The Intimacy of Music

Music, in all its essence, is an essential gateway from the artist to the audience that allows an artist to connect to their audience in an intimate way. Whether it be through their messages or the emotions artists evoke, musicians can connect and relate to the public. As the pandemic reaches its ninth month, it has revealed the importance of coming together as a country, as well as revealing the injustices that America perpetuates. The pandemic has shifted the lives of millions and continues to influence society as we try to regain normalcy. During this time, artists continue to produce music in an attempt to connect to their audiences and spread awareness to important issues in order to express their own views as well as their struggles. 

Music allows important messages and topics to be conveyed to a larger audience, which not only spreads awareness but allows the public to empathize and understand what may be a difficult topic for them to comprehend. These topics range from the Black Lives Matter movement to mental health, body shaming, misogyny, and a multitude of different topics that an artist may want to express with their audience. Although America claims to be the “land of the free,” due to settler colonialism America promotes a cis-heteropatriarchal society that actively pushes for the oppression of minority groups. America also upholds its traditional values such as toxic masculinity, gender roles, and societal pressure to fit in. As these values are upheld it causes people to want to go against the cis-heteropatriarchy and one of the ways people are able to express themselves is through music. Dan Whitener of the hip hop/Bluegrass band, Gangstagrass, explained his group’s mission in an interview, as well as their participation in the Black Lives Matter movement. This movement started in 2013 in response to the killing of Trayvon Martin and continues to fight for the equity of Black Americans as it stands against police brutality and systemic oppression. Gangstagrass is a multiracial group that uses their voice to speak against injustice and shed light on important issues, for instance their song “Freedom,” which they had described as an “anthem of struggle for racial equality,” highlights the endless fight for equality amongst Black Americans. The video includes images and videos of oppression throughout history and explains the reasoning behind the fight for change. The song takes the audience through the history of Black Americans, from slavery to the Jim Crow Era, to the Civil Rights Era, and finally to the Black Lives Matter movement. It is a narrative that repeats itself throughout history, continuously screaming, “I ain’t gonna wait no more to get this freedom.” Along with “Freedom,” Gangstagrass remastered the song “This Land is Your Land,” to their song “My Land,” to address the continuous racial injustices in the United States. While the original song was meant to unite America as a ploy to allude to the idea of America being a “melting pot”, Gangstagrass’ rendition presents a more realistic version as they address the injustices and oppression occurring in America as this land truly belongs to no one. 

Other examples of artists using their platforms would be musicians such as Kendrick Lamar, Childish Gambino, and Janelle Monáe as they express themselves through their craft. Through their music, they can clearly and creatively express their own experiences as Black Americans as an attempt to get people to understand their perspective. Perspective is an essential part of empathy because if one can understand the perspective and life of another, then it is easier to understand the society around us. Music is an effective way to express these perspectives because it is an easy strategy for artists to connect with the public. Music is everywhere and a big part of the culture. Now with the pandemic, people have more time to listen and discover more music. It is accessible and relatively easy to put music out for the public to consume, therefore messages are distributed to the public at a high rate. 

As artists continue to produce and distribute their art to the public, they can connect to their audience on a deeper and more intimate level. Music makes us feel safe and we all may have a specific artist in which we have a special connection to. The connection can be to an artist, an album, or a specific song. This connection happens due to multiple reasons, such as nostalgia, emotional contagion, and the emotion of awe, according to Psychology Today. People have a unique connection to music and it depends on their life experiences. The feelings songs can evoke can either be comfort, sadness or happiness and it all depends on a person’s individual experiences with a song, album or artist. Dan Whitener had expressed his own comfort with the genre bluegrass, as that is what his father used to play for him when he was younger. Artists and their music can build these connections to their audience through their vulnerability and their efforts to understand their audience, which is what the three musicians, Dan Whitener, Akie Bermiss, and Max ZT have tried to accomplish over the years. Dan had mentioned how he enjoys the connection he has to the audience as he performs live. Due to COVID, he has not been able to feel that connection as he used to have conversations with people from all over the country as his band toured the states. Akie Bermiss, currently of the band Lake Street Drive,  said that he wanted people to “leave with a heightened sense of who they are.” Through his music, he wanted to create a comfortable atmosphere in which people could find themselves. He stated, “The experience of experiencing [live music] is crucial for the human condition. And also, it connects us all and ties us all together… We have a connection with each other and that connection is fed by witnessing and experiencing art.” As the public experiences and indulges in art, it connects us all. We all feel something when indulging in art, and those emotions are what tie us to both one another and the artist. This was presented as Akie performed his song live and the audience was left in awe as we all experienced similar emotions. This was also presented as Max ZT, of the band House of Waters, performed the hammered dulcimer. His performance was calming and tranquil and it was evident that the audience felt the tranquility he was trying to showcase. Either through their performances or the intimate connections that artists create, music connects people and forms an atmosphere that makes the audience feel safe and comforted. 

Music is a powerful source and it can affect the lives of many. It is an important aspect of society and culture as it can easily influence the public through the messages and intent. As artists are starting to become more vulnerable with the public, their messages are relating to their audience and it creates an intimate connection. Music matters because it has the ability to connect the public in a country that seems to be entirely divided. As the country continues to divide through politics and social issues, music expresses this discomfort and exposes how the public feels, essentially connecting us with an undeclared bond. 

Works Cited

Brungardt, Leah. GANGSTAGRASS Opens Up About Their Soon-to-Be Released Album, No Time For Enemies, Their Timely Single ‘Freedom’ and Creating The Emmy-Nominated Theme Song for FX’s Justified! (2020, July 08) https://music.allaccess.com/gangstagrass-opens-up-about-their-soon-to-be-released-album-no-time-for-enemies-their-timely-single-freedom-and-creating-the-emmy-nominated-theme-song-for-fxs-justified/

Heshmat, Shahram. “Why Are We Moved by Music?” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, (2018, Jul 24) www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/science-choice/201807/why-are-we-moved-music.