In spring 2021, Austin Reece invited me to be the inaugural artist in residence for Rise & Thrive, a free survivor empowerment service offered by LOTUS Legal Clinic. LOTUS is a Milwaukee-based nonprofit organization that serves survivors of sexual violence and human trafficking, both sex and labor. Valuing a wholistic approach to empowering survivors, LOTUS Legal has developed two sister art programs, Untold Stories and Rise & Thrive, that aim to engage, enrich, and connect survivors through literary art and unique collaborations with professional artists. As a resident artist for Rise & Thrive, I collaborated with four survivor-writers who created poems that explore their experiences of joy, resilience, and renewal in the aftermath of sexual trauma. In summer 2021, I began to work with the Rise & Thrive participants—Jeanne, Pita, Donna, and Hannah—who are prolific artists in their own right. From intimate conversations and close readings, I created one song for each of them in response to/ inspired by their poetry, implementing their words as lyrics, and composing melodies and arrangements that I thought could hold and honor those words and voices. The Visitations joined me, and we recorded “Somewhere to Swim".

40% of digital sales will go to LOTUS Legal Clinic. A vinyl 10" is on the way and can be preordered. Thank you for listening, and for your support.

xx Marielle

Album credits:

Arrangements by Marielle Allschwang and Adam Krause

Music by: Marielle Allschwang, Adam Krause, Ken Palme, Nathaniel Heuer, Thomas Duffey

Lyrics by: Jeanne Suarez Del Real, Peter Daniels, Donna Jenson, Hannah Lenzo, with additional lyrics by Marielle Allschwang, Nathaniel Heuer.

Mixed and Engineered by Jaime Hansen at The Chair Company in Bay View, WI, October 23, 2021.

Mastered by Todd Rittman.

Cover Art/Photography by Maeve Jackson.

Produced by Austin Reece and Marielle Allschwang as part of the Rise & Thrive Artist Residency at LOTUS Legal Clinic. For more, visit https://www.lotuslegal.org/

Marielle Allschwang: guitar, violin, vocals

Adam M. Krause: guitar, singing bowl, vocals

Nathaniel Heuer: bass, vocals

Ken Palme: guitar

Tom Duffey: drums

Peter Daniels: Poetry reading