The cultivation of mota (marijuana) is illegal in Mexico, though many Mexicans, especially in rural areas grow their own from seeds. “Rich as well as the poor, use mota,” Ivan says. “People have used it as medicine for a long, long time.”

After the jefe, Ivan is the coolest on the farm. He’s got more chido than anyone else, but he wears his chido lightly and shares it with the equipo members.

Jonah Raskin is the author of “Marijuanaland: Dispatches from an American War.”

Sheriff, Deputy Sheriffs’ Association Mull Legal Action Over Ballot Measure

News

Will Carruthers

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Aug 12, 2020

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Sheriff, Deputy Sheriffs’ Association Mull Legal Action Over Ballot Measure

It’s been a busy month for activists backing a local ballot initiative meant to strengthen oversight of the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office.

At an August 6 meeting, the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to add an ordinance relating to the Independent Office of Law Enforcement Review and Outreach (IOLERO) to the county’s November 3 ballot.

The ordinance, which is known as the Evelyn Cheatham Effective IOLERO Ordinance but will be titled Measure P on the ballot, is intended to bolster the efforts of IOLERO, an office tasked with reviewing the Sheriff’s internal investigations and other matters.

The county formed IOLERO in 2015 following protests after a Sheriff’s deputy shot and killed Andy Lopez, a 13-year-old boy, in Santa Rosa’s Moorland neighborhood in 2013. Law enforcement oversight advocates have long argued that IOLERO is too weak and underfunded.

But, within a day of the board’s August 6 vote, Sonoma County Sheriff Mark Essick made it known that he is considering a legal challenge to the ordinance.

According to a county staff report, the Sheriff requested permission to use up to $50,000 in funds already budgeted to the Sheriff’s Office this fiscal year to hire Jones and Mayer, a law firm which, according to its website, works for several statewide law enforcement associations, including the California State Sheriff’s Association.

After over an hour of public comment at a meeting Wednesday morning, the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors deadlocked on the issue with a 2-2 vote. In effect, the board rejected Essick’s request for permission to hire an outside law firm to explore “potential litigation” against the county over the legality of Measure P. Under the state code in question, Essick may file an appeal of the board’s decision in court.

Supervisors Susan Gorin and James Gore voted in favor of approving Essick’s request while Supervisors Lynda Hopkins and Shirlee Zane voted against it. Supervisor David Rabbitt did not attend the meeting.

The issue came to the board after Sonoma County Counsel Bruce Goldstein determined that offering the Sheriff legal advice about Measure P would constitute a legal conflict of interest for the county’s attorneys. Under regular circumstances, the county’s in-house lawyers, the Sonoma County Counsel’s Office, would give the Sheriff’s Office legal advice. However, since the Sheriff may end up suing the county, Goldstein advised that the Sheriff hire an outside firm to advise him.

If the Sheriff chooses to sue the county, the County Counsel will need to hire an outside attorney to defend the county in court, Goldstein said during the Wednesday morning meeting. The total cost of funding both sides of the possible legal fight could run around $100,000, or $50,000 for each side, Goldstein estimated.

Under the state code in play, Government Code 31000.6, the Sheriff will be allowed to appeal the Board of Supervisors’ decision in court. The same code also states that, if the court determines that a lawsuit by the Sheriff’s Office against the county is “bad faith” or “frivolous,” the Sheriff’s Office will be required to pay the legal costs of both sides.

Whether the resulting legal fees come from the county or the Sheriff’s Office, local taxpayers would be on the hook either way.

During the meeting, Essick said his request was “procedural” and that he was simply exercising his ability to obtain legal advice about Measure P, which he has argued may hinder his ability to complete the constitutional requirements of his office and violate current state laws.

Lynda Hopkins, one of the two supervisors who voted against the Sheriff’s request, disagreed that the Essick’s request was “procedural.”

“To me the request appears to be part of a personal political agenda, not the official duties in (Essick’s) capacity as Sheriff of Sonoma County, especially since we have seen broad opposition from Sheriffs across the state of California to legislative proposals moving forward with any kind of oversight or reform,” Hopkins said during the meeting.

Jerry Threet, the former director of IOLERO and one of the authors of the Evelyn Cheatham Ordinance, as well as other supporters of the measure have defended the legal basis of the ordinance.

