Q&A: Shawnee Kilgore Explores Softness And Longing In Newest Single “Moon Song”
NEVER SHYING AWAY FROM INTIMATE STORYTELLING - Austin-based folk musician Shawnee Kilgore has created an endless amount of meaningful songs that everyone can connect with. Kilgore’s newest single “Moon Song” is a soft, emotional track which was released on Feb. 9. Created as part of the Miles of Music 2020 Remote Camp, the song began as a home demo and evolved as musicians from the New England area added elements remotely. Collaborators include Matt Douglas of the Mountain Goats, and producer Zachariah Hickman.
Kilgore has released many incredible projects preceding “Moon Song.” Her last album Beginning at the Wilderness released in 2020, and is a deeply personal collection of songs recorded at Great North Sound Society, a 200 year old New England Farmhouse. In addition to her studio albums, Kilgore has shared over 500 songs on The Songbird Society, her patreon page. The care and love given to this project and the people supporting it is always present, and new songs are shared regularly.
Read below to learn more about the meaning behind “Moon Song,” Kilgore’s favorite parts of making music, and what to expect from her next.
LUNA: Hello! How are you doing?
KILGORE: I’m good, thank you! Wondering where a significant portion of 2024 has gone already but in this moment I am ever grateful for all of it.
LUNA: How long have you been making music?
KILGORE: When I was fourteen two very significant things happened: I discovered Ani DiFranco and fell in love with Daniel Johns from the Australian band silverchair (he was sixteen). It was my life’s purpose to marry him so I had to figure out how to get famous so he would know who I was and we could meet. Possibly a poor strategic choice to pick up an acoustic guitar but there was one around the house and I figured the music thing seemed appropriate. Ani was kicking butt writing incredible music so I figured that’s what I should be doing as well. I basically taught myself to play guitar by writing songs. I think I figured that anything else anyone was doing was too complicated for me so why even bother trying to learn it.
LUNA: What is your favorite thing about what you do?
KILGORE: I think my very favorite thing is when an idea for a song comes, like a little birdie on your shoulder, or a bolt of lightning in your ribs, or a butterfly brigade in your stomach, and everything else is immediately put on hold while you write it into existence. There’s a beautiful alchemy to it, something delicious and unexplained and sexy and brilliant. It feels like absolute buoyancy, you and the universe in perfect harmony, floating in respite from the day to day uncertainty, a promise, a kiss, an invitation.
LUNA: Can you share a bit about the process of sharing your songs on The Songbird Society? What are some rewards and challenges?
KILGORE: The Songbird Society! Yes! That’s the name I have given to my amazing Patreon community, which is a platform where fans can directly support the artists they love in the creative process with a monthly subscription to whatever behind the scenes stuff artists want to share. When I started on Patreon I was writing and posting a brand new song every week, which turned into a delightful 7 1/2 year stretch of time. I always had new content (my favorite!) and loved sharing recordings that were literally just made in my pajamas and uploaded. I was on a clear schedule and knew exactly what to do every week. And then…. a song a week gradually turned into 4 songs a month and at least one month I wrote and posted three songs in one night.
That also has its charm but it’s not a good thing to rely on! I eventually let the song-a-week go but it was really hard. It had become so much a part of my identity I worried about the hay day my ego would have if I missed even one deadline. It was hard to know what to do for my patrons after that, and I’m kind of still trying to figure it out. I try to have at least one new song a month but there’s so much more I know I could be doing. I think I get caught up thinking “well that’s not interesting” or “no one will care about that” instead of letting small things be meaningful. Thank you to the Songbird Society for your continued love and support!
LUNA: Congratulations on the recent release of “Moon Song!” Can you share what the experience of writing it was like?
KILGORE: I honestly don’t remember much of the writing process… it was sparked by a conversation with a dear friend as we looked up at the moon. We were commenting on the different shapes it resembled and “a clipped fingernail” was actually the original opening line (instead of the less gross “curve of a sail”). I just dug through journals and found this: “I wrote your favorite song and maybe my favorite song and did so roughly in the blink of an eye. I felt it and it came.” It’s such a gift when that happens.
