Leyla McCalla Shares Cover Of Landmark Protest Song “Freedom Is A Constant Struggle”
Today, on singer and activist Barbara Dane’s 96th birthday, Leyla McCalla is sharing a powerful rendition of “Freedom Is A Constant Struggle,” a meaningful 1966 Civil Rights-era a Capella protest song Dane famously sang and recorded with the Chambers Brothers. Listen to it HERE. McCalla’s version was recorded in New Orleans with an incredible all-woman choir featuring Joy Clark, Lilli Lewis, Sabine McCalla, Sula Spirit and Cassie Watson Francillon.
The first in a series of singles McCalla plans to release on the theme of freedom, she says: “With so many of our fault lines agitated and further exposed by the pandemic, I find myself connecting more deeply with my emotional state in the context of the ways the capitalist system fails us. Music is a healing force – it helps us to know ourselves better and it helps us to take the temperature on where we stand. These are the songs that have served as a balm to my personal journey over the past few years as I’ve navigated heartbreak, outrage, grief and hope.”
Last year McCalla released her critically acclaimed album ‘Breaking the Thermometer,’ a record that combines original compositions and traditional Haitian tunes with historical broadcasts and contemporary interviews to forge an immersive sonic journey through a half century of racial, social, and political unrest. “Leyla McCalla has long been one of the most thoughtful figures working to trace American folk music’s lineage to other countries and continents,” said Bandcamp upon the album’s release.
The record was featured in the best songs and albums of 2022 by NPR Music, Folk Alley, PopMatters, Variety, The Guardian, MOJO and more, and the song “Dodinin” was featured on Barack Obama’s Favorite Music of 2022 Playlist.
McCalla is also the Artist-In-Residence at the University of Richmond and a research artist at the Amistad-Rivers Artist Research Residency in New Orleans. Later this month she will perform at the Joshua Tree and Spoleto music festivals, as well as headline a show at Los Angeles’s Moroccan Lounge. All upcoming dates are listed below.
TOUR DATES
5/20 - Los Angeles, CA @ Moroccan Lounge
5/21 - Joshua Tree, CA @ Joshua Tree Music Festival
5/26 - Charleston, SC @ Spoleto Festival
7/6 - Forde, Norway @ Forde Festival
7/8 - Rudolstadt, Germany @ Rudolstadt Festival
7/23 - Westport, CT @ Levitt Pavillion
7/24 - North Truro, MA @ Payomet Performing Arts Center
7/25 - Rockland, ME @ Strand Theatre
7/27 - Annondale-on-Hudson, NY @ Spiegeltent at the Band
7/28 - Guelph, ON @ Hillside Festival
8/11 - Lyons, CO @ Folks Festival
9/23 - Easton, MD @ Avalon Theatre
9/24 - Camden, NJ @ XPoNential Music Festival
11/2 - Utrecht, The Netherlands @ Cloud 9
11/3 - Den Haag, The Netherlands @ Crossing Border Festival
11/7 – Orléans, France @ La Scène Nationale d'Orléans
11/9 - Bouguenais, France @ Piano’cktail
11/10 - Sotteville-Les-Rouen, France @ Trianon Transatlantique
11/11 - Landsberg am Lech, Germany @ Stadttheater Landberg am Lech
11/12 - Zürich, Switzerland @ Moods
11/14 - Frieburg, Germany @ Jazzhaus Frieberg
12/14 - Lafayette, LA @ Acadiana Center for the Arts
3/1/24 - Miami, FL @ Cayamo