Where Have I Been?

Tour Recap, Photo evidence, Music and Book recommendations, Reflections on creativity.

I am finally home after a remarkable time away in EU/UK on tour with Lia and Whitney. I’ve been touring almost consistently since early October with multiple projects, and when I tell you it feels incredible to be back, I mean it. It’s time to recharge and be creative in other ways, cook meals for myself and others, record new music, and make a home again that includes bits and pieces of all the life experiences from the last 10 months on the road.

To tour with your friends is a gift. This was my first tour in a while where the entire set was improvised every night, and it was a truly vulnerable experience. The resonance of the room, our experiences during the day, our levels of exhaustion, the audience, it all comes in to play- and the things you can do to prepare for a set of songs or prewritten pieces are not necessarily the same things you can do to prepare for a set like this. I am grateful to have such deep levels of trust with LK and WJ, it allows for this music to take forms that it could not otherwise, and allows for new discoveries of where we want to take it. I love them! I feel so lucky to have friendships like this that deepen every day.

Highlights in photos:

From left to right: Turkish coffee in London, Swimming after a boat sauna with Jonna and Darin in Porvoo, FI, A poignant mural we saw on our last day of tour, Stairs to a beautiful hike in France, a courtyard where we duet-ed with birds, Baby’s first NTS, Seeing Beams in person for the first time, A hike near Forssa, FI, an old pipe organ in Porvoo.

other highlights include: running through a literal marathon in Paris instruments/bags/and all to get to our car rental, Lia catching a pigeon that flew into the venue with her hands and releasing it out the flung open doors, hot/sweaty/packed Cafe Oto complete with friends, Bridge tunnel in Germany with a reverb and delay for the ages, Sauna on a boat, Sauna with older and wiser Finnish women, Sauna by a lake that was frozen last January when I went and is now thawed- still and beautiful, Truly stunning fish dinner by Jonna, the hospitality of every friend we encountered, the sound of a persistent cuckoo as we hiked through a bog, Fighting an airline to get the viola on (this is a lowlight, hands were shaking), thrifting across Europe, infinite French cheese.

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I have known this for a while, but affirmed in the last few months that a main part of my artistic practice and guiding force is collaboration. Communicating ideas with fellow human beings- and more than that- with my deepest friends and loves. There are ideas that cannot be excavated from oneself alone, and to build something new- to build a creative universe with someone is one of the most profound things in this world. I think it goes beyond making music, beyond a lot of things. Still thinking about how to put this into words- but it’s a feeling of truth I have found to be relevant more and more as I move through life.

When I reflect back on all the hospitality that has been shared with me on tour, I just think of a future me that is able to give all of that back. A home with beds and rooms for people on tour, a home cooked meal, a practice space or studio open to whoever might need it. I do hope I can complete that circle one day.

Before I sign off here- wanted to give you some music and media recs:

• Flame Folclòre - Cocanha - A recent Jeff reccommendation that I have really been loving. Occitan folk music and folklore reimagined to something I cannot quite describe, you need to listen for yourself.

• The Time of the Foxgloves - Michael Hurley - I don’t know, but this makes me cry. “Are You Here For the Festival” makes me feel like someone I love is proud of me. I can’t quite explain. A big regret of mine is that I didn’t see him at Big Ears in 2025. What a legacy.

• Strawberry Switchblade- Strawberry Switchblade - it’s just FUN. Pop music made by goths.

• Drums and Wires - XTC - “Making Plans for Nigel” :)

• The Most Pathetic Poem Is Small People on Fire - Egg Meat - This was on Whitney’s music recommended to her list. Want to dive into it more, but loved upon first car listen.

• An Immense World - Ed Yong - A beautiful book about animal senses!! I’m experiencing it like a podcast right now, because I’m listening periodically as an audiobook. A recommendation from Dorian that I’m sharing with you. Makes the world feel more sparkly, especially when everything has been feeling dull and oppressive.

Let me know if you have any tips for getting a wasp out of your house- asking for a friend- (…it’s me…)

xo

MS

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UPCOMING SUMMER SHOWS:

June 25-28 | Solid Sound in North Adams, MA | w/Tweedy and perhaps some surprise pop-ups around the festival :)
July 10 | Constellation in Chicago, IL | w/Bex Burch - playing new music of hers with an incredible crew of musicians
July 11 | Square Roots Fest in Chicago, IL | Grelly Duvalle Revue ft. Finom and Aunt Kelly :)
July 16 | Globe Hall in Kalamazoo, MI | Trio with Half Gringa solo set
July 17 | Concert of Colors Festival in Detroit, MI | Trio (incredible lineup here btw)
July 23 | Nitro-A-Go-Go Fest in Chicago, IL | Solo :)
July 30-Aug 1 | Postock in Albany, WI
Aug 4 | Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, IL | Finom at Tuesdays on the Terrace
Aug 8 | The Broad in LA | Finom performing as part of Yoko Ono’s Music of the Mind
Aug 28 | Schubas in Chicago, IL | Eric Slick’s Unlimited Edition. Kraut Rock Extravaganza feat. many friends
Sep 10 | The Sylvee in Madison, WI | Finom opening for Mannequin Pussy

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