Seattle musician’s project: Songs about the lives of women of color throughout history

Editor’s note: This is part of an occasional series on our local artists and their experiences in these turbulent times.

As a self-proclaimed introvert, staying home during pandemic lockdowns was not difficult for J.R. Rhodes, but the solitude was. 

“I was still moving through a lot of grief because I’m the last one standing of my core family,” she said. “It just got harder and darker.”

It was then that the Seattle-based singer-songwriter gave herself a choice: either be swallowed by self pity or find a lesson in her experience. She chose the latter, eventually deciding that her purpose was to create inspiring music. This led to her current project: nine songs telling the “lives, works and wisdoms” of women of color throughout history. Rhodes is recording and will eventually have two live concerts for the songs, using a $30,000 grant she received this year from the city of Seattle’s Hope Corps program, which funds projects for under- or unemployed creatives.

A fusion of inspirations, all surrounding the importance of storytelling, influenced Rhodes’ project, which she described as similar to the works of Sweet Honey in the Rock, an a cappella ensemble of Black women who share their history and culture through performance. When Rhodes was a teenager, her mom took her and her sisters to a Sweet Honey in the Rock show; it was a life-changing experience, she said, that she wants to provide for others.

“Just to be around people that look like me and people on stage sharing stories that were my stories is just empowering,” she said. “So I feel a real responsibility.”

Sharing the stories of Black Americans became increasingly urgent to Rhodes after the murder of George Floyd in 2020. What was a wake-up call for the country, she said, was also a reminder that Black experiences often go unacknowledged. 

“I woke up the morning after I saw that footage [of Floyd’s murder] … and I was already crying,” she said. “That kind of just really helped me focus … and just really remember how important our stories are.”

Stories of sisterhood have played a large role in Rhodes’ current work, too. Since her mom and sisters died, Rhodes said she has been missing the bond they shared where “we had each other’s backs.” Researching and writing about women of color, she said, has helped to fill that hole. One song, for example, is based on Maya Angelou’s book “Mom & Me & Mom,” about Angelou’s relationship with her mother, and will be done in an a cappella, women’s choir style, Rhodes said. 

“That book is just so full of so much hope. It’s really something,” she said. “It’s a really sweet book about not being perfect, but doing it anyway from love.”

Rhodes has settled on ideas for all nine of the songs and is almost done writing them. Next steps are instrumentation and rehearsals, and then the concerts will happen sometime in late 2023 or early 2024. In the meantime, Rhodes said she is going to document her process on her Facebook, Instagram, Patreon and email list.

The pandemic brought a host of difficulties for working musicians, but ultimately, Rhodes said it’s been an opportunity to step back and think about what she really wants to be doing — and this is it.

“Joy is a choice,” she said. “It’s not everyday rosy being a musician, but it’s lovely to do what you love. It makes work that much lighter, I suppose, and brighter, hopefully for myself and others.”

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This coverage is partially underwritten by the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust. The Seattle Times maintains editorial control over this and all its coverage.