I am so very pleased to introduce to you today … our new album. Coming June 15th.

Yes, even though we made some huge changes in our lives this year (hello, new home 1,100 miles away from our old home!) that took a big huge chunk of time out of our typical yearly schedule (hello, DIY home renovations!), we are — still — making a new record and bringing it to the world this year. Because that’s what we do. 🙂

We have a bunch more work to do on it; and WE NEED YOU to help us get it done. So today, we’re asking you to support our “Let’s Bring ‘Both at the Same Time’ To the World” fundraiser.

It’s been an interesting journey this last year. I think that this year’s album is something like an answer to, or an evolution of, or a stop further on down the road from the rawness of the record we made last year. Here’s my artist’s statement about the album:

Have you ever had a Both at the Same Time experience?
Like this …

In one hand you hold one idea, or emotion, or truth,
and you know with your whole heart that it is solid, it is real, it is true …
and in your other hand,
you hold another idea, or emotion, or truth,
— which you also know with your whole heart to be solid, real, and true —
but which exists in exact opposition to the truth you hold in your first hand.

Like rejoicing in the rapturous beauty of the astonishing world in which we live;
while also gulping for air in unknown depths of grief over the loss of someone you love.

Like recognizing injustice in our world which must be relentlessly resisted and forcefully fought;
while also allowing an unbridled joy for life sustain you and lead the way.

Like observing how a person has figured out how to honorably make sense of the world for themselves;
while also — even if the belief or value system they’ve landed upon looks entirely different than your own — embracing the idea that you can wholeheartedly celebrate their discovery with them. 

There they are.
In your hands.
Two things …

that you know are both true,
that may stand in direct contradiction to one another,
that will not ever be resolved to each other,
that you do not have the power to change,
and therefore which you will continue to hold,
Both at the same time.

Did you know, in that way, you are just like LIGHT?

For centuries, scientists agreed that light is emitted in the form of waves.
But then Isaac Newton came along and proposed that light is best described as a particle.
And the scientists freaked out, because in their understanding at the time,
waves are entirely different than particles, and particles cannot be waves.
But what if, as Albert Einstein suggested, light embodies a dual nature?
And, indeed, that is now what science accepts as true:

Light is both a particle AND a wave.
Both at the same time.

Here’s what I think about all of this
as it relates to our real, beautiful, messy, exhilarating, tedious, everyday lives:

I think that learning to hold opposing truths in tension
is a kind of spiritual practice …
that allows us to explore deeper understanding,
invites us to experience transcendence,
and nurtures progress in our lives and in our world.

And yeah. Tension is uncomfortable. Conflicting realities are difficult. Uncertainty can be distressing.
But this is where the light is.
This is where life is.
We can hold both at the same time.

We are going to need every bit of help you can offer us to get “Both at the Same Time” and its message of compassion and joy out into the world. Take a look at our fundraiser page to learn more about the fun details of this special project and how you can help.

When you visit the fundraiser page to join our effort, you’ll be able to choose for yourself one of the fun variety of thank-you packages we’ve prepared for all of our supporters.

Thank you so much. We do what we do with you, and for you, and we could not do it without you.

Love — shannon & jamie