Although listeners couldn’t descend the few steps at Club Passim to gather in the minimally-adorned and intimate listening room with the smell of rosemary fries in the air, we still saw familiar faces and heard new voices during Passim’s live stream on Sunday, June 14, during their annual Iguana Music Fund show, held virtually to showcase grant winners. Five of the 23 performing artists who received grants shared their projects and music with us, after the fund raised ~$40,000 to support local rising talent in its twelfth year.
Despite the pandemic’s relentless hit on the music industry, funds like this allow creativity and dreams to persist with momentum and force. Grants are used to support career growth in a variety of ways—funding EPs, recording projects, or specialized equipment and instruments.
We caught up with one of the grant recipients and performers Naomi Westwater who shared how her Iguana Fund project evolved to address our current moment. With the grant, Westwater will release a forthcoming EP, Feelings (working title).
Before diving into her three song pre-recorded set, in conversation with Passim’s Club Manager, Abby Altman, Naomi says this is new subject matter for her and the EP is hopefully the start of a conversation of some of these heavier topics. Naomi chose the first song “Thick of Things,” which is about chronic endometriosis pain but “really about someone going through something painful and asking other people, ‘Hey where have you been? I’m going through this and I really need you.’”
The last song she presented on Sunday was her rendition of “Strange Fruit,” written by Abel Meeropol and first recorded by Billie Holiday in 1939. Originally slated to be released in the fall, Naomi felt the power and eerie relevance of the lyrics. As a black multiracial individual who has spent most of her life living in New England, her vision for the song’s video will tie in images of the North to the lyrics’ traditionally southern landscape. On the desire to share her EP sooner, Naomi comments, “I’m black and felt jaded, but it seems like people are paying attention. I wanted to pause and focus my music directly on what’s going on and to get music that focuses on racial justice out there.”
Passim’s Iguana Fund is impactful but unfortunately, a rare opportunity in Boston. We discussed the need for the City of Boston to do more to support its art scene during crises (and always). Naomi shares that Club Passim has been the only way she has found support, expressing disappointment in the city. “If you want a city that is full of culture and has a thriving art scene, you have to pay your artists whether through grants or opportunities.” Passim’s commitment to nurturing rising talent through financial support and passing around the mic is vital for voices to be heard.
Support Naomi Westwater by listening below and purchasing her music and merch via Bandcamp.