PRUITT JOINS HEADCOUNT’S ‘JUST VOTE’ CAMPAIGN TO PROMOTE VOTER REGISTRATION

Toronto, ON – September 23, 2020 – Few people would argue with the assertion that 2020 has been a year filled with paradigm-changing moments. But many of the gravest societal ills plaguing our country – economic inequality, housing shortages, unemployment and underemployment, police brutality, food insecurity, and the looming climate crisis – have been building for a very long time.

In singer/songwriter Katie Pruitt’s view, complacency and silence – especially by those who have the power to bring about change – are equally harmful, albeit far more insidious. Her new song Look the Other Way, released today, was inspired by her growing frustration with the inadequate response by individuals to the many crises our nation faces. Listen to Look the Other Way here.

She explains, “Look the Other Way deals with the ongoing issue of complacency and how we all play a role in it.” Pruitt reflects, “I wanted to confront that complacency head on, both culturally and within myself. We have two choices when we witness evil being done: we can look the other way, or we can ask ourselves what we can do to stop it.”

Look the Other Way
They bulldozed over the memories
To build apartments with amenities
And left the low-income families
Broke on the outskirts of town

 Might be the change on surface that bothers me
Or the underlying lack of humanity
Might be a little of everything
But I can never quite pin it down

 And I get pissed
when people tell me “that’s the way it is”
As if that’s all that they know how to say
When you walk past
Do you even stop and ask?
Or have you learned to look the other way?

 The devil’s wearing a suit and tie
Swearing on the Bible there’s a twitch in his eye
I guess every crook’s got an alibi
as long as they got money to blow

 ‘Cause every last dollar goes to feed the machine
So they can keep on selling the American dream
While our TV dinners and photoshopped screens just keep on killing us slow

 And I get pissed
when people tell me “that’s the way it is”
Feels like that’s all they know how to say
It’s so sad
To watch you give up what little power you have
All because you’d rather look the other way

 Headlines are bleeding red
With the name of a man that I’ve never met
Cuffed on the street with a knee on his neck
And tears spilling out of his eyes

 Are we heartless or are we numb?
changing the channel on the television
Telling ourselves we’re not the ones
& refusing to apologize

I get pissed
When people tell me that’s the way it is
When there is so much more that we could say
If you walked past
knowing that breath might be his last
Would you still have looked the other way?
 

Pruitt's debut album Expectations has received widespread critical praise. Rolling Stone proclaimed it a "majestic LP that blends country and folk with indie rock," while New Now Next called her "country music's next queer star." NPR Music called the album "stunning...her voice in particular...radiates so much empathy and love and understanding," and as NPR's flagship program Morning Edition noted, "She was bent on telling the story of how she confronted the social and religious codes that once made her feel condemned. Pruitt's done that with such clarity of expression and disarming intimacy - Expectations is aesthetically warmhearted even in its tensest moments of confrontation - that she's given her own family a greater understanding of her experience."

NPR Music's All Songs Considered has named Pruitt one of the best new artists of 2020 (so far), and she is nominated for Emerging Artist of the Year by the Americana Music Association.

Pruitt has joined Head Count’s ‘Just Vote’ campaign, which encourages voter registration and provides resources and information for voters. “Voting is the most effective way to implement change in a democracy,” notes Pruitt. “Use your voice & register to vote! This is NOT the election to ‘look the other way.’”

DOWNLOAD – single artwork

www.katiepruitt.com