Here is the live performance video from the Kennedy Center.
I am deeply grateful to have performed at the Kennedy Center, an institution with more than 50 years of supporting artists. The sound was incredible, and the staff were professional and kind. It was my first time performing there. For those unfamiliar with the space, the Kennedy Center includes multiple theaters and stages; I performed on the Millennium Stage, a stage located in the Grand Foyer that presents free, public concerts. It is a meaningful service and a valuable opportunity for artists. Seeing family, friends, former coworkers, and meeting new people made the experience especially memorable. It was truly one of the highlights of my musical career.
I agreed to this performance some time ago, under very different circumstances. As the date approached, the broader public conversation surrounding the venue became more politically charged than I had anticipated. I want to be clear that my participation was never intended as an endorsement of any political figure, action, or policy. My performance reflects my artistic practice and values alone.
Ultimately, I chose to honor my commitment and focus on the work itself. The performance was free and open to the public, and in nearly 18 years of performing, I have never canceled a show. Following through aligned with how I approach my work as an artist.
Most importantly, I had the opportunity to share Arbor Aria, a video installation created in collaboration with old-growth trees that invites reflection on their protection. At a time when these forests face ongoing legislative threats, reaching audiences beyond traditional conservation spaces feels especially important to me. I don’t want to make art in a silo—I want to build bridges, share beauty, and encourage care for the living world we all depend on.
I sang my heart out, and I’m proud of the work I shared.
Here are some organizations that are helping defend the forests.
Today is the 15th anniversary of the first Uno Lady release, “I Really Like Genetics but I’d Rather Have a Good Time.”
To celebrate, I have released the album for the first time on all streaming sites. Listen on Apple Music, Bandcamp, Spotify, or wherever else you like to listen.
It was originally released as a tape. Here’s a photo of what she looked like. They have been sold out for a long time. If you’re lucky to have one, know I don’t even have one.
All songs were written and recorded by Christa (Uno Lady) Ebert, 2009. Recordings were mastered by Adam Boose at Cauliflower Audio in 2014 and edited and remastered by Jeff France again in 2024.
Tatsuya Nakatani (1970, Osaka) is a Japanese avant-garde sound artist and master percussionist. Based in the Truth or Consequences, New Mexico; he has released over 80 recordings and tours internationally. Performing solo, in collaboration, and with his Nakatani Gong Orchestra (NGO) project he plays over 100 concerts a year.
With his adapted Gong and handcrafted Kobo bow, Nakatani has developed his own unique instrumentation. A master of new sounds and extended technique; he sculpts a transformative, intense, expressive sound that engages improvised and experimental music while resisting genre. Central to his philosophy of sound is the concept of MA 間, which can be understood as the space or interval between perceptual events. Also performing is local duo Hohenfeld + Hyde-Perry playing a short improvised set with flutes and bass.
This piece was written and recorded in real-time and is a sonic expression of experiencing the incredible environment of Lake Clark. It was composed while sitting on a log on the beach of Lake Clark with a zoom recorder at Chultina Wilderness Lodge. In my yurt studio, delay and a few additional layers were added.
The video is time-lapse footage I took over the 6-week fellowship and shows the spot I recorded at.
Thanks for watching. Listen to the album and watch the other videos in the links below.
Here’s a new video for you! “Acappella Instrumental” is on the new album Alaska. The synth-like sounds are actually psychedelic layers of phased vocals.
I recorded the footage at Tanalian Falls, in Lake Clark National Park, Alaska. The audio was written and recorded at Chulitna Lodge. A bird sampled throughout the album is Swainson’s Thrush. The males defend their breeding grounds by singing a series of spiraling notes inflected upward, which to me sounds like a flute through phaser pedals.
… “Take Uno Lady, for example, and her newly released “Alaska,” the result of a residency at the off-the-grid solar-powered Chulitna Lodge, a wilderness retreat in Lake Clark National Park & Preserve. Here, Cleveland transplant Christa Ebert has captured field recordings of herself doing things like banging on a log out in the forest, or birds swooping past her tent at night, and remixed them digitally into background atmospheres, over which she layers what sometimes sounds like dozens of her own vocal tracks. Maybe there’s a bit of keyboard once in a while.
The results are warm and organic, sometimes even catchy, as on “Today’s the Day,” which wouldn’t sound out of place on a Magnetic Fields album. Ebert’s lead vocal is lower register and resonant — “I’ll conjure up some urgency and mend all of the emergencies” — while a chorus of angelic vocals shimmer in the background, accompanied by bugs and birdsong, like Snow White wending her way slowly through the forest. Her vocal range is sorta bonkers.
Her “Venn Diagram,” too, from the “Osmosis” album three years ago, is a delicious bit of indie pop, and she even covered Tom Petty in her early releases. But there’s always something subversive, something new and interesting in the way she constructs her recordings and releases. Her previous release, “Le Flux,” recorded largely in Switzerland and then edited here in Maine, features vocals that are lyricless, and more found sounds turned into beats. Only possible, really, with today’s digital recording techniques, it still manages to transmit an intimacy that should tickle that desire for authenticity….
Maybe you can’t picture them in the room, but you can understand what they’re feeling, and that’s something no machine will ever authentically do.”
