Let Love Light the Way - Seth Bernard (Album Review)
Seth Bernard is a household name in Michigan for many wonderful reasons. As an artist, he has built a reputation for honest music-making driven by the overwhelming need to spread love, environmental awareness, and progress throughout the land, often joining forces with artists like Dan Rickabus (The Crane Wives), Jordan Hamilton (Last Gasp Collective), and empowering others to spread their artistic messages through the creation of the Earthwork Music Collective. As a cultural worker and community organizer, he created the Earthwork Harvest Gathering, a Michigan-favorite among the dozens and a truly inviting space for all music-lovers to enjoy and perform on the Earthworks Farm. As an activist, he created Title Track, a non-profit organization that focuses on “engaging creative practice to build resilient social-ecological systems that support clean water, racial equity, and youth empowerment.” All of these things combine to make up Seth Bernard’s passionate creative process, distilling his hope in the world and calling others to join in celebration of what we can achieve as a community. His music is an honest reflection of his life and opinions, and those emotions are front-and-center in his new release, Let Love Light the Way.
Right away, the album kicks off with “Keep Waking Up,” an uplifting song that greets the morning with a love that motivates you through the day. The title track follows, extending a hand to those who seek to better the world now that we’re all allowed to roam more freely. “One Song” emphasizes community, a place to rest and know you’re surrounded by people you can support and feel supported by in your journey. “Sandman’s Dust” focuses on “sweepin’ up the Sandman’s Dust / makin’ heavy dreams that won’t blow away,” offering encouragement to trust those around you to achieve even your loftiest goals. With “Who You Are,” there is a strong emphasis on seeking time for others and building them up, even in the current state of the world that demands all of our time and energy. As if to compliment this song, the following tune, “First Snow,” paints a scene of the vivid colors, changing of the seasons, and when folks are starting to slow down and really cozy up with one another. “White Pine” pairs the metaphor of a tree, starting small and growing tall, with recognizing someone valued in a community, looking to them for shelter in the storm we “find our hearts in.” The most upbeat tune on the record, “All This Time,” fuels the fire within to really examine how and what we spend our time, since we can’t “take our best shot” when we’ve passed on and there’s so much we can do with our time. Again, fitting almost into a narrative, “People Rise Up” rides this motivating wave to give a call-to-action to the people of the world, knowing we can do things together as one people. As if to sum up the whole album and everything that resonates so strongly with Seth Bernard’s personality and drive, the tune “2020 Vision (Big Love)” centers on love countering the many ills of this world, even being grateful to live through these times of progress. To close the record, “When You Leave Home” gives one last bit of wisdom as we all leave our homes, looking to the positives of the future and leaving the listener feeling supported by Seth’s honesty in his mission.
If you couldn’t tell, Seth Bernard is a one-of-a-kind human, radiating love and light in every stroke of the guitar and lyric put to melody. This album, born from a time of great stress for many, gives a pathway towards feeling empathy for your fellow man, encouragement to take positives steps in your journey, and solace in the fact that there is a community around you eager for you to succeed. You feel the integrity in his speech, the warmth in his kindness, and the resolve in his pursuit of a better world that seeks to better the environment and one-another. Sink into this album, it is guaranteed to put you in better spirits and motivate your journey.
Website: http://www.samuelsethbernard.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/eggsbernard
Twitter: https://twitter.com/EggsBernard
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/samuelsethbernard
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/EarthworkMusic
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2j44KrGNbCbIF77MafUOPi
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/sethbernard
Bandcamp: https://sethbernard.bandcamp.com/album/let-love-light-the-way
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/sethbernard
Earthwork Music: https://earthworkmusic.com/
Title Track: https://titletrackmichigan.org/
Album Credits:
Martin, Kalamazoo, Harmony, Gretsch, and Epiphone acoustic guitars, Fender bullet bass guitar, Airline lap steel guitar, Harmony tenor guitar, Harmony mandolin, Fender Rhodes, Porto Organ, Casio SK1, Yamaha R -15, Yamaha PSS-190
Played, recorded, and mixed by Samuel Seth Bernard at home in quarantine March-May 2020
Mastered by Ian Gorman at La Luna Recording and Sound
Cover art and graphic design by Will Thomas
