DEI

don't be afraid of it

Mar 05, 2025

Transcript

today’s audio is a time-capsule from the recent past. as longtime listeners know, i have been a member of a songwriting group for years. our weekly prompts have resulted in many songs for my recent albums and for this podcast.

“the ballad of ford fox” was a delight that i wrote in the summer of 2020, when my life, frankly, was perfect. i had money courtesy of a government pandemic loan, and all i did was sit around and write little songs i expected no one to hear. later, i changed my mind and released many of them as my 2021 album KISS OFF KISS. but “the ballad of ford fox” stayed tucked away in the trunk.

i recently got a new computer for the first time in 12 years. i pride myself on my ability to care for technology and get the most out of it. 12 years was a good run for that machine!! in the process of transferring files to my new laptop, i came across “ford fox” and thought it might be a nice way to start this, season 4 of FAX OF LIFE.

while the summer of 2020 was blissful, “the ballad of ford fox” itself recalls a more difficult time. as the song mentions, my made up super-hero ford came to life in 2018. indeed she is named for christine blasey ford, whose courageous attempt to tell us who brett kavanaugh is captivated me and a lot of other folks that fall. the frustration of that october moment, bled into the voting fury of the 2018 mid-terms. and that momentum led us to 2020. that summer i imagined all the good that a little red fox, tenacious and righteous, might do in the world.

we find ourselves in another moment now, with similar resonances. it’s been a rough past few months for me, and for many of you, i am sure.

carl had a serious bout of pneumonia on christmas eve and nearly died. i definitely passed out in the vet’s office from the shock and overwhelm of the news. another reason to hate christmas. he’s on the mend now, but it has been truly awful.

i am also one of the very very tiny sliver of a sliver of americans who has non-binary state and government IDs, yet this new administration has chosen to make my life functionally harder for reasons i can only discern to be cruelty for political gain.

this is to say nothing of the myriad other atrocities, large and small, afflicting the world. if ever there was a time for a vulpine super-hero, it’s now. except of course, ford fox doesn’t exist and no one is coming to save the world. at least no one that shares my moral and political compass.

hey yall! welcome back to the FAX of LIFE! i usually use this section to hype upcoming tour-dates, but i am going to ask something slightly different of you. can you please pick up your pencils and turn your calendars and minds to 2026?

my latest musical, OUT HERE, is having its world-premiere at chicago’s Court Theatre, running from April 10-May 10, 2026. i’ll tell you more about it as that gets closer, but if you’re anywhere near chicago, please consider making plans to see it.

next, keep those calendars open to 2026 and turn to August. from August 17-27 i will be leading a folk music tour of scotland. i need to find at least 18 other folks to join me, as we explore the borderlands, musically and historically. i’ll play two completely acoustic concerts, and we’ll also get an up close experience of scottish traditional music plus cultural sites. this is pretty dang rad, who knows if i’ll do it again, don’t miss it. scottishfolktours.com for all the info.

turning back to our present moment, i’m teaching a one-day performance workshop here in northampton at the parlor room, april 26. come join us! and look out for hiking shows in NY and VA being announced soon. if you want me to come hike with you and play a concert, you can always drop me a line erin@erinmckeown.com.

and as always, thanks for listening! please consider rating, commenting, following or subscribing to FAX OF LIFE on your platform of choice. it really really makes a difference!

i was off social media for all of january and february. it was a huge relief, and i didn’t miss it one bit. when it was time to re-engage, i tried to think of a way that would feel positive for me, enjoyable to you, and sustainable in my work flow.

what i arrived at is DEI. not the shibboleth that has come to mean the worst of the left and the target of the right, but this: Deploy Every Instrument. i mean this literally and metaphorically.

as a person, with an internet presence, as a person with a public career, what is it that makes me unique? what is it that makes me, me? what is my singular contribution to a community of independent artists? of course it is my songwriting style and the texture and tone of my singing. but it is also how i play guitar. how i play piano. how i am learning the fiddle. how i am wise in the ways of recording software like Logic. i can deploy every instrument to express what i am wanting to say.

DEI, in my configuration, also looks a little like a party-trick. something i can do that you cant, although you definitely could if you started young and put a lot of time into it, as i have. but in the moment, it looks impressive! thus, my social media is now mostly me trying out stuff, old and new, on all the instruments i play.

i have only gotten to see dolly parton once, and it was indeed amazing. besides the sheer camp of her performance style and the profound feeling of 20K people singing along to “9-5” and “Islands in the Stream”, she also had some serious DEI going on. in one section of the show, she moved from guitar to piano, to autoharp, to percussion, and then just to troll us, she grabbed a rhinestone-covered saxophone and pretended to play it.

i myself have fake-played a saxophone.

although maybe like me, dolly played clarinet as a kid so she actually kind of can play the sax.

anyway! the net effect of dolly’s performance feat was indeed super-hero-like. whatever the situation, dolly could grab the right instrument to express herself, to save the moment, to tell the story.

that’s always been my motivation in learning multiple instruments. i long ago decided that i wanted to be able to make music, any time, any place, with whatever tools were at hand. i wanted to grow my talent and release it from the confines of the guitar. in doing so, in learning the bass, the mandolin, the piano, the drum kit, computers, and now the violin, i have changed myself as a musician. i am a better guitar player because i learned the drums. i hear my melody writing improving because i am learning the violin.

i also learned along the way to get comfortable with being uncomfortable, to get good at not being good. to play multiple instruments is to humble yourself. every time i pick up a new instrument, i am starting over. i am saying to the universe, “hey universe, here i am as a beginner”. this keeps my curiosity fresh, it keeps my mind and ears open.

years ago, i bought a cheap instrument online, a cross between a banjo and a mandolin. the official name is the banjolin, but i have always called mine “the manjo”.

literally the first time i put my hands on the manjo, i wrote a song. the new configuration of the strings, the size of the neck, its wierd old-timey sound was instantly inspiring. lou bega was popular at the time, so i called what i wrote “manjo #5” but later i re-titled it “the taste of you”. which you have never heard me perform on its instrument of origin, only on its more practical cousins i have on tour: my guitar or mandolin.

so here is what i have learned most clearly of all about DEI: music is music, iron sharpens iron, the more diverse your skill set, the stronger your individual skills.

now, here’s the obvious pivot: this goes for people too. sadly the words “diversity, equity, and inclusion” have been corrupted by the very skilled communicators of the right. give credit where credit is due. they got us. they flipped the script and they own those three words now. words that should be expansive and emblematic of widening opportunity can no longer even be used. everyone is running scared from DEI.

so i suggest we DEI, Deploy Every Instrument with renewed vigor. i suggest we think of building our work forces, our student bodies, our creative teams, our government like dolly parton, with every possible person, instrument, that can help. we need saxophones and violins. we need drums and guitars. and we need more camp. more whimsy. more play.

that’s how you build a song that everyone can sing. and that’s how you build a country that can survive a poor johnny one-note like this current administration.

in case you didn’t figure it out by now, i am playing every instrument on “the ballad of ford fox”.

x erin

ps - your carl content from my not-dead-yet dude

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