The Williamson County Art Council’s monthly Art Crawl returned to Franklin’s Main Street on Friday.
Hundreds of residents and out-of-towners poured into down Franklin’s many restaurants and businesses that hosted artists and displayed their work. The night’s most popular highlights were featured at Franklin Road Apparel.
Up-and-coming folk musician and Franklin Road Apparel employee Rachel Gore performed for event attendees. Her debut EP, “Forgotten Women of Folk,” features four songs: “Good Death,” “Seeking Something,” “Forgotten Women of Folk,” and “Better Way.” The EP is inspired by Gore’s love for folk music and lesser-known female folk musicians. Her songs also touch on themes of spirituality, mortality, growing up, anxiety and the current state of the world.
“The name ‘Forgotten Women of Folk’ was kind of inspired by several female folk musicians from the 20thcentury who I really love, but they were never really popular in their day and didn’t get the recognition I think they really deserved,” Gore said. “I’ve been very inspired by their music and knew I wanted to write about them in some capacity. With this being my first collection of work I’m putting out, I think there’s a lot of my own fears of what if it isn’t well-received or successful. I tell myself if that’s the case, there are all these women whose work I think is incredible, and they never really got recognition in their time. So if that’s the case, I’ll be in good company with those women.”
Gore is a Belmont graduate, and her interest in bluegrass and folk music began as a child. Her father played guitar, and Gore learned from him. She played a mix of her own songs and covers at the Art Crawl.
The crowd especially enjoyed her song “Good Death.” Its lyrics wrestle with existential questions of ancestry, afterlife, dying well and wanting to make the world a better place.
Gore said that while the songs in the EP cover many different subjects, the work is “cohesive in a yearning for more and wanting to leave behind a legacy.”
Her EP is available to listen to on Spotify. She will also release music videos for the songs in the coming months.
Another popular artist at Franklin Road who displayed work while Gore performed was Rhiannon Guppy. Guppy featured beautiful abstract art, and drawings from her forthcoming children’s book, “Duke Tootenboom the Guitar Playing Racoon.”
The next Art Crawl will be on Dec. 1.