As you’re adjusting the dial on your radio, it might take you a while to realize the song you’re listening to is religious. If it weren’t for buzzwords like “God” or “holy,” maybe we’d never know. You won't find too many of these words in Darryl Loiacano's new album Those Who Remain. Loiacano says it's a spiritual album, but it's for people of all religions.
"It's probably just a reflection of who I am as a person and how I see the world," says Loiacano of the album. "So I would say this is a very Earth-based spirituality in the sense that it's not that it's incompatible with faith in God or a higher power. But it's more about what actually happens here in our relationships with others, in our relationship with the Earth, in the things that are here around us that help us feel connected and that help us be survivors rather than victims of difficult experiences."
Surviving A Loss
Loiacano says a lot of the songs on Those Who Remain were written in response to losing several loved ones. Loiacano says he and his partner had three parents pass away in the last few years. They had a few younger friends who died of cancer, and even suffered the loss of their dog.
"You know, these are things that you hear about when you're young: that people talk about that as we get older we start to lose more folks. So, it's life. We all are only here temporarily," says Loiacano. "So I'm fortunate, I think that I have a way to express, to react to those losses in a very direct way."
Celebrating Commonalities
Loiacano considers himself a Unitarian Universalist, though he was not raised as one. Loiacano says the album reflects many of the reasons why he turned to that particular faith.
"I spent a lot of time in my younger adulthood being angry about things. Being angry about things I had been taught, the things that didn't make sense to me anymore. It was about what I didn't believe or what I didn't like. And at some point in my forties I wanted my life to be about what I did like. And also about what it is that we all as human beings have that connects us rather than separates us. And so I think that aspect of Unitarianism appealed to me and I think that aspect is also a part of my music."
