Righteous indignation is society’s most perfect perpetual-motion machine: Once it gets started, it has little problem generating its own energy and heat. Turning down that temperature is the objective of “Acting Out the Outrage,” the new single from the eclectic, electric rock/folk duo HuDost that urges us to lower the boiling of the culture wars to at least a simmer.
Partners in melody Moksha Sommer and Jemal Wade Hines have issued a plea for empathy and tolerance that manages to come off as measured and wise, without succumbing to knee-jerk both-sideism or victim-blaming.
A little bit of rain removes the static
Clear our eyes of all the panic
Take a breath from all the manic
Little space from our mistakes
In keeping with the “chill out” message, the song starts out as an airy slow jam that gives full exposure to the gorgeous richness of Sommer’s voice. But just past the halfway mark—right when you’ve started to wonder if HuDost really feels a lullaby is the best remedy for social injustice—the whole thing kicks into a double-time rave-up that fully vindicates the pair’s reputation as impassioned activists.
The antihero, the prophet and the sage, they’re
Acting out the outrage
Acting out the outrage
The CEO, the politician on crusade
Acting out the outrage, Acting out the outrage
Sommer and Hines say they were driven to write and release the song by the banning of drag performances in Tennessee, which clearly hit close to home for this Kentucky-by-way-of-Quebec outfit. The context is made plain by the accompanying music video, which features a breathtaking transformation by Canadian queen KIARA that develops into a full-on Pride parade. But the breadth and purposeful ambiguity of the lyrics reflects HuDost’s belief that performative uproar is distorting and delegitimatizing a host of other important issues, including women’s rights, LGBTQ rights, faith, race, education, and politics in general.
“We live in a time of challenge,” the group says. “Debates on social media rage on every issue, with little consideration of who those debates affect. What if we hear the perspective of people whose lives are truly being affected? What if we share the stage instead of stealing the spotlight?”
When it comes to their own music, HuDost is certainly willing to share the spotlight. They co-wrote the new song with Dan Haseltine of Jars of Clay, and the recording itself finds them joined by a host of friendly collaborators. In addition to the bedrock contributions of Sommer (on vocals, keys and harmonium) and Hines (guitars, vocals, production), the track features Hasletine’s bandmate Charlie Lowell on keys, as well as Chris Powell (Brandi Carlile) on drums, Dan Walters on bass and Kai Welch (Kacey Musgraves) on horns. The “gang” backing vocals were supplied by Liza Holbrook (SHEL), Rachael Davis, Matthew Odmark, Bethany Bordeaux, and “Charlie” (with Sommer and Hines joining in to provide even more muscle).
That loosely collaborative approach is typical of the way HuDost works. Sometimes they’re a duo; at other times, they’re a full-on band, with guest musicians of varying sensibilities and backgrounds. Often, they widen their focus even further by incorporating dancers into their onstage presentation. The instrumentation makes room for vocals, harmonium (the Indian pump organ), live looping and beats, NORD Keys, guitars, Dulcinet, percussion and a slew of sonic ambient effects. The result is a unique blend of pop, rock, and more exotic elements, ranging from traditional Sufi music to the folk sounds of Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, and other far-flung locales.
Cultural curiosity has been good for this pair. They met when Sommer was just a teen, on an impulsive trip from her home in Montreal to a Rumi Festival put on by Turkish Sufis in North Carolina. Hines was playing frame drum there, and their meeting ended up blossoming into a partnership in every sense of the term: a band, a marriage, and a life together as activists fighting the good fight. Throughout their personal and professional relationship, they’ve been staunch supporters of initiatives like ONE, a nonprofit that works to end extreme poverty.
Their shared path took a rocky turn in 2008, when Sommer had to undergo a painful process of brain surgery to remove a tumor. In the aftermath, she had to re-learn her language skills, cope with the temporary loss of her proper sight and weather some nasty seizures. But despite the myriad challenges, the couple came out on the other side with two healthy children: son Kaleb, born in 2013, and baby Sylvan, who arrived in 2022.
Meanwhile, they’ve continued to thrive on the artistic front. Their albums have earned critical acclaim—writer Kristi Wooten called HuDost’s music “as sacred as a church service, but without the identifiers which can separate and shame non-believers”—while also making a big splash on the charts. They’ve hit #4 on the Canadian National Folk/Roots/Blues Chart, #9 on the U.S. Folk Radio Charts and #24 in the Billboard Folk/Americana chart. In the process, they’ve won an Independent Music Award for Social Action Song, and in 2020, they were honored to receive two “Best of Nashville” awards.
Now that the new single is out, HuDost has a busy second half of 2024 lined up, with live shows booked all across the United States. Dates are as follows:
July 27-28 – Trails & Vistas, Tahoe, CA
July 31 – Oregon Shakespeare Fest, Ashland, OR
August 1 – New World Concerts, Corvallis, OR
August 3 – Water Sines Studio, Seattle, WA
August 9 – BlueMoon, Vancouver, BC
August 31 – Floyd Yoga Jam, Floyd, VA
September 13 – Allerton Park Concerts, Monticello, IL
September 20-22 – Earthwork Harvest Gathering, Lake City, MI
November 2 – The Pittsburgh Witches Ball, Pittsburgh, PA
November 7 – The Ringling, Sarasota, FL
November 8-9 – Gainesville, FL (location TBA)
After all that activity has subsided, 2025 will bring a new HuDost album, of which “Acting Out the Outrage” is but a tantalizing glimpse. And who knows? Maybe by then, the world will have learned to stop manufacturing drama and just live and let live. Okay, probably not. But spend a little time with this crew and see if you don’t come out feeling anything is possible.
