A Message to the City from SassyBlack

It’s Wednesday—hump day—a phrase that will always make us think of Lynn Shelton. Today (after Lori’s message Monday) we turn to another of Lynn’s collaborators and friends, SassyBlack.

It should be noted: Sassy recorded this message before last Saturday’s horrible news.

After talking about how devastating the coronavirus crisis is, Sassy notes that this has also “been a wonderful opportunity to get closer to myself, and know more about myself, and forgive myself, and understand myself, and love myself, and embrace myself. So I hope you all are finding the time to do that. It’s really hard to find the bright side of something so devastating as this is. But I think that’s the challenging thing about life.”

A graduate of Cornish College of the Arts, Sassy, aka Catherine Harris-White, who first started performing in clubs at 18, hit the public consciousness in 2008 with her hip-hop duo, THEESatisfaction, releasing two records on Sub Pop.

Since, she has fostered a solo career, writing and producing all of her music and releasing 11 projects since 2015—with melodies often compared to Herbie Hancock and a voice often compared to Sarah Vaughan. Sassy released her third record, Ancient Mahogany Gold, in the fall of 2019.

As she says in her message today, she’s been using her library card to find resources online, and she’s been reading a lot—Walter Mosley, Octavia Butler. “And I’m obsessed with Malcolm Gladwell.” Hey Sassy, you know the reading party is tonight, right? Pianist Paul Matthew Moore will be play music in tribute to Lynn.

You can follow Sassy on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.

You can see her briefly in Lynn Shelton’s message to the city, and more extensively in Lynn’s series $5 Cover web series for MTV a decade ago.

Thank you, Sassy, for singing to us today, and for all the ideas about making the most of quarantine.

Also: We’re loving the hair color.

Good luck getting through this day, everyone.

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Previously in this series:

Seattle Symphony horn section’s message to the city on May 19.

Lori Goldston’s message to the city on May 18.

Ibidunni Ojikutu’s message to the city on May 15.

RL Heyer’s message to the city on May 14.

Garth Stein’s message to the city on May 13.

Okanomodé’s message to the city on May 12.

Zoe Scofield’s message to the city on May 11.

Aham Oluo’s message to the city on May 8.

Pete Rush’s message to the city on May 7.

Trent Moorman’s message to the city on May 6.

Renée Valencia’s message to the city on May 5.

Justin Huertas’s message to the city on May 4.

Charles Mudede’s message to the city on May 1.

Kathryn Rathke’s message to the city on April 30.

Anthony White’s message to the city on April 30.

Miss Texas 1988’s message to the city.

Matt Bishop’s message on April 27.

Cherdonna’s message to the city on April 26.

Shenandoah Davis’s message to the city on April 25.

Lorena González’s message to the city on April 24.

Clyde Petersen’s message to the city on April 23.

David Ritt’s message to the city on April 22.

Sara Porkalob’s message to the city on April 21.

Julia Sweeney’s message to the city on April 20.

Linda Derschang’s message to the city on April 19.

Molly Sides’s message to the city on April 18.

Nick Garrison’s message to the city on April 17.

Tomo Nakayama’s message to the city on April 16.

Rebecca M. Davis’s message to the city April 15.

Heather McHugh’s message to the city on April 14.

Brandon O’Neill’s message to the city on April 13.

Kate Wallich’s message to the city on April 12.

Rebecca Brown’s message to the city on April 11.

Lucien Postlewaite’s message to the city on April 10.

Betty Wetter’s message to the city on April 9.

Amanda Morgan’s message to the city on April 8.

Nancy Guppy’s message to the city on April 7.

Jonathan Biss’s message to the city on April 6.

Chris Jeffries’s message to the city on April 5.

Lesley Hazleton’s message to the city on April 4.

John Roderick’s message to the city on April 3.

Bill Carty’s message to the city on April 2.

Price Suddarth’s message to the city on April 1.

Kary Wayson’s message to the city on March 31.

Ellen Forney’s message to the city on March 30.

Major Scales’s message to the city on March 29.

E. J. Koh’s message to the city on March 28.

Ken Jennings’s message to the city on March 27.

Demarre McGill’s message to the city on March 26.

Lynn Shelton’s Message to the City on March 25th.

Timothy White Eagle’s message to the city on March 24.

Cookie Couture’s message to the city on March 23.

Sarah Rudinoff’s message to the city on March 22.

John Osebold’s message to the city on March 21.

Ben Gibbard’s message to the city on March 20.

Nathan Chan’s message to the city on March 19.