Music that is Rooted in the Natural World
Lullabies for the Earth first emerged during vocalist Shay Nichols’ artist residency at A Studio in the Woods when she explored a simple question:
What if listening to the sounds of nature-and creating music from that direct experience- helps us connect to the earth in deeper ways? And what if this connection can inform and inspire us to live in more interconnected ways and respond to the ecological crisis?
We’ve created nature inspired soundscapes infused by time spent in the fertile ecosystems of Louisiana. This album is a lullaby to the land and its living beings-the trees, birds, insects, frogs, and water.
Who We Are
Vocalist Shay Nichols
Learn More About Shay
Deeply inspired by the wisdom of nature, Shay Nichols is a recording artist, therapeutic voice coach, and founder of the Wild and Sacred Voice School and Lullabies for the Earth project. At a workshop led by French improviser Michel Montanaro more than twenty years ago, she fell in love with vocal improvisation in the forest of Transylvania. Singing with the river and the stones in a circle with arms wrapped around each other, finding harmonies and textures, they sang for those who had died in World War II. It was such a beautiful way to honor those who had passed, and in that moment, she knew singing and healing were a part of her purpose.
Her recordings feature multi-layered vocal soundscapes inspired by nature, as well as collaborative improvisations with instrumentalists.
Bruce “Sunpie” Barnes
Learn More About Sunpie
Bruce “Sunpie” Barnes is a true master of musical fusion and cultural storytelling. Based in New Orleans, Sunpie is a musician, naturalist, park ranger, and educator who embodies the vibrant traditions of Afro-Louisiana music. Bruce Sunpie Barnes is a veteran New Orleans musician, former National Park Service ranger for 30 years, actor, photographer, book author, former high school biology teacher, former college football All-American, and former NFL player (Kansas City Chiefs). Sunpie Barnes’s many careers have taken him far and wide. He has traveled to over 50 countries playing his own style of what he calls Afro-Louisiana music incorporating Blues, Zydeco, Gospel, Caribbean and African influenced rhythms and melodies. He is a multi-instrumentalist, master accordion and harmonica player, also piano, rubboard, talking drum, and djembe. Sunpie is the Big Chief of the North Side Skull and Bone Gang, one of the oldest existing Black Carnival groups in New Orleans. Sunpie is also an active member of the second line parading organization Black Men of Labor Social Aid and Pleasure Club.
Martin Maskakowsi
Learn more About Martin
Bassist and photographer Martin Masakowski was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. The son of a musical family, Martin's immersion in the arts began from a young age. He spent his youth studying visual arts and transitioned into music at the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts high school. Martin went on to study jazz at the University of New Orleans before moving to The Netherlands to finish his bachelor’s in music at the Rotterdam Conservatory. He spent the following years touring with an Eastern European folk band, the Balcony Players. With them he explored over 20 countries in Europe, performing in clubs and festivals and also visiting Roma gypsy villages to study their music and culture. As a result of his travels and the influence of his family and his city, Martin’s musical styles span across jazz, folk, classical, electronic, experimental, Eastern European and Indian genres. Martin is currently back home in New Orleans, performing regularly at clubs such as Snug Harbor and The Spotted Cat while also developing his skills as a graphic designer, photographer, and Tuvan throat singer!
Steve Gilliland is a musician, sound designer, videographer and actor based in New Orleans. He is a member of the theatre ensemble Goat in the Road Productions, and has worked as a sound designer, composer and performer Tulane Shakespeare Festival, Artspot Productions, Le Petit Theater and No Dream Deferred. He was the lead sound designer, composer and audio engineer for The Audio Experience at the Walter Anderson Museum, and has created multiple audio installations for the Contemporary Arts Center in New Orleans. He creates mixed media visual art using circuit boards, doll parts and other recycled electronic components and releases original music under the moniker “GillaWatts.”
Steve Gillaland