Share the Land
Local folkie Joshua Marcus gets technical in his plea for environmental justice.
Jessica Kourkounis
ALL IN THE SAME BOAT: The songs on Joshua Marcus' new album are preceded by interviews with the subjects who inspired them.
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[ folk/musical journalism ]
Joshua Marcus' provocative new record, This Land: An Environmental Justice Folk Recording, can be kind of a mouthful.
"When I listen to it, I'm very glad I was able to represent [my subjects] accurately," he says. "But I also don't think they're my most singable songs."
True, phrases like "navigable waters" and "just restitution" don't readily roll off the tongue and into a melody, but This Land proves quite inviting despite exploring complicated eco-issues way deeper than curbside recycling.
First, though, there's the challenge of navigating each song's litany of facts. While past lyrical efforts by the observational West Philadelphia songwriterwere graceful and literary, This Land comes off almost like reportage. I mention this over coffee at The Green Line, and he nods in concurrence.
"When I describe this project, I talk about grassroots musical storytelling or musical journalism," says Marcus. "Just as a way of contextualizing what it is I set out to do."Inspired by the songwriting advocacy of folk forebears Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie, Marcus studies seven contemporary instances of individuals and communities suffering due to destructive practices of big industry.
Written in collaboration with the subjects who inspired it,This Land is a compelling account of inequity and struggle, underscored by Marcus' haunting banjo picking and husky voice striking notes that are both mournful and outraged. Arranged with local players Jack Ohly (bass) and Harmony Thompson (vocals), the music is spare, yet stirring. For the words, Marcus used a less delicate touch. See, "The Floodplain Is Now a Hazardous Wasteland," and verse lines such as "The state says you can't eat the fish or you're 4,000 times as likely to ingest a carcinogen."
"I think that I might have, uh, overstepped the boundary of what is singable," Marcus concedes. It can seem heavy-handed, even didactic at first, like you're hearing an investigative report set to music. As you immerse yourselfin the situations, however, the journalistic approach seems to fit. These are dire, catastrophic events that shouldn't be dressed in pretty language.
The album begins with "Buried at the Love Canal," a 30th anniversary elegy for the storied relocation of an upstate New York neighborhood built on chemically contaminated land. Presented alongside an interview with community organizer Lois Gibbs — before each song, there is a clip of Marcus conversing with its subject— it tells of the citizens' fight and victory that resulted in the federal Superfund legislation. But the song ends on a biting, cynical note: "In the last 30 years we've seen how Superfund has played out/ The idea of government watching over industry is just not working out / So it's up to you and me to call the culprits out."
This call to arms resonates across the rest of the album. "Invisible City" applauds community groups that watch over Chester's polluting industries while bemoaning ignorance 12 miles downriver. "Collecting Pennies for the Promise" tells of a West Virginia school located next to a coal plant, and residents' efforts to move it. He personalizes the injustice in "Poison in the Well," by profiling Sheila Holt-Orstead, daughter of gospel singer Harry Holt. Both contracted cancer due to the landfill near their family's Tennessee home, and Holt-Orstead advocates to end environmental discrimination.
On a fellowship grant from the Wild Gift organization, Marcus completed This Land (which doubles as the capstone project to his master's in environmental studies from Penn) during a year of research and travel. He read up on a large number of community groups, reached out to some and proceeded with the seven that were most willing to work with him.
He visited them, shared ideas via phone and e-mail, and had them approve the songs before recording. He hopes to give back by raising $7,000 through sales of the CD and direct donations on the project's Web site, thislandourland.org.
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Marcus also wants to foster a better public understanding of environmental justice. Often confused with environmentalism, environmental justice is a separate field focusing on how issues like pollution and waste have a disproportionate effect on the nation's poorest citizens. With the popularity of green living and environmental stewardship, Marcus saw an opportunity to shine light on this related field.
"The degradation of our natural resources is having a deplorable effect on people's health and living situations," he says. "That at least should be considered, if not outweighed, when talking about [saving] trees."
Sun., Nov. 22, 7 p.m., $5, Germantown Friends School, 31 W. Coulter St., and Wed., Dec. 2, 7 p.m., free, West Chester University, Phillips Autograph Library, 600 S. High St., West Chester, thislandourland.org.
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