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Nov 16, 2022 By Mark Redfern Photography by Nate Lemuel of Darlisted Photography

Black Belt Eagle Scout (aka Swinomish Indian Tribal Community-based singer/songwriter/guitarist Katherine Paul) has announced a new album, The Land, The Water, The Sky, and shared a new song from it, opening track “My Blood Runs Through This Land,” via a video for it. The Land, The Water, The Sky is due out Feburary 10, 2023 via Saddle Creek. Check out “My Blood Runs Through This Land” below, followed by the album’s tracklist and cover art, as well as her upcoming tour dates.

Evan Benally Atwood directed the “My Blood Runs Through This Land” video from a concept by Paul. It was filmed in the ancestral lands of the Swinomish and Coast Salish.

In October Black Belt Eagle Scout shared the album’s closing track, “Don’t Give Up,” which was one of our Songs of the Week.

The Land, The Water, The Sky is the follow-up to 2019’s At the Party With My Brown Friends, also released via Saddle Creek.

In 2020, Paul returned to her ancestral lands from Portland during the COVID-19 pandemic. “I created The Land, The Water, The Sky to record and reflect upon my journey back to my homelands and the challenges and the happiness it brought,” she says in a press release.

Of the new song, Paul says: “‘My Blood Runs Through This Land’ is about the connection I have with my ancestors. When I run my hands through the rocks at Snee Oosh beach and dip my fingers into our waterways, I am reminded of where I come from. Paying attention to all of the sounds and the feelings I get when I am immersed in trails of cedar trees and canoeing out on the water deeply grounds me and strengthens my bond to my lineage of the Swinomish tribe. I wanted the delicateness of these moments to meet the intense reality of the history of my people. I like to imagine my blood—all of my ancestors—running through our homelands freely and powerfully.”

Read our interview with Black Belt Eagle Scout on her debut album, Mother of My Children, along with our 2018 politically themed interview with her.

Black Belt Eagle Scout was featured on our Covers of Covers compilation, which came out earlier this year via American Laundromat.

The Land, The Water, The Sky Tracklist:

1. My Blood Runs Through This Land
2. Sedna
3. Salmon Stinta
4. Blue
5. On the River
6. Nobody
7. Fancy Dance
8. Sčičudᶻ (a narrow place)
9. Treeline
10. Understanding
11. Spaces
12. Don’t Give Up

Black Belt Eagle Scout Tour Dates: Fri. Nov. 25 - Seattle, WA @ High Dive
Fri. Feb. 10 - Portland, OR @ Aladdin Theater
Fri. Feb. 24 - Manchester, UK @ Night & Day
Sat. Feb. 25 - London, UK @ Moth Club
Mon. Feb. 27 - Paris, FR @ Le Pop Up
Tue. Feb. 28 - Brussels, BE @ Botanique - Witloof Bar
Wed. March 1 - Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso Upstairs
Thu. March 2 - Copenhagen, DK @ Stengade
Sat. March 4 - Rotterdam, NL @ Rotown
Sun. March 5 - Berlin, DE @ Badehaus

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