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GROW: A Compilation in Solidarity with Black Lives Matter

by Fort Lowell Records

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    THIS ALBUM IS A FUNDRAISER. All donations are welcomed. 100% of the sales from this record will be donated to the North Carolina New Hanover County NAACP. If you have already given money for the vinyl record of GROW, you may now download your digital audio files here complimentary. Thank you for your support.
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1.
Are you listening, or are these just words? Are you listening, or are these just words? It’s been too many years There’s been so many tears It’s been too many years Are you listening, or are these just words? Are you listening? Holding space, make it a better world Holding space Are you listening, or are these just words? Are you listening? Holding space, make it a better world Holding space, make it a better world Holding space, make it a better world Holding space Are you listening, or are these just words?
2.
There's a swampland on the borderline And there's a light that glows Nobody knows if it's ghosts Or natural phenomena But it glows there Nobody goes there Nine hundred light years from this earth Five hundred million years before your birth There was a star that just stopped shining And turned into a diamond It hangs there for all time And it's clear as air There is a place in my heart That it reminds me of When you drove us apart I want you to know It was that kind of love There's a house in N. Onastoga, New York Where my mother was born in the war When you shut down the mills It kills the towns And still some people Keep hanging around And there is a place in my heart That it reminds me of When you drove us apart I need you to know It was that kind of love It was that kind of love
3.
Somewhere, you are waiting for Someone, who will take you far Has it dawned on you that you are the only one Who can take you to a place where you won't feel like you're not the only one? In this comfortable town We're not safe, we're not sound Somewhere, you are waiting for Someone, who will take you home Has it dawned on you that you aren't the only one Who is waiting for someone to tell them they're not the only one A grudge weighs heavy on the one who holds it Don't let it go this time This town
4.
They say our boys are alright Yeah, our boys are raised right So then tell me why every mass shooter has beat his mom or wife They say our boys are alright Yeah, our boys are raised right So then tell me why every mass shooter has beat his mom or wife They say our boys are alright Yeah, our boys are raised right So then tell me why every mass shooter has beat his mom or wife They say our boys are alright Yeah, our boys are raised right So then tell me why every mass shooter has beat his mom or wife What'd you say, what'd you say? Your daddy was rough, he raised you up so tough Raised you up so tough, never man enough Never man enough
5.
Things aren’t so far removed in this place with you So come on over, I'll think of something to offer you I'll be the someone you latch on to I’m inviting you I’m inviting you I’m inviting you I’m inviting you I’m inviting you You are a fish and I cannot not swim I get too into my two heads Watch me I'm sticking to my, my wits this time Observe my mind from the outside I'm watching you I'm watching you I'm watching you I'm watching you I'm watching you I'm watching you I'm watching you
6.
Hey Johnny won't you Set my soul free with your Tender love in the night They don't know you like I Think I know you, I know You won't lie to me tonight Ooo I'll take a chance on you Cause you turn my world upside down So tell me Johnny do you Love me really or should I Turn back time and never Be here with you Ooo I'll take a chance on you Cause you turn my world upside down What would all the other girls say If they knew what I was doing
7.
Darlin I’m lost now I can’t sit still in this bed There’s too many options And I just want Venetian red I want to remember That feeling that felt like it did When we’d fold up the bad news Into pirate hats on our heads Throwing darts, such a waste Honey you’ve got heart, but no faith I’m blowing my savings On a big fucking boat To pile all my friends in And we’d never go home I think we’d be happy Just sailing and joking around It beats photographing All the death in this town Seeing stars, just a taste I want your heart, in my face
8.
We're driving through the ocean Starfish and devotion That shark right there is dangerous My foot on the gas takes care of us Shifting stars and wanderlust Coral reefs and meteor dust You whisper with your motion Chablis and me and lotion Hey scuba diver, go away Read the flag, adults at play His camera phone is dangerous My foot on the gas takes care of us Her clothes akimbo, my hair all mussed Salt and lips, a sacred trust Steady course, stars above Amphibious vehicular love Every summer, there is fun There is the ocean, there is sun And every moonlit kiss becomes history we wrote Because we own a car that's actually a boat Every summer, there is fun There is the ocean, there is sun And every moonlit kiss becomes history we wrote Because we stole a car that's actually a boat Amphibious vehicular love
9.
You can give me your worst I'll give you my best Run around on me every evening I'd still rest I was never your first But I'll be your last I'm your guard on the boulevard Put me to the test We're not who we were We're changing fast Taking strides in these hard times And giving all we have But I'll give you my word I got your back I'll keep you company to the other side Take the wheel and drive through this Strange and electrifying life That you and I devised You make the whole world disappear With the smell of your hair So I'll meet you there Strange and electrifying life That you and I devised
10.
I said that I want to be near you You don’t have to test me I said that I want to be near you I don’t mind It’s like I need you now To figure out what to do But if you take too long It might turn off before the lights go on I said that I want to be near you You don’t have to try me I said that I don’t want to fear you I don’t mind at all It’s like I need you now To figure out what to do But if you take too long It might turn off before the lights go on and on It’s like I need you now To figure out what to do But if you take too long It might turn off before the lights go on and on I need you now To figure out what to do It’s like some way some how You figured out how to make it through to me I need you now I need you now
11.
Spring is sneaking into our bones Sudden rains have brought temptation And contempt to our tongues But on the other side of this dividing wall There's a neverending feast And shoes with pearls their iron gates will rust And out of this darkness we'll rush Get up, get out, and fill the streets Let's dance in the ash of the big chimneys I know it's late, but meet us there We need our friends everywhere Get up, get out, come with me Let's sing from the branches of sweet gum trees I know it's late, go with me there We need our friends everywhere Talk from the heart is heard on the lips And soon the whispers will birth howls In the chords of the rich But one darkened night desperate crowds will show Swollen like rivers with the winter snow With our daughters on our arms Into the gardens we'll run So get up, get out, and fill the streets Let's dance in the ash of the big chimneys I know it's late, but meet us there We need our friends everywhere So get up, get out, and come with me Let's sing from the branches of sweet gum trees I know it's late, go with me there We need our friends everywhere So get up, get out So get up, get out So get up, get out So get up, get out
12.
I still hear your voice Hear the songs you’d sing Like the morning alarm Crashes through everything I will always wake for you I will always wake for you And another day I get through And another day I love you As the day burns out I just watch it fade Yellow turning red Flowers turning away But in a moment it’s gone And I can’t see a thing The world ain’t coming back Until I hear you sing I will always wake for you I will always wake for you And another day I get through And another day I love And another day And another day And another day And another day And another day

