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Resounds: Move The Needle

Anna Paige

Livingston-based artist Audrey Hall, in collaboration with Stapleton Gallery in Billings, has co-curated a melding of art and music for a new project that brought artists and songwriters together in an artful way. Ten original songs are being released on limited edition vinyl records that feature unique cover art created for each song by regional artists represented by Stapleton Gallery, including Hall, Kevin Red Star, Jennifer Eli French, Judd Thompson, and others. Artists were given leeway to create whatever they wanted from the song prompt provided by musicians from hometown hero Grant Jones to East Coast sensation Jeffrey Foucault.

The idea of bringing artists and musicians together has worked so well they’ve dubbed this release Move the Needle, Volume 1. On Resounds, we discuss the ideas of collaboration that this show brought about with Hall, Jessie Bridges, Paul Durham, and Jason Wickens.

Audrey Hall

An internationally collected visual artist, known for her poignant landscapes and etherial equine photographic-based images. Her work is part of the TIA Collection, a distinguished private collection whose unique purpose is the lending of significant works of art to museums and institutions.

She recently started to explore music to augment and inform her creative process. New to songwriting, playing and performing, she creates emotionally complex sonic landscapes, weaving the ideas back into her mixed-media art.

Jessie Bridges

An Indie/Folk Singer-songwriter from sunny Santa Barbara. Her songs weave their way through her laid-back California roots, using words and melody to effortlessly paint vivid pictures of her life story and the things she’s observed along the way. An avid lover of thoughtful, clever lyrics, Bridges’ way of reflecting on her own experiences while also leaving space for interpretation is evident in her song writing.

In her music, Jessie ideally hopes to express her point of view in a way that also encourages others to explore their own feelings. “I love the idea of a song moving a person to the point of either bringing up an old memory or creating a feeling of urgency to do something completely new and out of character. That’s the beauty of music - it can truly take you anywhere. It transforms you. You just have to be open!”

While Jessie’s love of music has been constant, she has not always pursued her own musical career in a linear, progressive way. In fact, she’s been known to take breaks from writing and performing to spend time doing other things that allow her to express her creativity, such as pottery and cooking.

Paul Durham

He writes songs and sings and breaks your heart into a million pieces. After two major labels, top-10 radio singles, national tours, and hundreds of thousands of albums sold, Paul settled down in Bozeman, Montana, to record and release albums for his band, Black Lab.

Paul’s songs are found in film, TV, and commercials, including Sony Pictures’ Spider-Man, “House M.D.,” “Pretty Little Liars,” “The Shield,” “Buffy The Vampire Slayer,” Can’t Hardly Wait, Permanent Midnight, Blade: Trinity, as well as spots for Honda and GM.

The intensity of Paul’s acoustic shows creates a hushed, emotional atmosphere. His wild, electrifying voice crackles with raw presence as he sings about the things we keep in the shadows.

Jason Wickens

This artist grew up on his family’s ranch outside of a small rural town in North Central Montana. At an early age he began playing guitar and developed a passion for music and more specifically songwriting. While still in high school his older brother returned home from college from TCU (Texas Christian University) and introduced him to artists that would ultimately inspire him to pursue a career in the music industry.In 2010 after saving money working in oil refineries across the West, he took his passion for the craft of songwriting and founded nationally syndicated public radio program & live music venue Live From The Divide "A Celebration of The American Songwriter" based out of Bozeman, MT.

Since starting the program, Wickens has captured over 400 songwriters and worked with many of his heroes including artists like Sturgill Simpson, Steve Earle, James McMurtry, Jack Ingram, Hayes Carll, Ray Wylie Hubbard and countless others. In addition to hosting the Live From The Divide Podcast.

In 2018 he teamed up with award winning and Grammy nominated producer Wes Sharon (John Fullbright, Turnpike Troubadours, Parker Millsap) at his studio 115 Recording in Norman, OK. For the recording, Sharon enlisted the help of members of the Turnpike Troubadours Ryan Engleman, Gabriel Pearson and Hank Early. Which resulted in a heavily influenced sound of the Oklahoma/Texas scene with subtle overtones that are uniquely rooted in the Montana landscapes.

Anna Paige is a Montana-based journalist, poet and educator. She is originally from Wyoming and has lived in Billings for more than a decade, where she co-founded Young Poets, winner of the 2021 Library of Congress Award for Literacy.
Corby Skinner is an independent marketing professional with an enormous capacity for assessing issues and creating positive, effective messages.
Ken Siebert began work at YPR in 1992 as a part-time, evening board operator. He was hired full time in 1994.