real thoughts: a folk album for the future

Sharell Bryant

Advisor: Sarah Ibrahim

real thoughts: a folk album for the future is a musical memoir and live performance that explores healing through creation rather than consumption. The artist compiles our years of demos into a cohesive work, blending her personal history with her interests in internet history, scientific research, and emerging technology.

Project Website Presentation
A white orb shape centered in a large dark grey circle on top of a black background

Project Description

real thoughts: a folk album for the future is a musical memoir and live performance that explores the question, “What if healing looked like creation versus consumption?” Aiming to transform four years of demos into a cohesive album and live performance, the debut full-length album from the singer-songwriter archives her personal history while blending interests in internet history, scientific research, and emerging technology into a shareable creative piece.

Seeking alternatives to conventional music distribution via social media and streaming services, the project introduces experimental methods, beginning with an interactive web comic that complements the audio on the artist’s website.

Documented through the process of "100 Days of Making an Album," it was self-produced and recorded in her Brooklyn apartment and a rented studio, with support from recording engineer and producer Sam Allen who plays on the album as well as in the live performance of the record. It incorporates home recording and songwriting techniques taught by creatives like Brian Eno, Laura Marling, and Phillip Weinrobe in online workshops through School of Song.

Technical Details

Frameworks/ Techniques:
Pomodoro technique for focus
Morning pages and the Artist’s Way

Software:
Google Docs, Drive, and Calendar for collaboration and sending audio files with recording engineer/producer collaborator
Notion used for blogging and kanban board organization
Goblin Tools for support in editing, task management, and other todos
Discord and Zoom used for teaching assistant and workshop facilitation of groups
Workshop, Breakout Rooms, Facilitating
Personal Productivity and Organization
Balance app for focus and meditation and writing
Obsidian for local note taking
Music Software
Logic Pro X as Digital Audio Workstation
Voice Memos app for audio recording
Open Source: ml5.js

Hardware:
Focusrite Audio Interface
iPhone camera app for photos and video
Macbook Pro

Instruments:
Dulcimer, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Electric Bass

Programming:
JavaScript, p5.js, ml5.js, Github

Research/Context

- Songs for the album were selected from demos created during School of Song online workshops. Research involved reviewing past workshop lectures, serving as a teaching assistant, and attending 2025 classes such as Songwriting with Brian Eno, Songwriting with Laura Marling and Home Recording for the Singer-Songwriter with Philip Weinrobe. My archival process benefited from workshop homework assignments, software housing my demos, lyrics, and comments.

- Events attended in Brooklyn, like Gutter: Comic Night at the Nook, Press Play 2024 at Pioneer Works, and a screening of the experimental documentary Eno by Gary Hustwit, inspired future release gatherings and showcases for my work. Current artist and design inspiration comes from online content, including a lecture by Bijan Berahimi, which aligns with my artistic aspirations.

- An interview with Caroline Rose on the Sam Sanders Show
inspired me to explore alternative release strategies, as they discussed their iPhone-recorded album released solely on Bandcamp.