about

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ORDER VINYL RECORD: tinyurl.com/flr030

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THIS ALBUM IS A FUNDRAISER. All donations are welcomed. 100% of the sales from this record will be donated to the North Carolina New Hanover County NAACP (www.nhcnaacp.org). If you have already given money for the vinyl record of GROW, you may now download your digital audio files here complimentary. Thank you for your support.

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Moved by the horrific Memorial Day murder of George Perry Floyd Jr. at the hands of four Minneapolis Police officers, Fort Lowell Records presents GROW: A Compilation in Solidarity with Black Lives Matter. The project, focused on Wilmington, North Carolina, is a response to the racial injustice continuously displayed by law enforcement across the United States of America. Friends of the formerly Tucson, Arizona-based label involved with GROW have donated their own talents to allow 100% of the sales from the record to endow the New Hanover County NAACP with working capital to help Fort Lowell’s newly adopted local community. GROW is an effort to help address the dire effects of racism in America.

A personally curated collection of regional artists, GROW arranges a sampling of the vast indie rock flair exhibited within The Port City. Both new and old, all embrace the alternative rock-n-roll sound that Fort Lowell Records promotes. As a direct reply to current affairs, Tracy Shedd (Teen-Beat Records) -- once called the ‘Queen of Slowcore’ by Steve Leggett of AllMusic.com -- poses the immediate question to the audience “Are you listening?” with her straightforward heartfelt opening track “Holding Space”. Also finding a home on GROW is an unreleased radio remix of The Rosebuds’ hit single, “Get Up Get Out” -- from their album Night of the Furies (Merge Records, April 2007) -- by producer Mark Saunders (The Cure, Neneh Cherry, Erasure). The tune, tailor-made for the mission of GROW but written in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, imagines an American future in which a popular uprising would not only be inevitable but necessary. Lyricist Kelly Crisp exhorts the "desperate crowds" to "get up, get out, and fill the streets... we need our friends everywhere." Merge Records’ labelmates The Love Language were spurred by Fort Lowell Records’ invitation to hit the studio and document their previously written guitar-packed, power-pop anthem “Throwing Darts.” Team Player closes out GROW with a British Invasion-like ballad “Wake For You”, written about loss, love, and perseverance. It is sure to rouse all with lyrics like “The world ain’t coming back until I hear you sing.”