“Breakthrough” is the first track on the album. When composing it, the music came before the lyrics. The percussion is a field recording of a HUGE fallen tree in the woods. The resonance of the decayed wood had some serious natural bass. I set up a zoom recorder, and with a mosquito net on my head, pounded my fist on the tree. You could feel the sound waves through the ground as it echoed through the forest. I’m sure I confused some bears, moose, and grouses.
I apologized.
The psychedelic sound in the intro is a field recording of a wilson snipe, a bird I didn’t know existed until this trip. I was fascinated by their sound. I only heard it at night while trying to sleep. This swirling whooshes circled my yurt and sounded like a natural phaser. I learned it’s called winnowing, and it’s not a bird call but rather the sounds of its feathers as it swoops! The specialized tailfeathers create a whirling buzz as it flies to defend its territories and attract mates. I never saw the bird but I heard what I assume was a dozen+ snipes every night. Nature.org says, “The hollow winnowing of the tail feathers seemingly echoes off wispy cumulus clouds. The faintness can make you second-guess that you’ve heard anything at all. Researchers have determined that peak winnowing happens when snipe are traveling 25 miles per hour.” (And this guy says they can fly up to 60 mph!)
The video features time-adapted footage from Lake Clark, Alaska. Qizhjeh Vena, also known as Lake Clark, is the ancestral homelands for the Dena’ina Athabascan people. These compositions were greatly influenced by the the area. The album is named Alaska as a tribute to the spatial collaboration. This album is dedicated to the incredible artists at Chulitna Lodge. Thanks for watching.
I had a melody before I landed on these specific lyrics to sing. I’d written the words before, in a different context, but they only existed on the pages of my songbook–until coming together for this song.
Being a songwriter is vulnerable. Sometimes trauma turns up in verses. Hypervigilance is a coping mechanism. As a mighty worrier, in a misguided attempt to keep me safe and ready for anything, I unwillingly predict and anticipate unknown dangers. My mind conjures up images of tragic events that will never happen to prepare me for the worst case scenario(s). For example, I have grieved many false deaths, including my own, and vividly envisioned myself experiencing natural disasters, accidents, goofs, and falls, all that which never took place. These distressing thoughts can happen at any time and seem to come out of nowhere.
In my youth, I would be incredibly upset by these intrusive thoughts; they still irk me, but mindfulness and labeling them has helped me loosen their emotional impact. The lyrics to BREAKTHROUGH label the intrusive thoughts for what they are:
False future fantasy Augmented reality Scenes that were never seen Dishonest daydream Two-timing treacherous thoughts untrue Breakthrough
On the bright side, real life is a lot better than my worry brain predicts.
It’s challenging to write such personal things. When I learned that distorted thoughts are a phenomenon experienced by many people, I felt less isolated. I share in case you need to know you’re not alone.
Please share with friends you feel could use this message too.
I hope you like the song and album. It’s my favorite yet. Thanks for reading. Sending you love!
I flew into Paris but had a show in Strasbourg a few days later. I rented a car for the following morning and booked a room in Verdun, the city in the middle, to help break up the 6 hour drive. The residency that brought me to Europe didn’t start for another week. I explored France and Germany with my camera, capturing footage for the songs I was about to write.
Near Verdun is Vent des Forêts, a contemporary art exhibit in the woods. Some people fly into Paris to experience the city. I drove 3 hours into the countryside on one-lane dirt roads to hike alone in the forest in 91-degree heat.
The album artwork and videos for “A New Day” is from that hike. The sculptures in the video are “Cartouche” by Marion Verboom. “One of those who were too long in the woods,” by Stefan Rinck has been described as everyone’s friend of the forest.
The second song, “Black Forest ” features the trees and mushrooms of the Black Forest in Germany. The song was inspired by a melody I overheard two children singing to each other while hiking.
In “Beach Dreams,” forests reflect on stream surfaces. Underwater footage captures the light through water.
“Sunshine and Pines” shows scenes of Planplatten mountain (7,365 ft) situated within the Uri and Bernese Alps in Switzerland. On my birthday, I rode a gondola to the top of the mountain with 2 other people and what appeared to be hundreds of pounds of cheese (not pictured).
“Delaney” features live, improvised, and looped vocals. The percussion was made by talented musician and pal, Delaney Davidson. The song is named after him. Many years ago, he tapped on the body of his guitar and I saved the sound to my loop pedal. At the residency, I revisited the beat and wrote the composition in real time as it was recorded. The footage is from the Bernese Alps in Switzerland.
The dark melody of “And Let Live”’ matched the cold cellar at Chateau Orquevaux. I combined videos of clouds, water, fire, and the basement to achieve the haunting effects. Humble brag that I hit those low notes naturally. This song was featured on a compilation released by Volar Records, “Presence Not Absence – A Benefit Compilation for Trans BIPOC Housing Assistance.” Buy it on Bandcamp if you wish to support it.
“Anticipating the End” features footage from ruins of the ancient Hohenbaden Old Castle and Burg Alt-Eberstein castle ruins in Germany, and a foggy night in Orquevaux, France.
Skipping in Place meanders through the town of Orquevaux and showcases the beloved goats of the Chateau and their coordinated dance moves.
“Let it Flow” is the only song with lyrics on the track and the reason the album is named “Le Flux” (“the flow” in French). It features highlights from the trip to France, Germany, and Switzerland.
Thanks for taking the time to listen and view. I appreciate you and your support.
