On Saturday, October 3rd, folk-rock favorites Fruition took part in Democracy Comes Alive, a one-day, nonpartisan virtual music festival aimed at channeling the power of music to make a critical impact on civic engagement in this November’s elections and beyond.
For their submission to the fundraiser, Fruition’s trio of singer/songwriters, Mimi Naja, Jay Cobb Anderson, and Kellen Asebroek chose to interpret the words of poet Emma Lazarus. In particular, they performed their 2018 tune based on the 19th century wordsmith’s 1883 work ,”The New Colossus”. Millions of Americans are already familiar with Lazarus’ poem, though they probably don’t know it. The entire poem adorns the base of the Statue of Liberty, though most remember the line, “Give me your tired, your poor/Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”
The entire work itself stands as a beacon of the promise of new beginnings made possible in the United States. In taking on this iconic piece of Americana, Fruition adapts it to their strengths with some beautiful vocal harmonization. Meanwhile, the whole rhythm is held up by Asebroek’s lone electric keyboard before Jay Cobb Anderson comes in with a sparing guitar solo that wraps up the band’s modern take on a classic piece of literature.
Relive Fruition’s performance of “The New Colossus” at Democracy Comes Alive in the video below. If you enjoyed the performance and have the means, consider making a donation to HeadCount and the Democracy Comes Alive artists here.
Fruition – “The New Colossus” – Democracy Comes Alive
For more live Fruition, tune in to the band’s Facebook page at 4:00 p.m. ET every Thursday for the band’s rotating livestream series, “The Thursday Thing.”
Fruition joined 50+ performers and 10+ other speakers as part of Democracy Comes Alive, presented by Live For Live Music in partnership with voter registration nonprofit HeadCount. The 10-hour streaming event, powered by Nugs.TV and Plus 1, generated $40,000 and counting in funds for HeadCount as well as the participating artists, who remain out of work as the pandemic continues. In addition to the funds generated, Democracy Comes Alive led thousands of people to HeadCount’s tools to check your voter registration status and register to vote. For more information, head here.
The post Fruition Channels Poet Emma Lazarus On “The New Colossus” At Democracy Comes Alive [Watch] appeared first on L4LM.