Delivering three never-before-heard compositions from previous recording sessions are Wilmington veterans Life of Saturdays -- the former ensemble of New York Times Magazine author John Jeremiah Sullivan -- The Majestic Twelve -- the one-time moniker of Kenyata Sullivan (unrelated), organizer of Wilmington’s defunct WE Festival (as seen on MTV, 1996-2009) -- and Summer Set (members of De La Noche) -- an indie pop outfit who has been active beyond the Carolinas since 2001. Sean Thomas Gerard (of Onward, Soldiers) premiers a number from his to-be-released sophomore album, and making their official debut on GROW amongst resident peers are recently formed punk rock band Neon Belly. Hailing from eastern North Carolina, uniquely innovative songstress Pinky Verde, along with psychedelic surfer rock group Kicking Bird, both add newly written melodies while Lauds’ dreamy pop favorite “Don’t Mind” from last year receives a re-engineered overhaul from Grammy nominated Peerless Mastering (The Magnetic Fields, Numero Group, Stephen Malkmus) who sonically prepared all songs and with Golden Mastering’s (Calexico, Sharon Jones, Sonic Youth) vinyl lacquers.

Introduced by New Elements Gallery, artist James L Williams’ piece called “Persistence” takes center stage as the cover art for GROW. Meanwhile, Graphic Designer HeyTVM (Trevor Van Meter), also responsible for the name “GROW”, contributes a symbolic drawing of his own for the back of the jacket, and professional skateboarder / illustrator Chet Childress is highlighted on the Side-B center label of the vinyl record itself. ‘DREAMERS,’ children from the youth development organization DREAMS of Wilmington, express their own views of present-day inequality through poetry and sketches on the printed insert of GROW alongside liner notes written by Third Person Project, a documentary research group preserving the African-American newspaper The Daily Record, once thought to have been wiped out during the Wilmington Massacre of 1898.

With the support provided by all of the artists and businesses above, in conjunction with manufacturing partners NiPro Records (stampers), Imprint Indie Printing (jackets, inserts, labels), and Kindercore Vinyl (records, assembly), plus local sponsors Art In Bloom, ARTphics, Gravity Records, and Modern Legend, all costs associated with GROW were eliminated. In turn, all payments from the vinyl records sales plus the proceeds earned with each digital download and stream will become a permanent resource for North Carolina’s New Hanover County chapter of the NAACP to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate race-based discrimination.

Backers from across the globe will be able to endorse GROW with any dollar amount they can manage. For the vinyl specifically, there will be a limited pressing of 1,000 records, and Fort Lowell Records will ask for a minimum donation of $30.00 USD per album. However, benefactors can give any sum of money that works for their own budget to obtain the digital download audio files and unlimited music streaming access for GROW through Bandcamp at fortlowell.bandcamp.com, which is also where orders for the vinyl records can be placed.

At its core, GROW is a collection of songs that Fort Lowell Records wanted to make available, because supplying the public with music is what they do. However, they acknowledge the platform their company is fortunate to have. Paired with Fort Lowell Records’ own desire to be an ally in the fight towards a more equitable society, their label affords them the opportunity to release GROW and enable their business partners, other advocates and patrons to exercise their own individual alliance with the Black Lives Matter movement and collectively create a positive impact towards justice.

This is their voice.

credits

released October 30, 2020

Fort Lowell Records
FLR030

Mastered by Jeff Lipton + Maria Rice
Peerless Mastering, Boston MA

Cover Art by: James L Williams
Title: "Persistence"
www.jameswilliamsstudio.com


THANKS TO THE FOLLOWING SPONSORS:
Art In Bloom - aibgallery.com
ARTphics - artphics.com
DREAMS of Wilmington - givetodreams.org
Golden Mastering - goldenmastering.com
Gravity Records - www.instagram.com/gravityrecords
HeyTVM - www.heytvm.com
Imprint Indie Printing - iloveimprint.com
Kindercore Vinyl - www.kindercore.com
Modern Legend - modern-legend.com
New Elements Gallery - www.newelementsgallery.com
New Hanover County - www.nhcgov.com
NiPro Records - niprorecords.com
Peerless Mastering - www.peerlessmastering.com
Third Person Project www.thirdpersonproject.org

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Fort Lowell Records Wilmington, North Carolina

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[Est. 2009]

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