“Astronaut’s Hymn” Bonus Content!

Happy Monday! We’ll have a new track reveal shortly, but right now we’ve got some extra bonus background on Astronaut’s Hymn from Jessica!

“There’s two stories behind why I wrote Astronaut’s Hymn.

The first is the one I usually tell on stage, that it was inspired by my love for sea shanties (where we got our start, five years ago). In one type of shanty, the sailor is saying goodbye to his family and loved ones, promising to return. Some of these songs were so deeply affecting that they were forbidden to sing on board until the ship was on its homeward journey in order to prevent mutiny. I thought about how the sea was the great exploratory front at the time of those shanties, and now, in the age of interplanetary travel, space is our new vast frontier. Astronaut’s Hymn is the way a spacefarer says goodbye, maybe for the last time.

The second story is one I can’t tell on stage because, as you know if you’ve seen us do this live, it’s hard enough for me to get through it without choking up, and telling this one would completely obliterate any chance of that happening. It’s also better to hear it straight from the source.

My dear friend Phil Broughton (radiation specialist, maker of super coffee Black Blood of the Earth, proprietor of Funranium Labs) spent a winter season in Antarctica and made friends with several astronauts performing scientific experiments there. He was with them the day of the Columbia accident, when they lost their friends, coworkers, training partners. You can read his account of that day here. Phil’s retelling has stayed with me a long time and was a major inspiration for this song.

The first version of Astronaut’s Hymn was written to be acapella. Super talented Chicago musician pal Carey Farrell sang with me on a vocals-only demo to help me get a full feel for what we could do with this song. With harmonies from both Christian and Holly, Christian’s guitar, and a little work, it has become one of my favorite PDX Broadsides songs, even though it’s an emotional challenge to perform. I’m so thrilled that Sunnie Larsen of Vixy & Tony and Bone Poets Orchestra was willing to add strings to our album version. The song’s leveled up with her beautiful viola and violin work… so much so that I can’t listen to it while driving. Use caution, guys.

I’m so honored to have Astronaut’s Hymn included on Something’s Rotten, to have such talented and awesome friends inspire and contribute to this song, and for you to hear it. I hope you love it as much as we do.

Raise a glass to the High Frontier.

<3,

Jessica”