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Local artist Adrienne Young uses music to inspire sustainable eating.
We’re on the edge of the greatest awakening that has ever been,” says Grammy-nominated, rootsy Americana singer-songwriter Adrienne Young. She’s talking about people’s interest in rediscovering the garden, the soil, the earth. For Young, folks who know how to survive off the land are way more interesting than any celebrity. So she has created her own interactive “show” called the Backyard Revolution (BYR), starring, among others, woodworkers, blacksmiths, musketeers, and food historians. BYR makes appearances at fairs and festivals, with the goal of reskilling
people with early American ingenuity. It draws from old-time shows called Chautauquas, which traveled the country a century ago with lecturers, musicians, and other performers—to stimulate community thought on social and political issues.
Young, who is also a certified master naturalist, has teamed up with 106.1 FM the Corner and 91.1 FM WTJU to transmit the same lessons over the airwaves. From her home in Nelson County, she recently shared a little more about BYR and her forthcoming music.
Edible Blue Ridge: How does your music and interest in sustainable living overlap?
Adrienne Young: It’s a natural pairing because I’m really into early American music. My next album, which we’ll record this winter, will include a lot of 18th-century music, reinterpreted. History has always been my passion. Being able to be self-reliant by working harmoniously with the natural world—it’s a great formula for joy and unprecedented abundance.
EBR: How did the music industry respond to you mixing music with a message?
Young: In the beginning there were naysayers within the industry, but never within the audience. I had been working on Music Row in Nashville, trying to find where I fit into it and who would understand the music I was offering. I knew if I could make the first record, I would be able to communicate what I was trying to say. I had decided
to move away from Nashville, but a friend said, “If you’ve got a dream and a vision, you’ve got to plow to the end of the row.” He helped me get my first record made, and that committed me to making my music about more than just a song. I became aware of the power one individual can have. There’s nothing wrong with just music, but I’d like to align myself with something that will affect the greater good.
EBR: What’s in your garden right now?
Young: Luckily, right now we’ve got radishes, sweet potatoes, beets, kale, collards, cabbage. We plant the garden year-round—there’s no reason you can’t. I think awareness is growing rapidly about fall gardening. Late fall harvests can be stored right up until early spring.
EBR: What are some of your favorite local foods?
Young: I love Chipotle. I never used to eat pork, but now I do because I can go and get Joel Salatin’s local pork there. I also love Caromont Farm cheeses. And we try to get our milk from friends—it isn’t pasteurized.
EBR: What foods are you preparing during BYR?
Young: We have a lot of Colonial cooking accoutrement, thanks to Luke Ramsey, who is also my boyfriend. At the Heritage Harvest Festival in September, we made Brunswick stew, hot-water cornbread, roasted onions, and sassafras. We had children sitting on top of the rocks watching us make cornbread for hours. We must’ve shared that cornbread recipe 50 times.
EBR: You’re from Florida. Why settle here in Virginia?
Young: I was touring up here, then I just fell in love with it. All the way. It was like coming home. It just reverberated deep in my bones.
EBR: What do you see as the future of BYR?
Young: I’d love to take it all over the country, or make it a television show. Different people on there every week, geared toward all ages. People want this, and we have a formula that we’ve perfected. We’ve created a guild of sorts. We want to work with people who believe in honoring our heritage and the self-reliant nature of the early American.
Web exclusive: Hot-Water Cornbread Recipe. From the kitchen of singer-songwriter and sustainable-foods advocate Adrienne Young (www.adrienneyoung.com) and her boyfriend Luke Ramsey. Read more about her Backyard Revolution project at www.backyardrevolution.com.
OTHER LOCALS WALKING THE WALK
• In her book City Chicks, Lexington author and pharmacist Patricia Foreman makes the argument that keeping chickens in your yard helps with gardening, composting, and myriad other things. It’s a must-read for anyone starting a backyard flock.
• Virginia grape grower Walker Elliott Rowe explores every facet of Virginia wines— past and present—in his new book A History of Virginia Wines. He covers everything from migrant workers who work the fields to wine lobbyists in Richmond. He even has a chapter dedicated to the Italian influence on the wines of the Commonwealth. |
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