Exploring Musical Collaboration in Central Brazil: A Viola No Espelho

"The guitar in the mirror."

This project, which is set to begin in February of 2025, in partnership with the Federal University of Goiás (UFG), is an experiment in original roots music collaboration. I am a singer songwriter and music producer currently based in Chicago. I grew up in a much smaller town though. For the last five years I have been discovering and exploring a profound connection with Brazilian music, especially the music as it is expressed in the Center South of the country. I have been studying one of the iconic instruments of Brazilian traditional and country music, the ten stringed guitar, or "viola caipira" or simply "country guitar" or possibly even "redneck guitar."

A Viola No Espelho purposefully then engages my own learning journey with the creative development of Brazilian musicians joining me on the project. The idea is that through a mutual process of learning, that our collaborations will yield unique and highly original results. By intentionally creating a space in which original musical ideas are given license to be filtered through a cross cultural dialogue, we will find ourselves open to possibilities not limited to any one particular musical heritage, while still drawing inspiration from our roots. This process will be guided by the active presence of the viola itself. It is an instrument that comes loaded with a depth of tradition and history within Brazil that presupposes any application will pay reverence to its symbolic power as "the instrument of the people." Many musicians and scholars are interested in the trajectory of the viola, and this project will draw inspiration from many of these contemporary thinkers, writers and innovators, as I personally work to be one among the violeiros.