The holidays, like most things in 2020, are different. And in a year where many people isolate themselves from the world alone out of necessity, The Hideout will present a new kind of seasonal event to address the feelings of the moment. Dubbed “Andrew Sa’s Lonesome Holiday,” this streaming event, which premieres next Tuesday, aims straight for the heart — the lonely heart, that is.
Conceptualizing “Lonesome Holiday” came natural for Andrew Sa, an alt country musician and regular performer at the Hideout. “I’ve always been known for the cry in my voice,” Sa said. “I adopted the lonesome aesthetic a couple of years ago. I decided I was just going to focus on whatever you want to call that word. I guess you could call it sad. I would call it lonely. I think of it as a mood and as a release of sorts.”
Reflecting on this year, Sa realized many people would be spending the holiday season alone for the first time. Having worked in entertainment and the food industry for most of his life, Sa became familiar with spending the holidays away from home and alone. “So I thought maybe I had something I could pass on. Some words of wisdom I can pass on or some advice to folks who haven’t (been alone),” he said. “Lonesome Holiday” was soon born.
Sa, who previously worked at the Old Town School of Folk Music, said the many months of the pandemic pushed him to expand his creative output. Used to live performance, he has instead used this time in lockdown to focus on recording music and creating video content, work that he calls exciting.
“When I focused on the live performance, which was really for most of my life, I could only connect with the people right there in the room. And the performance was fleeting. It only happened there in the moment,” said Sa. “So I guess the most interesting part is the reach. That I have a reach that goes much further. And that it exists. These videos exist beyond that moment. They can go on much longer and be enjoyed perhaps even after I’m gone.”
Sa, along with director Jesse Morgan Young, will continue utilizing the medium of video for “Lonesome Holiday.” Part of the joy in creating the show for Sa has been the chance to reconnect with many of the friends he hasn’t been able to see throughout the year. What began as “daydreams of collaborations” in the initial planning phase of the event has turned into (safely) organized moments of work with friends to create this show for viewers. “I think subconsciously or maybe consciously, I put together this show selfishly to spend time with my friends,” said Sa. Featured performers include Ohmme, Kelly Hogan, V.V. Lightbody and Sam Cantor, among many others.
And while performers will play a handful of classic Christmas songs, the music isn’t necessarily just seasonal. They’ll also feature covers of songs by Leonard Cohen, Nick Drake, Patti Labelle, Merle Haggard, and K.D. Lang.
“I wanted to focus on the feeling of the holidays as opposed to those jolly Christmas tunes,” admitted Sa. The feeling? Magic, said Sa. Escapism, too.
“I was thinking about how, during the holidays that I spent alone, how even when you are alone, you feel that it is a holiday. That that day resonates in a different way, that it’s in the air, that kind of magic feeling,” said Sa. “A lot of the show, without giving away too much, the magic element is how we can escape to other places from where I begin, and how we can connect with others while we are alone.”
Inspired by a line on one of his favorite shows, “The X-Files,” Sa said he also drew from an interaction between the main characters. “Scully says to Mulder at one point, ‘Oh well, loneliness is a choice.’ And that’s been kind of knocking around in my head. And how even if you may be physically alone, the feeling of loneliness is still a choice,” he added.
Although it is a difficult sentiment to control as the days, weeks and months of the pandemic continue on, it is one Sa still believes in. “It will of course be humorous, it will be entertaining, it will be beautiful visually and musically,” Sa said. “But I focus on the sad songs. I do think that people in our society hide their sadness or cover up their pain. And really I just want to give them an opportunity to experience it safely and cathartically.”
When: 8 p.m. Tuesday
Where: Hideout Online
Tickets: $15; noonchorus.com/hideout/
Britt Julious is a freelance critic.
