Vera Pashkevich
Few songwriters make as excellent a use of open air as Devin Sinha. The Seattle artist is still promoting material from off of his latest album, last year’s Our Fathers Were Lions, and for good reason—it’s bloody great. Capitalized by spacious, ebullient arrangements wrapped betwixt warm melodies, Sinha produces a lovingly crafted soundscape from which he can so beautifully tell his stories. Interpretive to a point, the songs decorating the halls of Our Fathers Were Lions take note from Sinha’s musings on the natural world. ‘Backslider’ is a good example of this, having come about following a visit to Iceland, expressing Sinha’s sorrowful reflections on global warming.
For Folk’s Sake is privileged to premiere a new live performance of ‘Backslider’ in which Sinha is joined by the Passenger String Quartet. As cello, viola, and violin swirl around him, Sinha stands center and delivers a gorgeous vocal and guitar performance. Filmed by Sam Nuttman with mixing by Dylan Fant at Woodinville’s 1 Shot Studio, the performance is dynamically shot and beautifully recorded, adding that much more to an already brilliant presentation.
Sinha tells For Folk’s Sake…
“Backslider was one of the most personally meaningful tracks on my latest album, Our Fathers Were Lions. I invited Andrew Joslyn to collaborate on the strings section with my for the studio track, and a few months after producing the album, Andrew and I were talking one day when he casually suggested that we revisit the track and record a live performance with his Passenger String Quartet. I instantly knew that this was the right song on the album for a live music video and was able to work once again with my longtime collaborators Dylan Fant (audio engineering) and Sam Nuttmann (cinematographer) to bring our performance to bear. Most people can feel a connection to music when they hear it, but I believe that when you see a live performance and the emotion each performer puts into the moment, it can be all the more powerful.”
Words by: Jonathan Frahm (@jfrahm_)
Photo: Vera Pashkevich