#51 (of 365) "Skin Meadow" Home is Where

I'm writing a novel right now where my two main characters go to a Home is Where concert at Elsewhere in Brooklyn, which is the first place where I saw them play, back in 2023. I literally knew nothing about them -- much like one of the characters in the novel, but I had at least heard their new album, maybe two weeks before the show, and it had blown me away. But the concert itself was the moment I realized how incredible they were as a band and this became my favorite song of the year. I'm actually editing that concert scene as we speak and what the band's members said from the stage at the time enters the conversation in my fiction--namely, how they felt at home in Brooklyn, where they had recently relocated from Florida, and the guitarist teared up as they spoke about how difficult it was coming out as trans in their home state, which mirrors some of the themes of the novel. It's frightening to say but 2026 is much worse than 2023 for trans people, particularly in Florida, as Heir Trump's team used a comment by Kamala Harris about supporting gender-affirming care in an ad that many attributed to him winning in 2024 and sending us back into hell, so even Democrats have largely abandoned speaking in support of the community. I don't have a personal stake in the game but I still remember the Home is Where guitarist speaking about just wanting to be themselves, their true selves, and how it was impossible in Florida, and it definitely reminded me of my own coming out experiences. Anyway, I hope you'll get to read this novel someday. It's still in the early editing phases but hopefully. And this is one of the greatest songs of all time.

"Skin Meadow" - Home is Where // The Whaler (2023)