today’s audio is “the joy of amity” by my guest armand aromin, who along with benedict gagliardi, are the band The Vox Hunters. based in my dear rhode island, The Vox Hunters bring a fresh and personal flair to traditional music and dance. and armand’s writing especially is a place where he mixes new and old, myth and memoir in beautiful ways.
i first met armand in january of this year at a fiddle workshop. as yall know, for the last several years i have been quietly enjoying learning to play fiddle. so when some friends invited me up to VT for a day of traditional music workshops and concerts, i was more than game.
even though i am still very much a beginner, i took armand’s irish bowing workshop and loved the way he taught. clear and thoughtful, i could follow his line of thinking even though i couldn’t exactly play what he was teaching. of course i googled and instagrammed him immediately and devoured his music and website, finding the additional delights that armand builds his own instruments and is openly queer in a scene that, though changing, is often quite old, white, and straight. swoon.
in an instagram message, i wondered, would he would be willing to give me some zoom lessons - not ideal for violin, and definitely not for a beginner like me, but i was hungry to get more of armand’s teaching. i of course offered to pay, but on a lark, i also offered an alternative. did armand write his own songs? was he interested in working with me on those?
for years now, i’ve been helping songwriters. first in a series of workshops in the early 2010s, then with private clients over zoom, and lately in university settings. i long ago gave up teaching guitar or piano or voice. for me, the real joy is seeing someone author their own music, birth the uniqueness that can only come from them. it sounds cheesy, but i really do love helping people write the songs that only they can write.
over the years, i’ve come to think of myself not so much as a songwriting teacher, but as a songwriting birth worker, like a doula or midwife. someone who is alongside the person doing the real and hard work of creation. sometimes that looks like helping folks clarify a song that they have already written. sometimes that looks like helping someone get a song to the finish line, sometimes that looks like stepping back and helping a writer refine the themes that run through an entire album. i’ve had a client recreate their favorite novel in a series of songs. i’ve had a client write a set of songs about every place they’ve lived. i’ve helped young writers learn to use garageband or their phone to start recording. every client is different, and i love that about this work.
i certainly have my own tendencies and taste when it comes to what i think makes a good song, but the more i listen to a client’s work, the more i learn about how they see the world, and the more i can live in their universe. i take pride in how different the music my clients write is from person to person. folk or traditional, indie-rock or musical theater. i love helping all of it along the way.
armand as it turns out has tons of amazing original music that he is just starting to organize, refine, and perform. and so for the last several months, we have been trading our skills. one day, i take a fiddle lesson from him. the next day, i listen to his songs, in whatever stage they’re in and offer some birth work. it is immensely delightful and deeply satisfying.
hey yall - things are quieting down gig-wise over here for the summer, but that also means you can expect more episodes of Fax of Life to come across your feed.
meantime, if you’re interested in collaborating with me on a hiking concert, please drop a line erin@erinmckeown.com. the next hiking concert is SEP 7 in richmond VA. tickets and information at erinmckeown.com/shows
i also want to give a heads up that my hometown virginia museum, the Fredericksburg Area Museum, is opening a brand new exhibit about the history of queerness in Fredericksburg from colonial times to the present. i am incredibly honored to be featured in the exhibit through the display of some ephemera from my very early career and my music. stay tuned for an in-person event i’ll be doing with them this fall. meantime, if you’re in the area, so stop by. for a place like Fredericksburg to resources into an exhibit like this is radical. and… the exhibit will be open for the next two years!
finally, as always, please consider turning a friend on to this pod. and if you really love it, consider subscribing. its a great way to show your support. thank you!!
for this episode of Fax of Life, i thought it would be cool, with armand’s permission of course, to share one of our recent writing sessions. and of course, also send a fax together at the end.
armand chose to work on “Mga Kumakatok”, which is based on the Filipino myth of the Kumakatok, a foreboding omen in the shape of door knockers. as you’ll hear him explain, it also uses counting in tagalog.
Mga Kumakatok
Isa is one and all alone,
Tok-tok, tok-tok
Dalawa is two when it falls on you
In the dim and dawn of the day
grand chorus:
Isa, dalawa, tatlo,
Apat, lima, anim,
Pito, walo, siyam, sampu.
Tatlo is three by the jackfruit tree,
Apat is four knocks at your door,
grand chorus
Lima is five and the time draws nigh,
Anim is six for a wailing wind
grand chorus
Pito is seven—are you within?
Walo is eight as the pale moon wanes
grand chorus
Siyam is nine and the sun is smiling
Sampu is ten for to bear the end
grand chorus
thank you to armand for being willing to share a song in this vulnerable, not quite finished place. and i hope you’ll stay in touch with him through The Vox Hunters, his website, or his instagram to see what comes of this conversation.
and, if you’re interested in some song birth work with me, drop me a line erin@erinmckeown.com
¡ME GUSTA! : SOME OF MY FAVORITE THINGS!
a mouth-watering history of pasta and tomatoes in italia
we should all be so blessed as to have been mentored by the great paula vogel
i could give a shit about marriage, but this bar in philly still sounds amazing
tray-shzure aka love-letters hidden in the wall of an old house!!!
both jalapenos and brussel sprouts do indeed taste differently than you remember
a really smart discussion of how useless “regret” is as a measure of success or failure in re: gender-affirming procedures
OMG zone of interest OMG. and a very cool pod on its incredible sound design
i admire the heck out of rachel chavkin even though i am not a “lemperson”
i have been trying to remember this song since childhood. the recent “reading rainbow” documentary scratched my itch.
UPCOMING SHOWS
June 6, 2024 - June 2026 - Fredericksburg VA
Fredericksburg Area Museum
Out And About: The Walk-in Closet
VISIT
September 7, 2024 - Richmond VA
Bryan Park Hiking Concert
TICKETS
If you have further questions or concerns about COVID protocols, please contact the venues directly.
Reminder, Erin does not appear in productions of Miss You Like Hell
birth work