Y'all have been asking for my music for years. Welp, here it is. Late at night, live, one take. A travel guitar and bronchitis. (I was recovering when I recorded this.)

I'm not as proud of this as my more produced stuff, but this was easier to do, and is a good demo for what live solo gigs could sound like. You also get a taste of my writing, if that's something you're into.

I've been hella anxious about doing this release for a number of reasons. It’s weird. After all this, I still feel like a poser. People kept asking for videos or even just a laptop mic recording, and. For a few years, I did. Then… life happened. And what miniscule shred of performance anxiety I had previously been able to ignore decided to kick in and. I stopped doing everything.

And now, I guess I’m here again. I’m not ready to be here again, but jumping head-first anyway. Because I saw other people doing it. Because of Laura Jane Grace coming out, and me realizing there’s so many models I could look to. Not just famous ones, but people who are right here. Shoutout to Shoop, to Lomes, to Shannon, and a ton of others for proving I still have a shot at this music thing, and that I can overcome what I hate about myself through acceptance or through sheer willpower.

To Apes and Emily (among others), most recently, for repeatedly demonstrating for me that confidence is not a prerequisite for an album release, and that you don’t need fancy high-end anything for a quality record, that just being real and honest is enough. (Though having an engineer like Timmy Lengel certainly doesn’t hurt. Give him a call!)

Thanks to my open mic family in York for really getting me kickstarted. A big thanks to folks who booked me for gigs when I was just a street perfomer. Especially those who hired on word of mouth alone, since I had no recordings to show. To Wick and Brahmii and Shoop and Cas and Danger and Haley and the other folks I’ve played with, who trusted me to work with them and gave me a musical group to hide behind.

To the folks who broke my heart over the years without noticing, you helped me practice writing. To my nameless datemates and love interests who got involved with me, knowing full well our stories might not stay entirely private forever. Especially “The Five” (you know who you are).

To all of my friends and chosen family who keep me afloat. To Cas, for humoring my idea to make a living on busking. To Jo, friend, inspiration, and peer editor in one. To Tim, for having enough faith in and patience with me to invest so much time and energy into these recordings. To my parents, who got me started and have stuck behind me all this time. And to you, for having enough faith in me to listen to the bare minimum with an open heart.

-Tara