“Songs of 2020” showcases ecological awareness from a pivotal year when the world paused and many reconnected with nature.
Host Bart Everson begins with Kate Fletcher & Corwen Broch’s haunting “Look to the North,” which poetically addresses climate concerns with pleas to “stay cold for us, keep the currents flowing.” The first set continues with acoustic explorations: Arctic Sleep’s intimate basement recording “Wolf Nature,” Sun and Moon Dance’s transcendent “Heart of the Mountain” featuring Mother Marrow’s ethereal vocals, and Dinosaur’s instrumental jazz journey “To the Earth.” After the break, the program shifts toward lyrical storytelling with Dan Sperling’s poignant “That Was Then,” contrasting personal and planetary changes, followed by Emmy the Great’s whimsical “Dandelions/Liminal” celebrating wild adaptability. The hour concludes with Harry Stafford’s bluesy “Black Rain,” The Roogs’ meditative “Wildebeest,” Rundek & Ekipa’s Croatian ode to resilient plants growing “from a crack in the road,” and of1000faces’ ambient reflection “O Little Earth.” Through these diverse voices, the program reveals how artists responded to 2020’s unprecedented pause by examining our relationship with the natural world through newly contemplative eyes—creating what Bart playfully calls “songs of great vision.”