LUNA: Describe “Moon Song” in three words.
KILGORE: Soft, surreal, surrender
LUNA: What was your favorite part of recording “Moon Song?”
KILGORE: The recording process was a really unique and beautiful experience, a long-distance collaboration between me in Austin and teachers at the Miles of Music camp in Massachusetts. The producer of Beginning at the Wilderness (my last record), Zachariah Hickman, is the music director and in 2020 they did the camp virtually, allowing me to participate from Austin. They took demos from a handful of singer-songwriters and fleshed them out into full recordings. “Moon Song” was relatively new and I thought it would lend itself nicely to the project, so I recorded a single track in my tiny bathroom and sent it off. The finished songs were revealed over Zoom and getting to hear what they added to my heart brought me to tears. So many beautiful people I’d never met handling my song with such gentle care was incredibly moving. I learned that one of the participants was Matt Douglas from the Mountain Goats, a delightful human whom I have since met. The whole thing felt very magical, and I truly believe that it was.
LUNA: I saw that you’re planning to expand this project into an EP of moon songs. Can you share a bit about this idea and what inspired it?
KILGORE: Honestly I just loved the sound of this recording so much I immediately wanted more! And I realized I mention the moon in quite a few of my songs, like….. a lot. So the idea came pretty naturally. I’ve actually put the moon in enough songs that it was really tough narrowing it down. There’s a theme though, I think, of longing across distance, reminiscent of pandemic loneliness but not speaking directly to it.
LUNA: How have places you’ve lived impacted the way you create music?
KILGORE: Living in Austin I would say has lent itself to a lot more collaboration than I might otherwise be doing. There are so many musicians here and it’s really common to hang out with friends and just end up writing together, even if that wasn’t the plan. It’s a really inspiring place to be musically and lately I’ve been getting exposed to music outside my usual folk scene. I saw a great female punk band last night called Prom Threat and recently went to a really cool experimental ambient audio/visual show at a venue I’d never been to before. All of that gets absorbed in some way.
LUNA: What are some of your passions outside of music?
KILGORE: I really love photography! I take pictures of the moon and people and nature, constantly looking for that perfect curve of a leaf or a flower petal. (My moon photos are on Instagram - @letthatsongmoongo, and my photography website is www.letthatsongbirdgo.com.) I also really love thrifting and house painting.
LUNA: What has been your favorite musical experience recently?
KILGORE: I’m part of a series in Austin called the Campfire Sessions that does monthly backyard shows. There’s no amplification, just writers in the round who are all friends. At last month’s show our dear friend Jon Dee Graham got to play, just weeks before he underwent major spinal surgery. His favorite song of mine is called “Blue Moon Shine” and to wrap up the night I played it for him. It’s a very simple song and many voices joined in to sing for him. As it came to the end I knelt down and sang the last lines in the grass at his side. It was one of the most magical musical moments I’ve had. (And I’m so glad to report that his surgery went really well!)
LUNA: Do you have any upcoming plans or projects you’re working on?
KILGORE: I’m working on my first release that I recorded all at home, with just electronic instruments. I was really inspired by my bestie, Jana Pochop, who went to NYC to get a master’s degree in songwriting and production at Berklee and now makes really kickass music with electronic elements that really elevate her already incredible songs. I’ve finally entered my GarageBand phase and I’m pretty excited about it. The single is called “Still at the Chelsea”, inspired by chance encounters at the Chelsea Hotel bar. Jana recorded the vocals and is co-producing, and my friend John Elliott sings on it.
LUNA: Is there anything else you’d like to share?
KILGORE: I’m super grateful to Luna for talking with me! Much love and thanks. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the choices we make every day regarding our attention and what we do with our precious energy, and some good advice I gave myself stuck: Creation never stops; be intentional.
