As unprecedented flooding sweeps through the Southeastern United States, a slew of music’s biggest artists have come together to contribute their talents to aid those folks affected by Hurricane Helene in North Carolina. Three NC natives have organized 135-track album, Cardinals At The Window, featuring Angel Olsen, Fleet Foxes, Jason Isbell, Little Brother, MJ Lenderman, R.E.M., The War On Drugs, and more, with proceeds from the download-only project going directly to three organizations benefitting the impacted communities. They are BeLoved Asheville, Community Foundation of Western North Carolina, and Rural Organizing and Resilience.
The project’s organizers are musician and community organizer Libby Rodenbough, New Commute founder David Walker, and music journalist Grayson Haver Currin, while Shirlette Ammons, Martin Anderson, Anna Morris, Cory Rayborn, and Rusty Sutton provided “critical support,” according to a press release. Sylvan Esso’s Nick Sanborn and Clay Blair engineered the project for free, while Hunter Savoy and Ryan Gustafson launched the Cardinals at the Window direct funding campaign. Rodenbough who was on tour in Massachusetts with The Dead Tongues when the hurricane hit, said, “There were just so many folks who, like us, had witnessed the destruction of these holy places from the outside and felt their hearts trying to break out of their chests. It was instant, the way people signed on. They also feel what I feel, that these mountains are the cradle of some deep and ineffable magic.”
You can find more info about Cardinals At The Window on the campaign website, and download the album on BandCamp.
