Hurray for the Riff Raff: Field Recordings x Aspen Ideas Festival

Suraya Mohamed | September 5, 2024
This Field Recording almost didn’t happen. A heavy rain drenched the Aspen Ideas Festival campus two hours before we were scheduled to record with Alynda Segarra, a.k.a. Hurray for the Riff Raff. Thankfully, the sky dried out so Segarra, tourmate Johnny Wilson and our production team hiked up a grassy hill and down to this fragrant sage-filled meadow to record five stunning songs.

The setting was apt. Segarra’s music can be sweet and tender, like the leaves that blur parts of our camera shots, but their personal stories told through song are as wide-screen as the Elk Mountains in the background. What’s really impressive is how full this music sounds with only two guitars and the occasional harmonization from Wilson, who sings at just the right moments and complements Segarra’s melodic lines with perfect intonation.

Our Field Recording features stripped-down songs of love, loss and vulnerability from Hurray for the Riff Raff’s ninth album, The Past Is Still Alive, one of our favorites of the year. Segarra wrote the lyrics to process their past trauma, current identity and dreams for a better future.

This was recorded on June 26, 2024 on the campus of the Aspen Ideas Festival.

SET LIST
“Alibi”
“Buffalo”
“Hawkmoon”
“Colossus of Roads”
“Snake Plant (The Past Is Still Alive)”

MUSICIANS
Alynda Segarra: vocals, guitar
Johnny Wilson: vocals, guitar

NPR TEAM
Director: Mito Habe-Evans
Editor: Annabel Edwards
Videographers: Tsering Bista, Mito Habe-Evans
Audio Engineer: Josh Newell
Post-Production Coordinator: Tsering Bista
Supervising Editor: Becky Lettenberger
Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed
VP, Visuals and Music: Keith Jenkins

ASPEN IDEAS TEAM
Senior Producer: Ava Hartmann
Videographers: Ryan Lohr, Will Sardinsky
Audio Engineer: Michael Milota
Audio Services Director: Matt Windholz
Festival Director: Graham Veysey

SPECIAL THANKS
Kemy J