These are stories of despair is a form of storytelling blending my love for music, character development, arpeggiating bass lines, and building a scene. I've put together seven songs that explore an important shift in my creative practice. Throughout this process I was inspired by modern folk experimentalists Adrianne Lenker, Oisin Leech, Little Mazarn and Joanne Robertson; but also skramz and slowcore from bands like Wounds of Recollection, Gawshock, Your Arms Are My Cocoon and Oldstar. Listening to these bands, studying them and trying to make this album deepened my appreciation for music. Reading helped me "get" folk. The lyrics in this album all come from a place deep down, a cave worth spelunking. One that books didn't bring me to, but helped me understand. Zora Neale Hurston's Mules and Men showed me themes. Then it was up to me to give them context. They're stories of despair, both personal and universally understood. 

This album wouldn't be possible without the amazing support system I have around me. From my family, blood related and chosen. My friends, whether we talk daily, or annually. My mentors, whether they know it or not. People who hosted me when I had nowhere to call home in a city I did not know. Loved ones who lent me instruments to fill the void of silence. I thank Elijah Newman for allowing me to cover his beautiful song I Pierce the Darkness. I thank Benjamin Zumbrun for a night of jamming that turned into wrapped in a curtain. I thank Jose A. Ramirez for helping me fix a song I thought was destined to not work. Thank you to one of the best sound engineers I know, Kristian Pitaccio, for mastering these stories in record time. And most of all, thank you to Aliyah Rain Newman, for lending me your voice for some songs, but also for your love, support, and opinions. Without you, this project wouldn't be what it is. Thank you to all of you, for making it this far in my ramblings, and please, give the album a listen!