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Nov 30, 2020 By Caleb Campbell Photography by Meredith Truax S.G. Goodman

Kentucky singer/songwriter S.G. Goodman has debuted a live video for “Red Bird Morning,” the second in a series of live performances from her excellent debut album, Old Time Feeling. Born and raised in Western Kentucky, Goodman’s debut is a touching reflection on life in the South and her own experience as a gay woman, activist, and lifelong southerner. Co-produced by Jim James of My Morning Jacket, the record spotlights Goodman’s spellbinding, heartfelt vocals, and raw storytelling, resulting in a moving exploration of identity, heartache, and the places that shaped her life.

Goodman’s performance of “Red Bird Morning” is just as stark and heart wrenching as on the record, but with the wonderful vitality of a live performance. Her voice wavers with raw emotion, presenting an unvarnished and intimate version of the track that carries with it a harrowing weight. The lyrics are set against the backdrop of Goodman’s journey to North Dakota to protest the Dakota Access Pipeline, but the song takes on a micro view of the subject. Goodman narrates her journey north as a reflection on the broken relationship she left behind her and the transformative rebirth of a new day that came with the experience. Interspersed with the live performance is grainy road footage, evoking the very roadside attractions that Goodman likely passed on her way to North Dakota.

Goodman says of the song, “I always do my best to include southern traditions in my music. In “Red Bird Morning,” I talk about the old belief that when a red bird comes to visit, it’s a loved one who has passed coming to comfort you. In its essence, this is a heartbreak song, and with the new boundaries that come from love lost, the old saying about the red bird came to mind.”

Goodman adds, “At a time when I was going through the wrong turns my failed relationship had taken, my mind was brought back to the roads that led me to Cannonball, North Dakota. Through the imagery of that voyage, I was able to capture the feeling of a different forlorn journey. The Standing Rock Protest was a prayer protest, and upon arriving at the camp, my job was to help thaw out wood for the sacred fire. I remember being prayed over and praying in my own way for the first time in years. The experience was transformative not only by joining others in a valid cause but in what it sparked in my personal spiritual life.” Check out the video below and listen to Old Time Feeling, out now via Verve Forcast.