“The (Evelyn Cheatham Ordinance) ECO does not in any way implicate the Sheriff’s independent authority. Every input offered by IOLERO to the Sheriff if the ECO passes would be advisory. The Sheriff will retain every aspect of his independent state authority,” Threet said during the meeting on Wednesday.

The ACLU of Northern California supported the legal backing of the ordinance in a letter to the Board of Supervisors last month.

“The Evelyn Cheatham Effective IOLERO Ordinance, as drafted, aligns with the law and constitution of this state and gives Sonoma County the opportunity to similarly increase law enforcement transparency and accountability,” the group’s July 13 letter states in part.

According to Bay City News, the Sonoma County Deputy Sheriffs Association, which represents the department’s sworn deputies, is considering filing a separate legal complaint against the county with the state’s Public Employee Relations Board if Measure P stays on the ballot. Goldstein, the County Counsel, told Bay City News that the county had followed the “required policies and statutes” when placing the ordinance on the ballot.

If passed by voters in November, Measure P would significantly increase IOLERO’s budget by locking its funding at one percent of the Sheriff’s annual budget. Measure P would also strengthen IOLERO’s powers in numerous other ways including giving the IOLERO director the ability to legally compel the Sheriff to release various internal documents to IOLERO. Currently, the IOLERO director may only request that the Sheriff release those same documents.

‘Grav & Go!’ Pop-Up Replaces Canceled Gravenstein Apple Fair

BohoBlog

Charlie Swanson

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Aug 11, 2020

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‘Grav & Go!’ Pop-Up Replaces Canceled Gravenstein Apple Fair

Sebastopol’s popular Gravenstein Apple Fair has celebrated the locally grown Gravenstein apple for more than 40 years with a weekend gathering every August that always features entertainment, education and lots to eat and drink.

Unfortunately, the Covid-19 pandemic forced the fair to cancel its in-person event for 2020. Agricultural organization Sonoma County Farm Trails, host of the fundraising fair, officially announced the cancellation in June, writing on the fair’s website, “Though we can hardly imagine August in Sebastopol without the Apple Fair, we are fully on board with the County’s decision to cancel large gatherings. We are so grateful for the health care workers and first responders on the front lines and for all of the essential businesses (farmers/producers, nurseries, grocery store workers, postage and parcel services, etc.) who continue to sustain and support our lives during these unprecedented times.”

Even though the Gravenstein Apple Fair is canceled, Gravenstein apples are still falling off of trees in West Sonoma County this month, and Sonoma County Farm Trails is setting up its first-ever “Grav & Go! Gravenstein Pop-Up” event in Sebastopol this weekend so that Gravenstein apple lovers can at least get the fresh Gravenstein apples and related products they love.

The pop-up will take place at the Sebastopol Community Cultural Center on Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 15 and 16, the same weekend the fair was originally scheduled. Anyone interested in purchasing apples or apple products must preorder online by Thursday, Aug. 13, at Noon.

Sonoma County Farm Trails farmers and producers make all the available products from local Gravenstein Apples. The apple and apple-related items that can be purchased include fresh organic Gravenstein apples, applesauce, apple juice, apple butter and hard cider (note: cider must be ordered on the Tilted Shed Ciderworks’ site due to alcohol sales rules). Other available apple treats include apple pies, hand pies, cider apple doughnuts and much more.

Upon checkout, shoppers will be guided to select which day and time they would like to pick up their order. Show up at your reserved time for contactless curbside pickup of your Gravenstein apples and related items, and enjoy.

For the health and safety of customers and Farm Trails staff and volunteers, facial coverings, social distancing and thorough hand-and-surface sanitization will be implemented at the “Grav & Go! Gravenstein Pop-Up.” Additionally, Farm Trails asks customers to abide by all County and State public health requirements.

Established in 1973, Sonoma County Farm Trails is a nonprofit promoter of local agriculture, and the Gravenstein Apple Fair is the organization’s largest annual fundraiser. Without the benefit of the fair this year, Farm Trails is in need of financial help to continue its efforts to preserve Gravenstein apples and keep farms a vital part of Sonoma County’s culture.

