Video Premiere: Chicks With Dip "What a Wonderful World"

For years, many of my favorite female artists had a regular New York-based song swap and support group called Chicks With Dip. In 2012 they collaborated on a stunning 40th anniversary tribute to Joni Mitchell's Blue album. They haven't performed publicly for a number of years, but Katherine Etzel suggested that they come together via home video to perform "What a Wonderful World" as a group response to these perilous times. She enlisted her Bobtown bandmates Karen Dahlstrom and Jen McDearman, as well as another Catherine (Miles), along with Catherine's No Fuss and Feathers cohorts Carolann Solebello and Karyn Oliver. The recording draws on the diverse talents of the Chicks, including Cheryl Prashker on drums, Elisa Peimer on piano, two Allisons (Scola on clarinet and Tartalia on bells and keyboards), not to mention Meg Braun and Aimee Van Dyne.

Katherine did the audio mix and video editing, which pulls the strands together in a unified piece. Katherine says, "As the world creeps towards reopening and with all the uncertainty that brings, we thought this might be a good message to send out." Indeed, this is a perfect example of the healing power of music, and I'm honored to present an exclusive premiere on the New Folk Initiative website.