Vents Magazine Music and Entertainment Magazine 
Related Articles
Ricky Reed debuts “Us (How Sweet It Was)” with Jim James (My Morning Jacket) and Duendita today, the latest track from the Grammy-winning, multiplatinum producer and songwriter’s forthcoming debut album The Room—due August 28 via his own Nice Life Recording Company. The video features the true story of an offshore sailor tasked with delivering a boat across the Atlantic at the outset of the pandemic. Reed notes, “Like most people I was in a rough spot in March and April of this year. I asked the public to share stories of disconnection, to feel less alone. This one showed up in my inbox one day. It’s her words, her voice, her videos.” Watch the video HERE.
In conjunction with the forthcoming release, Reed and Nice Life are partnering with The Solutions Project, a nonprofit that connects people with frontline communities working to combat the climate crisis. The Solutions Project promotes climate justice through grantmaking and amplifying the stories of frontline community leaders in media, using culture as a tool to get people to pay attention to what’s working and join the broader cause. The partnership will raise funds for and awareness of three organizations across the country, chosen by collaborators on the album—The Good Life Garden in Brooklyn, SCOPE in South Central Los Angeles, and Native Renewables in Navajo Nation—to showcase their land, jobs and energy solutions to climate change. From now until the album release, donations can be made during Reed’s NICE LIVE! YouTube livestream where he’ll host a fundraiser, “Room-Aid Community Fund.” As part of this partnership, donations up to $30K will be matched to these organizations through The Solutions Project.
This week’s pick by Duendita, and in honor of today’s song release, is her local community garden, The Good Life Garden. A once a dilapidated park that was transformed into a thriving community garden. It was founded by Kofi Thomas and a group of neighbors who believe in the power of community and recognize green spaces as a catalyst to realizing that potential. The gardens are a vehicle to addressing racial and economic inequality, access to food, and a place for conversation and action for any other injustices the people may be facing. They continue to support and build more green spaces throughout Brooklyn.