“We’re doing everything we can to make sure that Farm Trails continues to make good on its mission to preserve farms forever in Sonoma County,” says Farm Trails Board President Vince Trotter, in a statement. “With our main fundraiser off the table, we’re certainly facing some financial challenges this year, but our farmers are fighting through this, and so will we. We’re cutting our expenses to the bone and looking at some creative ways to bring in revenue and make the 2021 fair better than ever.”

“Grav & Go! Gravenstein Pop-Up” takes place on Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 15 and 16, at Sebastopol Community Center, 390 Morris St., Sebastopol. Online orders must be placed by Thursday, Aug. 13, at noon. FarmTrails.org.

Marin Sanctuary Marks 75 Years of Arts and Gardens

BohoBlog

Charlie Swanson

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Aug 10, 2020

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Marin Sanctuary Marks 75 Years of Arts and Gardens

Even in picturesque Marin County, the Marin Art & Garden Center stands out.

The 11-acre property in the town of Ross is an oasis of floral beauty and historic buildings, and the nonprofit organization that owns and operates the center hosts year-round events and programs on the grounds, including performances from resident theater company the Ross Valley Players.

This summer, as the country stays shut down due to Covid-19, the Marin Art & Garden Center remains open to visitors on foot or on bicycle who are welcomed to safely enjoy the spacious gardens for some much-needed respite. This month, the center celebrates its 75th anniversary, and Marin Art & Garden Center Executive Director Antonia Adezio hopes the grounds remain a fixture of Marin for many years to come.

“We’ve been here for 75 years and the world is a very different place, of course,” Adezio says.

The gardens were originally formed at the end of World War II by the women members of the Marin Conservation League, who also helped save Angel Island and Tomales Bay, among other Marin locales.

“(The Marin Conservation League) were very committed to the natural environment and the environment for people in the North Bay,” Adezio says. “We have that legacy, and there’s also the legacy of the groups that have come together to present programming and arts at the center, and that tradition is alive and well today.”

Working with the center for five years, Adezio is the nonprofit’s first professional executive director for many years, and she is helping raise the center’s profile along with expert horticulturist and garden manager Steven Schwager.

“He’s really taken hold of the gardens,” Adezio says. “People who come and see it now say, ‘I’ve been visiting here for 30 years and it’s never looked like this.’ And they’re right.”

Still, the massive property runs on a tight budget, and Adezio describes the nonprofit running the grounds as a small organization that does a lot with a little.

“We’re working to build our team and keep developing the garden for people to come and enjoy it but also to learn from it,” she says.

In light of the 75-year anniversary, Adezio invites Marin residents to look at the Marin Art & Garden Center with new eyes and to revisit the distinctive and charming gardens and buildings that were designed by mid-century master architects such as Thomas Church.

As the gardens remain open for foot traffic, the organization is also bolstering its presence online with its virtual art exhibition, “Rooted in Wonder,” featuring a video tour of works by painter Frances McCormack and interdisciplinary artist Miya Hannan.

“We have seen that during the pandemic it’s become more important to have a place like the gardens, and people are appreciating that they’ve been able to stay open and let people spend some time in nature,” Adezio says. “We want people to know that we are still here for them, they can visit and we hope to be able to gather again before long.”

Marin Art & Garden Center is located at 30 Sir Francis Drake Blvd., Ross. oOpen daily, foot traffic allowed sunrise to sunset, parking lot is available 10am to 4pm. Free admission and parking. maringarden.org.

Virtual Art in the Park Showcases North Bay Creators

Arts

Charlie Swanson

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Aug 7, 2020

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Virtual Art in the Park Showcases North Bay Creators

The Petaluma Arts Association has supported North Bay artists for more than 60 years, and the group’s signature event, Art in the Park, annually displays dozens of artists from Sonoma, Marin and Napa Counties at Walnut Park in Petaluma for a weekend of art and performance each summer.

This year’s Art in the Park could not happen in person due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. However, the PAA was able to transition to an online format, much like other arts and entertainment organizations facing a new socially-distanced normal.

Now, the Virtual Art in the Park electronically showcases the PAA’s members with an online showcase for the entire month of August, meaning arts lovers can see a vast selection of locally-produced paintings, sculpture and performances online now at VirtualArtinthePark.com.

