'Take My Hand' -- Mya Gomez talks about music in the time of COVID-19

A few months ago when all of the rabble staff members were talking about what we could do to focus on the effects of COVID, our editor-in-chief, Matt DiMera, suggested that we do a podcast series focusing on Canada's emerging artists.

This series you will hear over the next six weeks is exactly that. Every week until December 24, we'll be sharing the ideas, words and art of six emerging artists from across Canada.

Series producer Victoria Fenner reflects that she is surprised by the range of stories she's heard so far, and she still has three more interviews to do. She reflects, "I expected to hear mostly stories about economic insecurity and fear. And for sure, that element is there -- these are scary times for all of us. But I was surprised and happy to hear a hopefulness, a sense of resilience and even a few cases where the shutdown has been good for our guests' art. Despite the devastatingly difficult times, good things are also happening."

The series starts with Mya Gomez. She describes herself this way: "Singing from the raw; Mya Gomez is a mixed Indigenous urban artist who writes from the the most honest parts of the human condition, hoping to bridge gaps for her audiences and tell her stories. Mya strives to connect with people through her powerful voice, and emotion."

She's from Waterloo and the Ottawa Valley, and is now living in Toronto. We did this interview a few weeks ago just before a competition she refers to -- she was nominated for an Indigenous Music Award in the Music Video Competition for Novice Artists. Spoiler -- she placed third.

This interview features two of Mya's songs -- Take My Hand and I Can't Breathe. Click on the links to see the songs with video. You can find Mya's web page here.

Mya asked us to let all of you know that she wants I Can't Breathe to raise money for Black Lives Matter Canada, or two of the other organizations she supports – The Outside Looking In dance program for Indigenous youth, and a Go Fund Me project for Indigenous Youth Outreach.

Image and music: Mya Gomez. Used with permission.

Music theme for the series: reNovation by airtone. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.