In 2017, River Breitbach was named a fellow by the Iowa Arts Council and began work on As Above, So Below, an album of original music featuring more than 150 singers/musicians, almost entirely from Iowa. Studio One asked him to write about the project and the album's release.
Dear Iowa Music fan,
"After nearly four years of recording sessions, followed by a delay due to the pandemic, As Above, So Below was finally released on May 1, 2023. As I’ve already written in the liner notes of the album, As Above, So Below is a love story, a toast, a farewell. Its creation has left me ever grateful to be an Iowan, to have been born into a community of such fine music makers. The story of our labor belongs to you now. May it serve you well and cause you to wonder a little each time you turn it over.
This letter is an invitation into the inception, creation and release of As Above, So Below - the ridiculous adventure that my band mates and I took together over the past five years. But before we get into the finer details, let me properly introduce myself.
My name is River Glen Breitbach, but just River Glen when I perform my original music. I was born at home in Dubuque and homeschooled with music as the primary focus. I grew up playing with my parents and four siblings in a family folk/bluegrass band called The One Hat Band. My parents bartered groceries from their organic food store so that I could take violin and piano lessons. In high school I formed my first band, River and the Tributaries. We were an eclectic rock group of six multi-instrumentalists who wrote original songs, sang in four-part harmony and often frolicked around the stage. Our energy was infectious and the experience was unforgettable.
While attending the University of Iowa, I got my heart broken; a totally common and natural experience, but one that grew my songwriting by leaps and bounds. I had a real and raw experience to draw on to fuel the creation of more meaningful, more mature lyrics. And to my delight, people started sharing with me what my songs meant to them. It was a real trip to become aware of the fact that once I put my art out into the world, it is no longer defined solely by what it means to me. My songs became theirs too, in a way.
Iowa Arts Council Fellowship
One night, after a bar gig in my hometown, I was approached by poet/author Lauren Alleyne, who complimented my lyricism and told me about how she was serving as a fellow to the Iowa Arts Council at that time. She suggested that I might consider applying for the same fellowship.
With very generous support from my partner at the time, Kara, who is now my wife, I applied for the Iowa Arts Council (IAC) Fellowship program the following year. To my surprise I was one of the five artists chosen. Put simply, the fellowship experience was transformative. The IAC helped me understand how my art-making fits into the greater Iowa arts community. They had me speak and perform at events all around the state. They opened the door to great performance opportunities and had me attend a multi-day intensive with Creative Capital, a nonprofit organization that educates artists to amplify the impact of their work and to foster sustainable artistic careers. Again, it was a transformative experience that would have triggered my struggles with impostor-syndrome, if not for the very kind, caring and personable support from the IAC staff, especially that of Veronica Ohern, who headed the fellowship program at that time.
As Above, So Below
The IAC asks their fellows to take what they’ve learned from the experience and to use it to create a project the following year. For my project I decided that I would create a bit of a fellowship myself: an album of original music featuring as many Iowa singers/musicians as I possibly could. I envisioned the project being one part a sonic snapshot of many of the sounds and styles of Iowa artists and one part a historic musical record of my connection to my home, my connection to a large portion of the Iowa music community; a menagerie of my teachers, peers, friends and family and musical elders. So I put the word out and with those who responded, I began to map out how I would feature each person on my original songs.
In some cases I asked artists to bend their style, their musical identity, to fit a particular song. In other cases, I bent the song to fit the style of the guest artists. Overall, my approach was simply to tell the guests what I loved about their playing/singing and to show them the space I had made for them in the song and just asked them to simply be themselves in that space. This is why As Above, So Below can so accurately be described as a ‘patchwork quilt.’
For the primary recording location, I selected Flat Black Studios in Lone Tree, and I hired the subtle genius of Dana Telsrow to serve as the primary recording engineer. Dana dependably captured quality recordings of a very wide variety of instruments and voices. His calm presence helped keep the energy in the studio chill and welcoming to guests. And in moments of struggle about how to proceed, Dana was kind enough to add his seasoned critical voice to the conversation, to serve as the deciding vote on a number of occasions.
To fund this project, I secured an Art Project Grant from The IAC, and I also ran a successful Kickstarter campaign. The remainder of the project was funded with my own personal money. While the fellowship program had repeatedly encouraged me to ‘do less with more’ I still let my ambitions guide me into a pretty dangerous situation that asked far too much of me in terms of dollars, time and health. And while I don’t want this element to overshadow the achievement of bringing together such an incredible number of singers/musicians, I do want to encourage other artists reading this to read ‘do less with more’ again. Mull it over and discuss it at length with your peers and collaborators. Because as artists, we must actively work to value ourselves appropriately, just as we must actively advocate for getting paid appropriately. I know it’s hard. And I know it’s getting even harder in these troubled times. But art-making is culture work, and we need it to survive, so as best you’re able, please keep learning and growing and asking for help."
Yours,
River Glen Breitbach
This story was funded by a grant from Prairie Meadows.