anna palfreeman
frontline
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album release show
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FRIDAY, JUNE 20
7:30 PM
FREMONT ABBEY
4272 FREMONT AVE N
SEATTLE
Presented by: The Light Collective
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On December 12, 2023, everything changed. My sweet little boy Emerson, just 4 years old at the time, was diagnosed with B-cell ALL leukemia, and our world turned upside down.
During his very first chemo dose, I visited to the chapel/meditation center at Seattle Children's Hospital and found a piano. I sat down and wrote a song called "Too Much." This was the start of me writing songs to make sense of what I was feeling in real time. I would record them on my cell phone and listen to them when I needed help feeling my own emotions.
The first five leukemia chemo phases are collectively referred to as "frontline" treatment, which lasts about 9 months. As Emerson's frontline treatment came to a close, I had wriitten 11 songs total. Some songs were written to my kids, some were about the deep anguish I was feeling, some about my fear, and others were written to encourage myself to keep going and keep feeling.
I am deeply proud of this album in a way that goes far beyond myself. I opted to invite people I love to play on the album instead of only hiring professional musicians. My husband Mark played the drums, my best friend played her clarinet, my friend Daniel played just about everything else in his studio, good friends sang background vocals, my daughter Cassidy sang harmonies and played a synth part, and my kids recited our favorite prayer from the last year at the end of a lullaby song called "Sleep."
My deep hope in putting this album out in the world is that these could be songs you can listen to if your world turns upside down. Maybe listening to this album will help you feel a little more seen and a little less alone.
With hope, Anna
