How Michaela Anne’s ‘Oh To Be That Free’ resonates within each of us

A good album doesn’t need a backstory. You put the music on, you experience the songs and it leaves an impression on you. However, knowing what led to and happened during the creation of an album can give you a deeper understanding of where the artist came from. It can help connect the unspoken dots of why it resonated with you.

That’s the case with Michaela Anne’s new album, Oh To Be That Free. She was pregnant with her first child, getting ready to put the finishing touches on her fourth record, when she found out her mom had suffered a stroke, leaving her in a coma. And this was all under the shadow of a pandemic. It turns out the music Anne was making was just what she needed to hear herself, in an incredibly uncertain time. In this session, Michaela Anne joins me to talk about making Oh To Be That Free, but first, a performance recorded live for the World Cafe. Hear the complete session in the audio player, and full performance video above.