Moriah Bailey looks at the definitions and ideals of femininity and womanhood on new album, I Tried Words .

I Tried Words, the first album by singer-songwriter and harpist Moriah Bailey since 2017’s Sitting with Sounds and Listening for Ghosts will be released on December 2nd via Keeled Scales. Bailey’s new album also looks at definitions and ideals of femininity and womanhood.

The lyrics of I Tried Words emphasise Bailey's difficulties to comprehend and make sense of definitions and expectations of gender rather than the song's more experimental musical elements. Breaking patterns, gathering strength, managing mental health challenges, trusting oneself, complicated dualities, and learning to love both yes and no are some of the themes addressed in this intimate story of losing oneself in a relationship and trying to find a way out.

Can you tell us who you are, where you’re from, and something about the music you make?

My name is Moriah Bailey, but my friends call me Bailey. I’m from Oklahoma. I play the harp and write songs. 

How did it all start?

I’ve written songs and poems for as long as I can remember, but I didn’t start playing the harp until my early twenties. I played other instruments growing up but playing the harp really transformed my songwriting. The harp provided an outlet to explore sound and arranging in a way I hadn’t before. And I think something about being a late learner alleviated some pressure and encouraged me to explore the instrument with more childlike enthusiasm. I was more patient with myself than with other instruments and more devoted. At this point, the harp feels like a part of me, and I struggle to imagine my life before or without it.

We love your new single, ‘Not Staying’. Can you tell us a bit more about how this single came about?

Thanks! I wrote the first version of “Not Staying” a long, long time ago. I wrote it on guitar while I was struggling with trust in a long-term relationship. It turned out I was being lied to in numerous ways, but I didn’t realize it at the time. I just sensed it. The song sounds very different than it did then, but it came from a really raw place. When I started envisioning my new album, I tried words — I realized the song fit and had a place. I finished the lyrics and music within the context of this album’s concept, and that transformed the words and music some. After I recorded all the harp and vocals, I sent tracks to some musicians whose musical intuition I really trust and admire: Sarah Reid (violin), Ryan Robinson (percussion), and Ricky Tutaan (guitar). They all added their own parts and transformed the track further.

What’s it like working with Keeled Scales? 

Dreamy. The folks at Keeled Scales really support musicians and allow for a lot of creativity and flexibility. I truly can’t express how grateful I feel to be working with Keeled Scales.

What’s your songwriting process like?

It really varies. I make up songs all the time, and I write little notes, poems, and phrases in various notebooks. I’ll often come back to those and set them to music. But when I write, especially albums, I like to tell a story. I want the album to draw a person in and narrate or express something. So I normally come to a concept for an album and then take those little phrases or melodies and try to piece them together and transform them around an overarching narrative. For some songs, I know what I want the song to focus on, and I have the concept for the song in mind before I write anything. Sometimes I start with music, sometimes with words, but again, it really varies.

What advice would you give anyone trying to achieve a similar sound to you?

Embrace minimalism. Tell stories. Explore instruments. Reverb, lots of reverb. Sing into your soundboard. Try to use your instrument in non-traditional ways — explore it like a child. Feel all the feelings. Edit, cut, and then edit some more.

What inspires your music?

Hmm… this is a difficult question to answer because it varies so much. I guess consistent themes are environment, landscape, place, plants, animals. But I have also been inspired by oral history interviews, other people’s music, the ways words fit together or the sound of particular phrases, weather, seasons, memories, relationships, emotions. I guess relationships of all kinds: familial, to place, other beings, substance abuse, romantic partners, friends, the past. Oh, and self-reflection/emotional processing. A lot of my music is very self-reflective and cathartic.

How did growing up in Oklahoma influence your music?

