Artist: Juni Ata
Hometown: Nashville now; born in Cuyamaca, California
Song: “Philadelphia”
Album: Saudade
Release Date: August 21, 2020
Label: Flying On Fire Records
In Their Words: “’Philadelphia’ is a personal story that tells of when I lost the love of my life as a younger man. We grew up in a tiny town of about 60 people, living across a meadow from one another. When we left school, she moved to Philadelphia for a job and I was supposed to follow immediately. I never got that Subaru Forester into Drive, for a multitude of reasons — some legitimate, some not. Ultimately, ‘Philadelphia’ is a song that uses the City of Brotherly Love as a symbol for all the places to which we have not yet traveled, but would still like to get to. If only in the reckoning and redemption of our past missteps. Whether or not we ever get there is intentionally left open-ended. Simply arriving upon a moment of truth whereby we are even able to identify the place where our heart — and destiny — lies, well… sometimes we never even get that far in our journey. Ultimately we are in command of our own victory, and regret.” — Juni Ata
Photo credit: Joshua Black Wilkins
