Grass Widow are part of a project called Music For Animals, which, as the name suggests, is dedicated to having bands play songs for a variety of species. They recently performed for gorillas at the Franklin Park Zoo, which they told us was "magical," and that one primate in particular, Kiki, seemed to especially enjoy the concert. Apart from being awesome, a mini-manifesto on Music For Animals written by founder Laurel Braitman descries the group's heady goals:
Individual animals have tastes, just like we do. There is likely no “music for dogs” just as there is no “music for humans.” There are things we can hear and certain decibel levels that hurt our ears–but beyond that, species level music doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.I also got curious about what it would be like to play shows for animals who are normally shows themselves. What might we learn about them as individuals? What might we learn about us?
Nothing exposes the limits of the human imagination more than imagining what it is like to be someone else. Particularly if that someone else is nonhuman.
Grass Widow was kind enough to videotape the show, and they've turned the footage into possibly the cutest music video ever. If you'd like to see a Grass Widow show for humans, check them out on tour this September with The Raincoats.