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ANNIVERSARY

by Adeem the Artist

supported by
Christopher Houston
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Kevin Gerber
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mehhhlanie
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Alan Richard
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drew west
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wfuller
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fuzzyinthehead
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Benjamin Merry
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anjalitz
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1.
There We Are video
2.
Nancy video
3.
Part & Parcel video
4.
One Night Stand 03:29 video
lyrics
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He was the same as I remembered him back when we were younger He stole my breath the moment We locked eyes across the room Stayed up all night until the morning caught me Bitching about the patriarchy And I played coy to see how high he’d trace my inner thigh I know he only wants a one night stand But I’m wishing he would be my man I know he said it wouldn’t work out and I believed it then but now it’s different He wants a one night stand I want a life full of nights with him I was shy but I was drinking wine And we were inching towards closing time Catching up on all them lost years Of anxiety attacks He pulled me from my barstool, A little tipsy With the radio blaring “Fist City” Lead me parking lot with his palm atop The smallness of my back And he was singing along to that Loretta Lynn song I know he only wants a one night stand But I’m wishing he would be my man I know he said it wouldn’t work out and I believed it then but now it’s different He wants a one night stand I want a life full of nights with him And maybe I’m a little naive baby But I been ruminating on the ways love has saved me And when I’m waking in his arms in the morning Disarmed by the need for him that’s forming Now we’re sitting on the front porch with coffee He’s got a touch of cream but I drink mine black And when I take his hand in mine, he don’t stop me ‘Cause when the timings right you take it in and don’t look back He got a one night stand, I got a life full of nights with him
5.
Nightmare video
6.
Wounded Astronaut
7.
Carry You Down
8.
Socialte Blues
9.
Rotations 04:29
lyrics
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Isley Dale is balanced, flexing talent on a chair Looks at me in between locks of golden hair Improvising wordless harmonies to all my songs Grabs a ukulele and begins to strum along And I know it goes fast Everybody says that It’s just a thing you’re supposed to say But it’s real And you can’t know how it feels Until you’re well on your way How many rotations am I gonna get with you? To share with you the wisdom & magic spells I have accrued? All the laughter and the longing, Writing down or not recalling Bad jokes & silly drawings On any misadventure you can choose When I’m gone, you’ll carry on & carry all that there is left of me with you Now Isley’s in the backyard with fists of Dandelion Mixing potions up in mason jars with mint and wild violet Were that I could trap that laughter in a vial around my neck, Save it for the hard times so that I could open it ‘Cause I know it goes fast Everybody says that It’s on every fellow parents lips But it’s true, and it’s coming fast for you That sweet and beautiful eclipse And I know that you are not me I would never ask you to be You are more than I could honestly ever have expected to be true But when I’m gone, you’ll carry on & carry all that there is left of me with you
10.
Plot of Land
11.
Night Sweats video
12.
White Mule, Black Man

about

In December of 2022, I released a record called White Trash Revelry that was funded one dollar at a time. It was a whirlwind of an experience where I handpicked a dream band and rented a little studio in East Knoxville- blocks from the first apartment I ever had- and gave my friend Kyle space to make a little magic.

My wife, Hannah, designed the artwork while our toddler toddled expertly and we all held on real tight. By Spring, I was opening over a dozen dates for my favorite band, the Mountain Goats, and had heard *THE* Brandi Carlile call me “one of the best writers in Roots Music.” I was even nominated for an award!

Actually, because of all that, it didn’t even seem all that unusual a thing to be having coffee with one of my heroes: Butch Walker.

I was eighteen when a friend of mine gifted me a burned compact disc of his Sycamore Meadows album. Those songs became anthemic for me. When I shared my favorites for Jessye DeSilva (piano) and Nelson Williams (bass) at the kitchen table, it was explicit what an influence he’d had on my practice of the craft. That’s why it was so surreal, being that I’d just flown them into town to record an album with him.

Actually, I wasn’t really sure I had one to record when the opportunity to collaborate was presented. While I don’t consider myself a political activist, I do consider myself committed to the prophetic power of the truth and bound by blood oath to an ancient God who tasks me to seek peace and seek justice. I wasn’t sure if I had anything worth saying yet.

I did have a protest song written from a place of real heartache over the tragic death of Anthony Thompson Jr by Knoxville Police (White Mule, Black Man) and a ballad about the senseless desensitization of war (Night Sweats). Otherwise, I had been writing mostly about parenthood (Carry You Down, Rotations), some love songs for Hannah (There We Are, Socialite Blues, Plot of Land), and trying to reflect on the idea of songs as pieces of folk medicine (Nancy, Wounded Astronaut).

It wasn’t until I unearthed an old song about intersecting timelines that I wrote early in mine and Hannah’s marriage (Part & Parcel) and finished penning poetry about the revocation of rights for Queer people in the state of Tennessee (Nightmare) that I could see the stars assemble into a shape: this is an album about cycles. It’s about the psychological imprint of trauma. It’s about Anniversary as a concept and as an experience.

On March 3rd, Governor Bill Lee signed a ban on gender-affirming care for minors & gender expression restrictions into law. On March 9th, I sat on a ranch in the hill country north of Austin and I wrote Nightmare with Kyle & Hannah. On March 27th, a trans shooter murdered children in a school in Nashville. On March 31st, a woman shouted at me, “Those kids are dead because of you,” outside of a theatre in Chattanooga moments after finishing my set.

In November of 2023, Hannah put paint on my skin, on the hat I hand embellished with makeshift Fraktur wedding vows, my bandana, on the jacket that I wore to grandpa’s funeral- and we took a photo for the record cover. I am proud of this art, of these songs, and astonished by the life Butch has poured into them. My brain grew new dimensions just by being in proximity to Megan Coleman (drums) and Ellen Angelico (Actual Genuine Black Magic) and I will forever treasure this little moment we got to share.

May 3rd is the date of mine and Hannah’s Quaker Wedding in Chambersburg, PA where we acted as our own officiants. Now, on this 10 year Anniversary of our wedding, as we celebrate ten cycles around the sun together, I give you these ruminations on being from our little family to yours.

credits

releases May 3, 2024

Producer: Butch Walker
Assistant Engineer- Soren Hansen
Mixing & Mastering: Robbie Artress

Recorded at The Butcher Shop in Tennessee

Drums: Megan Coleman
Bass, Upright: Nelson Williams
Piano, Synth, Rhodes, Mellotron, BGV: Jessye DeSilva
Lead Guitar, Mandolin, Banjo, Baritone Guitar: Ellen Angelico
Electric Guitar: Aaron Lee Tasjan
Background Vocals, Electric Guitar: Butch Walker
Background Vocals: Katie Pruitt
Saxophone: Owen Fader
Trombone: Michael Daugherty
Trumpet: Davis Ginn

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Adeem the Artist Tennessee

Adeem is a seventh-generation Carolinian, a makeshift poet, singer-songwriter, storyteller, and blue-collar Artist.

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