The Secret Sisters w/ Jon Muq – The Basement East, Nashville, Tennessee photos by @shanaleighphoto
2024 has already been a transformative year for the Grammy-nominated duo The Secret Sisters who just released their band-new studio album Mind, Man, Medicine on March 29. Coinciding with the release are a string of headlining shows leading up to a tour across the country with Ray LaMontagne and Gregory Alan Isakov with a little break in between. One of the stops on the current tour included an electrifying appearance at Nashville’s Basement East alongside Jon Muq, a Texas-based singer-songwriter from Uganda.
Muq is a captivating storyteller. During his opening set, he held the Nashville crowd in the palm of his hand as he told stories and shared songs taken directly from his own life. After recently linking up with Black Keys guitarist Dan Auerbach, Muq is set to release his first English language album under Auerbach’s guidance called Flying Away. Mixing Western sounds with Ugandan influence, Muq offers a distinctly original musical experience that is completely his own. His song, “Love, Love, Love,” had the audience singing the chorus together in unison generating magic over the crowd of music lovers. Muq, himself, was as smitten with the audience as the audience was with him. As his set came wistfully to a close, Muq mentioned that he felt that he was competing with time for he wanted more of it to share with the loving crowd in attendance.
After Muq’s opening set, The Secret Sisters took to the stage with their backing band to share songs from their most recent album Mind, Man, Medicine. They kicked off their set with the song “Paperweight,” which was written by Secret Sister, Lydia Slagle, and songwriter, Kate York. As an opening number, “Paperweight” offers a sense of contentment and familiarity positioning the audience on a spellbinding descent into the duo’s repertoire.
The real-life Alabama-bred sisters, Slagle and Laura Rogers, both welcomed newborn babies into their lives in 2022. Themes of transformation and motherhood weave like a thread through the new music that they shared. Exhibiting an ethereal quality, the sisters’ harmony singing transported the audience to a divine place of tranquility. The song “Space,” which deals with carving out room for human connection, seemed to unite the audience in spellbound unity. The sisters demonstrated their multifaceted artistry by diving into soul territory with their song ‘All the Ways,” which features guest vocals from Ray LaMontagne on the new album.
A defining moment in the sisters’ set was when the band walked off stage and left the two of them alone with just their voices, one guitar, and a condenser mic. The intimacy of the moment exposed the spiritual and playful sibling connection that the sisters share. Their humorous stage banter caused the audience to chuckle, and their isolated harmonies transported us into the cherished spaces and sounds that the siblings most likely shared when they first began singing together with just a guitar between them.
As the two sang the song “Planted,” which contains the lines: “… you are planted right beside me / Intertwined beneath the ground, and the wind is just a breeze whenever you’re around,” it became clear that the song encapsulated the love and esteem that the two sisters share for one another. Seeing The Secret Sisters live is more than just witnessing the artistry of two phenomenal musicians, it is bearing witness to the enduring bond of familial connection.
Find more information about Jon Muq here: https://jonmuq.com
And check out The Secret Sisters here: https://www.secretsistersband.com
Enjoy our previous coverage here: Interview: The Secret Sisters on “Mind, Man Medicine”