The opening paragraph I wrote in November 2017 of Women Making Music spotlighting saxophonist and singer, Debrissa McKinney is worth repeating: “The first time I met Debrissa McKinney I was in a bad mood. I don’t remember why but what I do remember is that she brought sunny into my gloom, and turned my frown upside down. She asked me questions about myself. She was truly interested in my answers. I know oodles of people who are good at give and take. But something about Debrissa makes me and everyone she meets feel that extra special mojo; one feels lifted in her company.”
Catching up with Ms. McKinney recently over Zoom, we start off laughing of course because anyone who knows her knows that frivolity abounds when she’s around. Our exchange quickly goes to where most of my conversations these days with musician friends go, by talking about the big transition. “I’m not as busy as I was pre-pandemic yet, but there’s a definite feeling like, ‘Oh I need to rehearse this stuff again,” she admits.
During lockdown she confesses that like so many of us, she caught herself moping around. Living downtown like she does, the desolation was palpable. “I’d go for walks in the neighborhood and could feel people peering out their windows wondering who is this extra sad looking lady comin’ up my street. All I needed was a Mr. Microphone for my inner sad-singer to vent and wail my fear and loneliness while I shuffled up and down the streets.”
Thank goodness things are pivoting from live streams to live shows. We delve into philosophy pertaining to the phenomenon of Covid 19 and what we’ve learned. We agree that saying “no” or “not right now” is more common and accepted amongst our peers and bandmates and we are grateful.
McKinney is still part of the 2017 Grammy winning (for best Kid’s Album) troupe, Secret Agent 23 Skidoo and plays sax and sings with Empire Strikes Brass as well as lead and backing vocalist for the most popular Steely Dan tribute band, Dirty Logic. But when we last left her, she was dabbling in a project with Hip/Hop MC and producers Austn Haynes and Johnny Reynolds.
Haynes and Reynolds have maintained a partnership that dates back to their teens. Referring to themselves as “forever friends,” you can hear that it fuels their combined artistry. With love and ambition, their successful, bicoastal Hip Hop outfit called Free Radio was born.
The pandemic and the fact that they are both back living in Asheville, Free Radio duo has morphed into something even more expansive. The addition of vocal melodies and harmonies executed with warm and luscious precision by Debrissa and deep-soul vocalist Datrian Johnson brings “balance and magic” to this purposeful project.
“One of the coolest parts of this collaboration” McKinney says, “stems from Austn’s masterful beat making prowess. He’s always creating new and unique beats; there’s no beat re-do’s; he is always mixing it up.”
For anyone not steeped in Hip Hop, and for longtime Free Radio duo fans, this new angle to the venture will draw you in. They’ve created a new accessible genre they dub “Cosmic Appalachian Hip Hop.” The moods and melodies are grounded in R&B and roots music, connecting them to the potency of nature, sound and rhythm. The result is a mashup with a distinct message.
Riding tandem to this fresh Free Radio cooperative, Debrissa is in company with yet another musical undertaking involving scientist, folk healer, wisdom keeper, Jeff Firewalker Schmidt, Phd and his passionate and profoundly introspective project with Jazz musician and keyboardist John Medeski (of Medeski Martin & Wood) called Saint Disruption.
Firewalker and Medeski came together serendipitously, meeting in the Amazon while both were on a mission of personal healing and growth. Their endeavor is based around their “deep devotion to native wisdom traditions.”
The pandemic allowed for the creation of Saint Disruption’s 7-track record called “Rose in the Oblivion” and features Debrissa, Datrian, Leeda Lyric Jones and Austn Haynes among others.
Following are excerpts from an interview with Jeff and John on Live for Live Music conducted by Andrew O’Brien on April 7th of this year:
“This is a native wisdom,” Firewalker contends. “And native teachings say that it’s in the darkness where we come to know who we truly are. One of my teachers puts it beautifully: can you name one thing on this planet that doesn’t start its life in the darkness?”
The darkness of 2020, he explains, was the impetus for Saint Disruption’s creation. “I went to my altar and I said, ‘Okay, Spirit. I’ve got this luxury of time. What do you want me to do? And the answer I got back, it was not subtle. It was a smack upside the head. It was like, ‘Take everything that you’ve seen and learned and felt and perceived and put it into poetry and music.
“We acknowledged and recognized that at this time in human history, there’s an opportunity to do something musically that reflects artistically those things that we feel humanity could be well-served to grapple with,” Jeff notes. “John and
I are very dedicated to this idea of ‘Can the music be evocative and deliver messages for people to consider at this time in history?’ “
The answer is yes! The album release concert takes place at The Grey Eagle August 29th at 8pm. Free Radio quartet opens.
There’s no finer example of a local female artist continuing to make good, striving to always come back better than Debrissa McKinney, who will be adding her supreme and mystical vocals to both sets that night.
facebook.com/Debrissa-113430532032607/
liveforlivemusic.com/features/saint-disruption-jeff-firewalker-schmitt-john-medeski-interview-2021/
thegreyeagle.com/event/saint-disruption-featuring-john-medeski/
Peggy Ratusz is a vocalist, songwriter and vocal coach
Peggy’s August Dates:
Friday, August 6th
Love Bubble feat Paula Hanke, Hank Bones & Peggy Ratusz Southern Appalachian Brewing, Hendersonville, 7pm
Saturday, August 7th
Jonathan Pearlman and Peggy Ratusz The 2nd Act Coffee, Beer & Wine Café, Hendersonville, 6pm
Sunday, August 22nd
Jonathan Pearlman and Peggy Ratusz One World West, Asheville, 4pm
Peggy Ratusz is a vocal coach, song interpreter, and songwriter.
For vocal coaching email her at [email protected]