Premiered online between October and November 2020, Campaign Songs is a collaboration between Michael Gordon and Kronos Quartet intended to galvanize voter turnout in the 2020 election. Recorded in isolation by each member of the Quartet, the eight short pieces that comprise Campaign Songs were accompanied by specially-made video works touching on racial, climate, and economic justice issues.

The pieces, arranged by Michael Gordon, draw from the canon of American patriotic, political, and folk music, including Woody Guthrie’s “This Land is Your Land,” “God Bless America,” (a campaign song for both Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his 1940 opponent Wendell Willkie), “When Johnny Comes Marching Home,” (a campaign song for James A. Garfield), “America the Beautiful” and “The Star Spangled Banner.” Campaign Songs will be released on 7-inch vinyl on July 21, 2023.

SELECT CREDITS
Kronos Quartet
David Harrington, violin
John Sherba, violin
Hank Dutt, viola
Sunny Yang, cello

Kronos Quartet appears courtesy of Kronos Performing Arts Association.

Produced by Adam Cuthbert, Michael Gordon and David Harrington
Recorded in isolation in September–October 2020
Mix Engineer: Adam Cuthbert
Project Supervisor: Nikolás McConnie-Saad

Executive producers: Michael Gordon, David Lang, Kenny Savelson and Julia Wolfe
Label manager: Bill Murphy
Sales & licensing: Adam Cuthbert
Label assistant: Phong Tran
Art direction and graphic design: Denise Burt

Cantaloupe Records 2023