Him, Bright Eyes, Blitzen Trapper). The record is about coping with loss (both personal and collective), and finding redemption in a world in its own time of reckoning. Never one to shy away from darkness, his own or other peoples, Belknaps songs not only tell stories, but are able to convey a level of subtlety, nuance, and compassion that is the province of someone who has been down a long and difficult road and has lived to tell the tale. ----------------A lifelong veteran of several music scenes, Belknap holds music deep in his bones, and also holds a special place in his music community. His real-life history indeed reads like that of a bygone era. Leaving a troubled home at an early age, he thumbed cross country making what money he could by playing on the streets. Factory work not only allowed him practice spaces to hone his skills, in boiler rooms and on loading docks, but also woke him up to the plight of the working-poor. In between working and playing, Belknap started organizing to protest the awful working conditions he often found himself in. What developed was a deep-seated dedication to social justice that would embed itself into Belknaps music and identity for years to come. In the 90s, Belknap founded a band called Turpentine, during SFs heyday of folk, bluegrass, and country. Turpentine was soon sharing the stage with the likes of Cake, Calexico, Richard Buckner, Mike Eitzel, Tarnation, and early-era Train. At the same time, Belknap started to feel the pull of the working-class struggles he was participating in and singing about more strongly, and that led him to leave music to commit himself to social justice movements more fully. A 10-year musical-hiatus followed, during which Belknap fought on the front lines, and wondered if music was a part of a past lifetime. Fate dealt a different hand, however, and ironically, Belknap was forced back out onto the street after losing his apartment to gentrification where he started performing those old songs