I wrote “New Roots” as part of the FAR-West-invented Now See Hear Project developed by Phil Ward, which pairs songwriters with a piece of anonymous artwork to use as a springboard for writing (the art itself is inspired by another song). After I sent the completed result to Phil, he let me know the image I’d received was painted by Jennifer Flack in response to a song by Dy Arthur called “Tumblin.’ (Hopefully, we’ll all get together to show and perform this trail of songs at a future conference.) The painting, events of the past year, my continual unpacking of my own family history and participating in an anti-racism study group this year all fed into the song. Take a look and listen below.