a fundraiser album for Rent Relief in the Powderhorn neighborhood of Minneapolis

Out, March 6th, 2026

In January as ICE was occupying my new home city and terrorizing my neighbors, I started to dream up an idea. It felt silly and small in the grand scheme of things, but I had the idea to record a fundraiser album to support the families in my community.

I didn’t want to inconvenience anyone or ask for too much, so I my first plan was to release voice memo demos on Bandcamp and keep things really simple. But I kept noticing that doing things alone didn’t feel good. I felt way better every time I left the house and interacted with other people.

One day while I was patrolling with a friend (all of my social events that week involved patrolling with a friend), I asked my friend, “If I were to make a fundraiser album into a bigger project do you think anyone would be willing to help out?” His answer was an emphatic “yes!” and so I started asking around. I realized that all my friends were looking for ways to be helpful and to be together in such a bleak time. I knew the songs would benefit from the love and attention of more voices and ears, and so I asked some friends if they would be willing to join me, and luckily they said yes!

On February 6th (one month from the release date), myself, Jeremy Messersmith, Rachel Ries, Alec Watson, Hilary James, and Dex Wolf gathered in Dex’s home studio, and we spent 5 hours sitting in a circle without headphones, capturing live takes, keeping the recording running, telling stories about our landlords, knitting, taking breaks to eat donuts from Post Modern Times and Glam Doll Donuts, and singing harmonies with each other.

The day felt really good. If it had just been an excuse to sing and grieve and feel joy together, that would have been reason enough.

But we were also recording :)

The result is the album “The House on the Park” - 9 songs that explore my past year living in Powderhorn Park, and my search for safety, solidarity, and community in times of unrest.

I hope these recordings treat you well. My hope is that they are an encouragement to keep reaching towards other people (and towards the abolition of ICE). 

Thanks to everyone who was involved, including Alec Watson, Dex Wolf, Hilary James, Jeremy Messersmith, Rachel Ries, and Alec Ness.