“The art association is here to provide support, community education and promotion of the arts, and any money we make off of Art in the Park provides scholarships and rewards for students engaged in the arts or [goes] to centers and schools,” PAA Board President Yvonne Glasscoe says.

Not having Art in the Park this year meant that several artists and arts organizations would lose out on that support, so PAA moved to the virtual format in hopes of providing a means of continuing to highlight locals arts through an online platform.

“The overall plan is that when you go to the website, there will be a gallery of highlighted artists that rotates each week,” Glasscoe says. “You can look at the gallery and click on the highlighted artists or search for artists by name.”

In addition to visual artists, the Virtual Art in the Park’s roster of creativity includes musicians and poets, featuring videos of performances and readings. Each artist or performer is given their own page on the site with ways to contact them directly or find them elsewhere on the web.

Visitors to the Virtual Art in the Park site can see an eclectic selection of art on display ranging from Marin County painter Barbara Libby-Steinmann’s colorful bird portraits drawn on recycled redwood to Sonoma County electronic music producer Lenkadu’s avant-garde music videos.

Glasscoe says that PAA reached out to hundreds of local creators, and the event is free for the participating artists. PAA is not even taking a commission on works that are sold through the event.

“We thought that was important because right now artists and musicians have nowhere to go to show their work,” Glasscoe says. “We thought it would be a great idea to give this as a gift to the community.”

Glasscoe also envisions this new virtual venture as a way for families stuck at home or friends who are socially distant during the sheltering orders to experience art together while they are apart.

“Like having a book club where you all read a book and discuss it, people can share this art with other people,” Glasscoe says. “One day you can look at artwork, one day listen to poets; have dance night by listening to the musicians. I think of the possibilities of what people could do to explore and maybe find something new that they like.”

VirtualArtinthePark.com

Healing Sounds: Eki Shola finds power in her voice

Music

Charlie Swanson

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Aug 6, 2020

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Healing Sounds: Eki Shola finds power in her voice

Born in London to Jamaican parents, raised in New York City and now living in the North Bay, classically trained pianist and songwriter Eki Shola brings a multicultural wealth to her original compositions and embraces music’s healing properties.

Working on her keyboard, and backed by digital effects, the multiple Norbay Award-winner for electronica crafts jazzy, ambient tones with ethereal melodies that often carry dreamlike messages of hope and a sense of gratitude for life.

In 2016, Shola first displayed that relaxing blend of jazz and ambient piano on her debut album, Final Beginning. A year later, the Tubbs Fire in Santa Rosa destroyed her home on Riebli Road. Shola turned to music after that tragedy. She decided to forego trying to recreate her already recorded songs and instead opened the floodgates of her creativity with a torrent of songwriting that led to a trilogy of albums.

That trilogy debuted in the spring of 2019 with the album Possible, followed by the release of Drift in late 2019. Now, Shola concludes the musical journey with the release of Essential.

Shola was in the process of mixing and mastering Essential at the beginning of this year when the Covid-19 pandemic shut down the economy. With a background in medicine, Shola recently began performing disability evaluations for veterans in Sonoma County, though she’s been home since March.

“The extra time afforded me the time to reflect on our current events, the coronavirus, health care advocacy, and Black Lives Matter,” she says. “The album was extended to incorporate some of those events. The message was broadened.”

For Shola, writing new compositions while in shelter-in-place mode has been a therapeutic experience akin to writing music after surviving the fires.

“Between March, April and May, it was almost as if I was writing my own prescriptions,” she says of writing her new songs.

Shola is donating a portion of proceeds from sales of the album to the Freedom Community Clinic, which offers holistic healing practices for underserved people of color who live in the Bay Area. The community clinic provides free wellness and care and even during the pandemic, they are offering healing modalities like Reiki and acupuncture in socially distant settings.

Shola is also embracing the online platforms that many musicians and artists are flocking to until social gatherings can begin again, and she will be hosting an album-release livestream listening party for Essential on August 8.

“I know live performances are on hold for a bit but that pushes you to think a little more out of the box,” Shola says. “I’m excited to be doing different things, I’m looking at doing animation with my music and some online shows. I would have never thought I’d being doing that, but this has opened my eyes to other options.”

Ekishola.com