Today's guest on 'Connected Sounds' is Erin Rae - a Nashville indie folk singer-songwriter gifted with a unique ability to fuse musical genres and influences to craft songs that feel fresh and wholly her own. Both lyrically and sonically, she strikes a fiercely independent chord, proudly releasing a deeply personal record Putting On Airs that reflects her own upbringing in Tennessee, including the prejudices and injustices that she witnessed as a child that continue to impact her life to this day. According to Rae, "this album was born out of a need to do some healing work in my personal life, in order to address some fears and patterns of mine to allow my true feelings to come to the surface."

In this episode, Erin discusses growing up in the southern United States, living with internalised homophobia, her aunt’s experience of losing a child custody battle in Alabama in the 1990s due to being LGBT+ and the importance of acknowledging the small steps of progress towards LGBT+ rights in the South. Twitter - @ErinRaeMusic Instagram - @erinraemusic Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ErinRaeMusic/ Our host Maya Kally (she/they) is a genre-free singer-songwriter, composer and multi-instrumentalist with jazz, indie and experimental influence. Maya's music includes, 'Fantastic new talent!’ - Amazing Radio {Another Time}, ‘Divine Single’ - BBC Radio 6 Music {Chose To Stay}, 'Incredible. Deep and intellectual soul-jazz music for modern day's issues.' - Esquire Thailand {We're Waiting}. Twitter - @MayakallyMusic Instagram - @mayakally Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/mayakallymusic/ Podcast Host, Project Manager, and Editor - Maya Kally // Podcast Assistant - Conor Giblin // Artwork by Alysha Takoushian // In association with Come Play With Me Connected Sounds is made thanks to the invaluable support of the Social Enterprise Support Fund, distributed by Unltd, and the government’s Culture Recovery Fund. Thanks also to National Lottery players for making this possible.