Domestic Harmony - Incite at Columbia University

In a nation increasingly divided by political and religious ideologies, as well as by social and economic realities, what might any of us do to bring individual human beings together in a space that allows them to recognize, despite their perceived differences, what they truly share?

Domestic Harmony is an attempt to engage this question.  This traveling recording project aims to bring people who inhabit the same geographical community—but who might occupy different socio-political realities—together through song.  The idea being to find people willing to sit and sing with strangers, and–with the aid of experienced musicians—to create an enduring document of a shared human moment. 

Launching their pilot expedition in the summer of 2024, Brian Carey and Bailea Rehberg, traveled along Route 11 from the Canadian border, through Appalachia, and into New Orleans in a mobile recording studio for their month-long experiment. Along the way, the pair set up on street corners or public squares, inviting people to sit down, call a beloved tune, and work up a performance of it together.  The couple recorded the rehearsal process, during which they conducted interviews about people’s perceptions and perspectives on the state of the union.

The pair intends to continue their work by future expeditions along other old federal highway routes to explore different cross-sections of the country, and ultimately aim to produce a series of radio essays that document the experience.