By Michelle Kramer-Fitzgerald
Erin Magnin and Michael Natrin, the Delaware folk duo known as The Honey Badgers, released a new album last month. The Earth Turns and So Do We is a raw, intentional, and emotional journey that faces (and releases) feelings of loss, aloneness, and — above all — hope, borne out of their own experiences during and post-pandemic. In a recent interview, the duo talked about the new music, the journey through these emotions, and the healing power of music.
OA: You’ve noted this album is about grief, loneliness, and isolation, but also hope. Was it harder to write this album or, in a way, easier or more cathartic?
HB: Many of the songs were drafted during the roughest parts of 2020 and 2021. It was cathartic to get such heavy emotions out on paper, to be able to close the book on them and avoid feeling them for a little while. The harder part began when we returned to the songs to edit and finalize them for recording. It was like group therapy with just the two of us — every day processing the losses of the past five years through this collection of songs. Revisiting each and reworking them for our current selves ended up being incredibly healing.
OA: Some songs have a real modern country “feel” to them. Was that intentional and are there artists that inspired you this time around?
HB: That wasn’t intentional, but the Americana/Folk sound can get awfully close to country sometimes. It’s fun how wide an umbrella “folk” can be. I have a feeling that there are bits and pieces of some of our favorite folky friends on these songs — Willi Carlisle, The Rough & Tumble, Jay Unger and Molly Mason, Joe Jencks. Our inspiration playlist for this album includes Phoebe Bridgers, Molly Tuttle, Bright Eyes. There’s a range of sound happening, and that keeps things interesting.
OA: Why did you choose the Summer Solstice date (June 20) to release the album?
HB: The original plan was to release it on the spring equinox. In typical musician fashion, there were some delays that thwarted that plan. The album is centered around the cycles that we go through in life — darkness to light, death to rebirth that is so apparent in the bloom of spring. But the summer solstice feels just as fitting; the moment of the most possible light, but also when the darkness starts to slowly creep back in. As a friend said, “people are still sad in the summer.”
OA: What songs from this collection mean the most to each of you and why?
HB: Michael: “No Day” means the most to me because it’s a reflection on the loss of several family members and the fragility of life.
Erin: I love all of these songs, but “She Awakes” holds a special place in my heart. Writing it in the depths of the winter and the pandemic (in February 2021) grounded me and helped affirm that light always comes again. Fun fact: these two songs start and end the album.
OA: Tell us about the cover art. Who created it and what does it represent?
HB: Our friend Katie Yost created it as an oil painting after we worked on ideas and sketches with her. The interpretation is up to the viewer, but for me: Someone has sat in this intense darkness for a long time, maybe contemplating the flicker of the candle or the light through the door. And one day they got up and went through [the door]. We wanted it to capture many things — sitting in grief, depression, feeling trapped, loneliness — but always with a way through to something brighter. It’s a unique piece that now hangs in our living room. For the physical CDs and vinyl, the painting wraps around the front and the back sides of the cover.
OA: What would you like fans to take away from the album?
HB: Ideally, we want listeners to feel connected to each other and to their own selves through our music. Take time to truly feel some of the grief, loss, and fear that we’ve all had to live through over the past few years, as well as hope for the future and the uniting power of music. And finally, change is constant! The bad times won’t last forever, and the good times may end. Appreciate it all for what it is, as best you can.
OA: Where can we catch up with you in the coming months?
HB: We have an album release/13th “band-iversary” show scheduled for Sat., July 20 (location TBD). Then, we’ll be playing throughout the region: Nemours Estate on Thurs., July 18; Delaware State Fair on Fri., July 19; Arden’s Shady Grove Music Fest on Fri., August 2; Abbott’s Mill on Thurs., Aug. 8; Killens Pond State Park on Fri., Aug. 16; Philadelphia Folk Festival on Sun., Aug. 18; Coverdale Farm Preserve on Sept. 6, and the 33rd Delmarva Folk Festival on Sat., Oct. 19.