Black Belt Eagle Scout announces new album
Black Belt Eagle Scout, moniker of Swinomish Indian Tribal Community -based multi-instrumentalist Katherine Paul, announces The Land, The Water, The Sky, her new album out February 10th on Saddle Creek, and today presents a new single/video, “My Blood Runs Through This Land.” In every note of The Land, The Water, The Sky, Paul has written a love letter to indigenous strength and healing, and a story of hope, as it details the joy of returning. Comments Paul, “I created The Land, The Water, The Sky to record and reflect upon my journey back to my homelands and the challenges and the happiness it brought.”
Paul found herself far from her ancestral lands during a time of collective trauma, when the world was wounded and in need of healing. In 2020 she made the journey from Portland back to the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community. There is a throughline of story in every song on The Land, The Water, The Sky, a remembrance of knowledge and teachings, a gratitude of wisdom passed down and carried. There are moments of frustration over a world wrought with colonial violence and pain, and the presence of joy, a fierce blissfulness that comes with walking the trails along the river, feeling the sand and the stones beneath her feet. It is the pride and the certainty that comes with knowing her ancestors walked along the same land, dipped their hands into the water, and ran their fingertips along the same bark of cedar trees.
“My Blood Runs Through This Land,” follows the previously released, “Don’t Give Up,” a song about the role the land plays within Paul’s mental health journey. In Paul’s words, “‘My Blood Runs Through This Land’ is about the connection I have with my ancestors. When I run my hands through the rocks at Snee Oosh beach and dip my fingers into our waterways, I am reminded of where I come from. Paying attention to all of the sounds and the feelings I get when I am immersed in trails of cedar trees and canoeing out on the water deeply grounds me and strengthens my bond to my lineage of the Swinomish tribe. I wanted the delicateness of these moments to meet the intense reality of the history of my people. I like to imagine my blood - all of my ancestors - running through our homelands freely and powerfully.” Fast-paced guitars and bursts of guitar lines throughout emulate that “running.” The accompanying video, directed by Evan Benally Atwood, captures this energy.
Watch “My Blood Runs Through This Land” Video
The power of this land is woven throughout The Land, The Water, The Sky. Even in its most melancholy moments it is never despairing. That is the beauty of returning home. When you stand on ancestral lands it is impossible to be alone – the arms and hands hold you up, unwilling to let you fall into sorrow or abandonment. In The Land, The Water, The Sky, Katherine Paul has channeled that feeling of being held.
Watch the “Don’t Give Up” Visualizer
Pre-order The Land, The Water, The Sky
The Land, The Water, The Sky Tracklist
1. My Blood Runs Through This Land
2. Sedna
3. Salmon Stinta
4. Blue
5. On the River
6. Nobody
7. Fancy Dance
8. Sčičudᶻ (a narrow place)
9. Treeline
10. Understanding
11. Spaces
12. Don’t Give Up
Black Belt Eagle Scout Tour Dates
Fri. Nov. 25 - Seattle, WA @ High Dive
Fri. Feb. 24 - Manchester, UK @ Night & Day
Sat. Feb. 25 - London, UK @ Moth Club
Mon. Feb. 27 - Paris, FR @ Le Pop Up
Tue. Feb. 28 - Brussels, BE @ Botanique - Witloof Bar
Wed. March 1 - Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso Upstairs
Thu. March 2 - Copenhagen, DK @ Stengade
Sat. March 4 - Rotterdam, NL @ Rotown
Sun. March 5 - Berlin, DE @ Badehaus
