Premiere: Paula Boggs Band captures troubling times with live ‘America 2020’ performance

“An exorcism, we need it now,” warbles Paula Boggs. That line underscores in bright red ink the very sociopolitical climate today. While “America 2020” specifically reflects the state of things in 2020, it could not be more timely than it is now. With the presidential race heating up, and as Kamala Harris makes her bid for the White House, the track sees a live version that captures the anxieties, displeasures, and aching desires for a better future.

With musician Anton Patzner supplying skin-scratching fiddle, “America 2020” in its live form takes on a powerful new shell. Boggs wields her voice like a torch, offering warmth and light but not skimping on the sheer rage rattling in our collective bones. “When I was little, I pledged the flag / People need symbols, national swag / I don’t begrudge protest or fight,” she sings, her voice steely as a skyscraper. “You see I wore the uniform to protect your right.”

She adds with even more grit in her throat, “Our mothers bled so we could be well-read / Singing kumbayah ain’t enough.”

Patzner, whose grandfather was Gustave Patzner, a player in the original Walt Disney Studios Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs, gathers up the strings and unleashes a beast of a performance. The emotional razor cuts deep, allowing all the pain and exhaustion to seep from frayed seams. But “America 2020” should also serve to reinvigorate the listener – it’s a potent statement piece that signals hope is just over the horizon. It’s just waiting to break through, and it’s all in our hands.

The live performance samples a brand new record, Live at Sweetwater Music Hall.

Listen to “America 2020” below.

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