"There is a river under the river." Poet nan seymour has been saying this for years, and she is still discovering the depth of its meaning. After returning from the border town of Lochiel, I sat down with her to reflect on our experience with vigil keeper Kate Scott, the grandmother cottonwood trees soon to be felled, and the essential nature of singing. We are jubilant about our completion of a songbook and album we call This Desert, This Tree.  We are sharing this music to encourage anyone and everyone to sing! 

Chrysalisbreak began with the impulse to challenge an internal narrative, to become conscious of it and to share my evolution. Now I am opening this channel for others to do the same. I believe in the power of art and story.

Kate Scott is keeping vigil at the Mexico/AZ border under four healthy Cottonwood trees slated to be felled. The trees are well over 200 year old, perhaps older than this country. She is calling for construction of a double border wall to pause and notice the impact on the land, animals, and people. The wall costs taxpayers 17 million dollars per mile. I traveled to Lochiel, AZ with poet nan seymour to sit with Kate and to record her story.  She is a wise woman whose heart is guiding her to make a bold stance in the face of destructive forces.  

American Scar is a short film documenting the impact of the wall.

For more information on my art, story and projects visit Linktree

"The shit she would say, was mind blowing to me,"
~ Philip Millerberg
The Man Behind the Curtain speaks about his experience recording Chrysalisbreak.  It started with a microphone tucked between t-shirts in his closet, and grew into Own It SLC.  The partnership of Philip and Sarah continues to ripple out, and although their story could be called a tragedy, it certainly carries a stunning dynamic range, as all good art does.

"What the hell does it mean to be an artist?"
"One thing I love about Chrysalisbreak is, what I'm reaching for, is myself."
"I don't have a mini van anymore, and I haven't thrown up on purpose in a really long time."
~ Sarah Kappos
**Featuring "A Prayer to the Muses"

"I write so we can come out of hiding...There were some truths that I had been holding until they were safe enough to share...there were times when it was too scary."

~ Sarah Kappos

"How can I raise children who matter to themselves? Why do we raise kids and encourage them to go to soccer practice and draw pictures and learn how to do a magic trick and hang their artwork on the refrigerator  and ask them what they wanna be when they grow up, if as soon as they have their first kid, it doesn't matter anymore?"

~ Sarah Kappos

Small moments. kid prayers. broken arms. Covid sucks.

"I don't have a bedroom, I have a drawer," Beckam.

"Human beings think they're so powerful and they kill all the animals, why don't they use their power for something better?"  Pepper

"It takes a really long time to live enough life to finish a work of art...To make something that really is true, and is gonna hold up over time, it takes a lot of back and forth, and a lot of doubt...working through a lot of doubt."
~Sarah Kappos

"If I set out to draw for example a leaf, and in my brain I think, 'I'm going to draw a good leaf.'  There's no life in it.  But if I look at an actual leaf and the veins in it and the specific lines of one leaf and I just try to capture the essence of it, there's life in that kind of a drawing. Chrysalisbreak is like that."

~ Sarah Kappos

"There's an entry in this episode where I very gently come to the realization that I have been trying to pray myself away, and I'm not going to do that anymore."

"The relationship you have to your body is the only relationship that you can be certain to have for your lifetime."

~ Sarah Kappos