Moira Smiley Premieres Her Rhizome Project Music Video for “John O Dreams”

Songs are valued differently by different songwriters, but for Moira Smiley, there is great power in song. You can detect that in her new single, “John O Dreams.” Today marks the unveiling of the song’s accompanying music video for one of the standout tracks on her new album, The Rhizome Project Album.

Smiley is a highly regarded vocalist and composer. She is known for her work with Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Tune-Yards, Solas, and Tim O’Brien. The Rhizome Project enabled her to branch out and do something new. For this new release, Smiley teams up with a string quartet while she provides the stirring vocals. Due out this fall, the album will also feature an accompanying book component.

When you listen to “John O Dreams,” you can hear the many dynamics that came together to complete this song. Offering more detail on its creation, Smiley states:

“Thank you, V13, for hosting the premiere of ‘John O Dreams’ on World Listening Day. Adding the poetry of Naomi Shihab Nye to this track pulled the song deeply into the ‘now’ for me. Her gentle, ongoing, self-described ‘wandering poet’ presence in our world as a Palestinian American, a humanist, and current resident of Texas helps me approach the trouble in these times as an artist. Her poem, ‘Sleeping & Waking’ fit so beautifully with Bill Caddick’s lyrics about sleep-as-the-great-equalizer of us all. I wish to send this lullaby to each child caught in, traumatized by, lost in, and altered by war… hoping that lullabies and love can land them gently onto the ‘shores of their lives.’”

The Rhizome Project is a defining piece of art for Smiley. It is a collection of folk songs and stories from her past that helped form her and make sense of the world. She has her upbringing to credit for how she views and treats music. Smiley grew up viewing songs as shared treasures that were not just important but sacred. They were items to be treasured and to be shared with others. Many of the songs on the record enabled her to have the confidence in her voice to sing on her own. There are powerful ideas behind these songs, which are captured in the album’s accompanying book, The Rhizome Song Stories. These are personal stories of Smiley as a musician and her pursuit of making sense of the world. It’s a companion piece to the album, but it can also be digested and enjoyed on its own.

Smiley identifies as an artist who is endlessly devoted to her craft. That dedication is very apparent throughout The Rhizome Project, songs that celebrate connection and the powerful ways we are bound together.

Moira Smiley ‘The Rhizome Project’ album artwork

Show Dates:

08/02 – BCA Summer Concert Series Presents: Moira Smiley, City Hall Park, Burlington, VT
08/04 -Moira Smiley + the Rhizome Project + special guests, The Old West Church, Calais, VT
08/25 – 08/30 – SongRoots 2024, Port Mellon, BC

The Rhizome Project Track Listing:

1. Go Dig My Grave
2. Mourning Dove
3. My Son David
4. Now Is The Cool Of The Day
5. Ar Lan Y Môr
6. Standing On The Shore
7. Soul Cake
8. Oh, Watch The Stars
9. Awake Awake
10. John O Dreams
11. Great Trees