Announcing my July Residency

My new direction, and my move to Substack.

There is a line in a song by Haitian-Guyanese music artist Michaël Brun that goes: 

“In Silence, it’s Violent.” 

We need each other to live and to thrive, to find true love, to fill up our hearts, and to sustain ourselves and others. When we are silent and force ourselves to bear it all alone, we sever our connection to life-giving communities. 

I know what it’s like to hide almost everything from my loved ones. Not only my music, but almost every aspect of my lived experience. I kept my musical creativity and ideas under wraps for years. 

But that’s about to change. 

I’m pleased to announce I accepted an artist residency in Italy during the month of July.

Photo by Jordan Chin

I was on the couch at Jor and Nico’s apartment when early in the morning on Memorial Day I woke from anticipation. Aided by the sunlight streaming in through the glass, I reached over to grab my phone and check my inbox. 

In the quiet stillness, my heart thumped with excitement and joy as I read I was being offered a sp…