Honestly, it’s really complicated, and there are so many different ways I could answer this question. My mother is a liberation theology-influenced pastor, lesbian, and activist. When I was a child, I heard all kinds of folk music through my mother’s church/activist community. So in some ways, I had this kind of non-traditional (for Oklahoma) upbringing. But I was still influenced by the dominant culture here (which, for anyone who doesn’t know, is predominantly conservative and fundamentalist Christian), and I think it delayed me sharing my music in a lot of ways. I wrote songs in high school, but I didn’t perform them live. The local bands and singer-songwriters that were my age and celebrated were all men. My first boyfriend told me that women were lesser musicians than men, and while I argued and logically knew that was nonsense, I think that attitude still affected me and led me to hide my songwriting for years. I honestly struggled to feel secure in my voice/songwriting until I left Oklahoma in my early twenties. Coming back, I’ve kind of made peace with those memories and have found a new love for this place and the music scene here. Now, Oklahoma plants and wildlife and childhood memories all find their ways into my songs.

Name an album you’re still listening to from when you were younger and why it is important to you.

This is such a great question. I grew up in a weird musical household. Most of the music I was exposed to was live music or musicals. I only remember my mother having 2-3 CDs. It’s possible she had more, but I only remember a random copy of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons (which I loathe) and… Joni Mitchell’s Blue. And there really aren’t words to describe what Blue means to me. I listened to it again and again, and it will forever be one of the most influential albums in my life. I still discover new things about the album, and as I get older, it speaks to me in new and different ways.

What do you hate right now?

A lot of things. Ha. Umm… an abridged list: The Lower Snake River Dams, SpaceX, anti-choice rhetoric, the money bail system, the death penalty, when Oklahoma Governor Stitt manipulatively refers to the McGirt v Oklahoma decision as “federalizing” the eastern part of Oklahoma… when people refuse to allow each other to grow, general lack of compassion and care for each other. Soggy mushrooms.

What do you love right now?

Also, a lot of things. Wildlife documentaries and books. Orcas, beavers, and paddlefish. All the folks working and organizing to build more equitable futures. I generally obsessively love environmental history/history of science and technology. The song “Dinosaurs in Love” by Fenn Rosenthal and its popularity among children. Songs written by children.

What’s the best gig you’ve ever played?

I honestly don’t know. I played in an old grain silo in Buffalo, NY, once, and it was pretty magical. I’ve also played multiple dreamy house shows in Austin, TX. Also, at Casa del Popolo in Montreal. Another show (I think in Buffalo?), I played with Julie Marie Byrne and Jasmine Dreame Wagner… I honestly was probably not quite ready to be performing live. Ha. It was one of my first times performing my original music on harp, and I was super nervous. But I was totally blown away by Jasmine Dreame Wagner and Julie Marie Byrne. It was cool to play, even if I wasn’t quite ready for it. 

What’s the best gig you’ve ever been to?

Oh my… Umm… I used to work at the Old Town School of Folk Music in Chicago, IL, and I had the incredible opportunity to see so many awesome acts there. Emmylou Harris, Lost in the Trees, Helen Money, Carolina Chocolate Drops, Kimya Dawson, and The Ditty Bops… just to name a few. I don’t think I could pick one best gig ever. I’m not good at picking favorites.

Is there a particular place in the world you would love to play a gig one day?

I would love to play in a grain silo again. Really any echo-ey/intimate space. Vancouver or Washington state for the orcas.

What comes next in the Moriah Bailey story?

My new album, I Tried Words, will be released via Keeled Scales on December 2nd. After that, I’m very much hoping to tour and play more shows. Hopefully, I’ll have more opportunities to keep sharing music.

What upcoming 2022 music releases are you most excited about?

I’m excited about Tenci’s A Swollen River, a Well Overflowing.

Is there any new music from 2022 you have been enjoying?

I feel behind. I’m still stuck on music from the last couple of years. When I listen to new music, I spend a lot of time with it. Ha. I won’t be on 2022 music for a year or so. But… I do love JFDR’s new track, “The Orchid.” I also love Lara Somogyi’s new album, ! (pronounced “exclamation”).

Keeled Scales has also put out some really stunning albums this year: Why Bonnie’s 90 in November, Jo Schornikow's ALTAR, and The Deer’s The Beautiful Undead, just to name a few. There is a lot more I’m excited about when I am ready for it.