Black Belt Eagle Scout – moniker of Swinomish, WA-based multi-instrumentalist Katherine Paul – returns with a new single/visualizer, “Don’t Give Up.” This is Black Belt Eagle Scout’s first new release since 2019’s At the Party With My Brown Friends, an album “encased in swirls of dream-pop production…[that] represents a softer, more subtle sort of resistance” (Pitchfork), and her debut, Mother of My Children. Throughout “Don’t Give Up,” Paul’s heartfelt vocals are wrapped in gauze, rising over guitar, percussion, and mellotron. “‘Don’t Give Up’ is a song about mental health awareness and the importance that my connection to the land plays within my own mental health journey,” says Paul. She wrote the track over the course of two years, first starting right before the pandemic in 2020 at a songwriting residency in Coast Salish territory and ending in November 2021 while attending that same residency again. She elaborates: “Spending time with the land and on the water are ways that strengthen my connection to my ancestors and to my culture. It helps heal my spirit and is the form of self-care that helps me the most. The lyrics ‘I don’t give up’ mean staying alive. I wrote this song for me but also for my community and anyone who deals with challenging mental health issues to remind us just how much of a role our connection to the environment plays within our healing process. At the end of the song when I sing ‘the land, the water, the sky,’ I wanted to sing it like my late grandfather Alexander Paul Sr. sang in our family’s big drum group – from the heart.“
In conjunction with “Don’t Give Up,” Black Belt Eagle Scout is offering a special charity t-shirt design benefiting the Chief Seattle Club, an organization that helps houseless Natives in Seattle get off the street. Seattle happens to be one of the biggest places for the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and People epidemic. Having a safe place to turn to like Chief Seattle Club could help some people have an option to get out of human trafficking.
Over the last many months, Black Belt Eagle Scout’s music has been featured in episodes of Reservation Dogs. Additionally, Paul is featured on Sleater-Kinney’s upcoming Dig Me In: A Dig Me Out Covers Album, out October 21st. On November 25th, Black Belt Eagle Scout will take part in the second annual Indigenous Heritage Day Celebration at the High Dive in Seattle, Washington. And next year sees Black Belt Eagle Scout head overseas for her first EU/UK tour (dates are below). “Don’t Give Up” hints at more to come from Black Belt Eagle Scout in 2023.
Black Belt Eagle Scout Tour Dates
Fri. Feb. 24 – Manchester, UK @ Night & DaySat. Feb. 25 – London, UK @ Moth ClubMon. Feb. 27 – Paris, FR @ Le Pop UpTue. Feb. 28 – Belgium, BE @ Botanique – Witloof BarWed. March 1 – Netherlands, NL @ Paradiso UpstairsThu. March 2 – Copenhagen, DK @ StengadeSat. March 4 – Rotterdam, NL @ RotownSun. March 5 – Germany, DE @ Badehaus
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My life is a soundtrack, i track my life through music, photography is my passion, my escape, my expression. Without both i have pieces missing, thankfully i’m blessed and get to combine both.
Born in Manchester, lived in Australia for 22 years where i was heavily involved in the Australian Music Industry, firstly in bands (Singer) and then managing bands (all original), I moved back to the UK, Wales specifically 10 years ago and married my childhood sweetheart and life is good.
