Artist: The Mammals
Hometown: West Hurley, NY
Song: “My Baby Drinks Water”
Release Date: May 1, 2017
Label: Humble Abode Music
In Their Words: “I’ve always been inspired by the defiant and plaintive imagery of Jean Richie’s Kentucky strip-mining tale ‘Black Waters’ and the way that music tugs at your heart. This song just came to me one day when we were on tour with our little boy and baby girl, and I was doing a lot of singing and nursing.
For a few years, I only sang ‘My Baby Drinks Water’ in our home (or van) as a lullaby, but the bravery of the Standing Rock water protectors inspired me to film myself singing it on the banks of the Ashokan Reservoir where we live and share it with folks. The fast and warm response to that video prompted us to make this studio recording with my family. Lyn Hardy (my mom) sings harmony, and Jay Ungar and Molly Mason (my dad and step-mom) support the mood with drones on the fiddle and bowed bass. We did our best to recreate the private feeling of this song in front of microphones. Big thanks to producer Adam Armstrong for capturing it.
We dedicate this song to families and water protectors everywhere. The more we preserve, the more there is to share. Money is artificial. Water is life.” — Ruth Ungar
Photo credit: TW Collins
