Believe it or not, February was only five months ago. It might feel like the first quarter of 2020 is separated from the second by a factor of at least 1000 years but, in truth, the tail end of winter was in fact part of this ongoing year. For Katie Pruitt however, remembering life before quarantine and taking herself back to that time is likely not as difficult, as exactly five months ago tomorrow, is when her debut album, Expectations, was released to the world. Acknowledging that every artist’s debut is a meaningful milestone, there’s no denying the uncompromisingly autobiographical, brave, and sonically gorgeous nature of the music within Expectations and why that would make its release to the public feel all the more significant for Pruitt.
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Prior to ever hearing the music though, most music fans – not unlike enthusiastic foodies – usually end up first taking in an album with their eyes, through its album cover. Towards this purpose, Expectations devotes a collage of imagery that is objectively vibrant from a sheerly visual standpoint. Yet, the cover is also packed to the brim with symbolic meaning – thoughtfully assembled and beautifully designed by Nashville, TN graphic artist, Sami Wideberg, in conjunction with Pruitt – serving as a silent but artistically explosive prelude to the songs waiting behind it.
Now, in the age of digitalization and streaming platform JPEG size restraints, though cover images for albums can still play their important introductory part, there’s likely less time spent by the listener, to go beyond that initial moment of eye-grabbing reaction to scrupulously dissect and process a design from an album’s online landing page. Thankfully, the resurgence of vinyl has brought about a renewed appreciation for the beauty of album art and of the many active worldwide, Pruitt is fortunate enough to live within rock-skipping distance of local record shop and venue icon, Grimey’s.
While most any artist would find joy in just having their album inside the doors of the famed store, Pruitt has even more reason to love Grimey’s from the inside-out, thanks to a new mural of Expectations’ cover art, that recently went up on the building’s exterior. Grimey’s having moved from its original 8th avenue location, slightly north to East Trinity Street in order to take up residence in the former House of Mercy church, the former house of worship has taken on several large scale murals of artists and their artwork, in order to bring new life to the building and help Grimey’s new home better resonate its spirited musical core, outward to Nashville’s community. Of all places, the fact that the cover art-inspired mural, which is modeled after a stained glass window, ended up on the side of a former church is quite the amusing coincidence.
“Grimey’s is such an important cornerstone of the Nashville independent music scene. They’ve long supported local artists and helped establish a strong sense of community here in town. It’s an absolute honor to have my album art on the same building as local songwriting legends such as John Prine, Margo Price, The Highwomen, and Lilly Hiatt,” Pruitt says.
Though Grimey’s has already donned the completed mural for a couple of months, today American Songwriter is excited to share a mini-documentary unveiling not just how the nuanced image ended up on Grimey’s walls but also the meticulous collaborative process behind the very contents of the original design itself. In just a six minute run time, there is an emotive treasure trove of explanation from Pruitt, Sami Wideberg, and of course, the muralist, Kim Radford. The also local-to-Nashville visual artist worked together with the two women to create a pictorial interpretation of Expectations’ cover that is simultaneously committed to Wideberg’s design aesthetic and a unique work all its own, that all three women felt best highlighted the symbols most important to Pruitt and her intent to bring together the philosophies, emotions, and ideologies that currently empower her artistry and overall life.
