This is no April Fool’s joke — Sara Trunzo gets straight to the truth, often in ways that cut to the bone. Trunzo, who’s from New Jersey, has spent her adulthood in Unity, Maine, where she attended college and worked on the land on a food bank farm, serving impoverished rural communities. She’s compiled these experiences into her new album, Dirigo Attitude, which will be out on May 3rd.
Now based in Nashville, Trunzo has teamed up with Grammy-nominated producer Erick Jaskowiak and Americana heavyweights Darrell Scott, who lends his vocals to “Food and Medicine” (which garnered first place in the 2018 Maine Songwriters Association song competition), and Mary Gauthier, who is heard on “In the Bend of the Cumberland.”
“Food and Medicine” details her time growing local produce for food banks in rural communities. Each verse tells the story of a customer at the food bank, reminding us of the stark choices many people have to make in order to survive. But while the song gives dignity to the people it describes, this is not a song about the importance of pulling oneself up by their bootstraps. As Trunzo reminds us, “Nobody tells rich men what to do with their millions.”
Trunzo hits the right notes in giving individuals the recognition they deserve — while condemning a system that makes assumptions about those people. Trunzo and Scott’s voices delicately ascend to perfection, giving the song a quality that is both mournful and defiant.
“Food and Medicine” is a song that defines Dirigo Attitude. Trunzo explains her album title: “If you’re splitting your firewood wearing hoop earrings, that’s Dirigo Attitude. If you’re somebody’s grammy and also a sternman on a lobster boat, that’s Dirigo Attitude. If you follow your heart away from a life of feeding people on the chance you might be of better use by telling their stories…I sure hope that’s Dirigo Attitude.”
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