Elizabeth Moen announced she will release a covers EP of Arthur Russell songs, entitled For Arthur, on July 28. Hailing from Vinton, IA, Moen found admiration for the fellow small-town Iowan Russell, who was born in Oskaloosa and later became a cult figure in the avant-garde, folk, and electronic music scenes of San Francisco and New York City in the 1970s and ‘80s. Listen to Moen’s take on “Nobody Wants a Lonely Heart,” featuring Macie Stewart and Sima Cunningham of Finom and Spencer Tweedy – HERE.
“I found Arthur’s music after I moved from Iowa,” Moen says, now a Chicago resident. “I felt an instant connection and when I saw he was also from a small town in Iowa, I got pretty emotional. To know that someone whose music I sincerely felt compelled by was from a town not far from my own meant a lot to me. It can be easy to feel isolated even looking back at memories of feeling alone there and his music feels like a friend looking back at those times together.
“His work reached from genre to genre and he loved to connect people through music. His cult following is nothing but merited. My friends who I asked to join for this are fellow fans. It’s been a joy to talk about him with friends, fans, and family. Macie Stewart, Chet Zenor, Nick Levine, and Spencer Tweedy are the amazing band behind this record. My friends Sofia Jensen and Emily Neale are the voices behind the duets.”
The five-song EP honors the memory of Russell and advocates for alienated individuals and members of marginalized communities. All proceeds from the Bandcamp sales of For Arthur will go to support One Iowa (https://oneiowaaction.org/), a nonprofit organization that works to improve the lives of LGBTQ members of the state.
“I will be donating all Bandcamp proceeds to One Iowa, in Arthur’s name,” Moen continues. “Arthur felt isolated and unwelcomed to embrace his sexuality in his small town. This is still unfortunately a big problem in red states, like Iowa, and in our respective towns in eastern Iowa. One Iowa’s main goal is advocating for LGBTQ Iowans. This EP was made to celebrate and honor all parts of Arthur and not just his songs.”
In addition to “Nobody Wants a Lonely Heart,” Moen and her band covered personal favorites “I Never Get Lonesome,” “Words of Love,” “I Couldn’t Say It to Your Face,” and “In Love With You for the Last Time.”
Moen’s previously released standout full-length Wherever You Aren’t in 2022 to praise from Paste Magazine, WBEZ, Under the Radar, Guitar World, and many more. No Depression raved, “If you’ve never heard Moen on the mic, picture the arresting vocal takes of Brittany Howard, Natalie Maines, and even a pinch of Stevie Nicks, all sounding effortless.” On Wherever You Aren’t, Moen captured songs about life lessons, inspirations, drawbacks, and generally figuring it out – a scrapbook of first- and third-person accounts of growth experiences and rites of passage. As a self-taught and self-made artist, she brings her unique style of indie rock, indie folk, and garage soul to songs both personal and eerily relatable.