“My knees sank in the mud as the wind roared against me. Rain fell like a swarm of bees, and I saw a monstrous wave of water racing towards me. It consumed me, devoured me, and then it passed. Now the weight of a sword filled my hand, unfamiliar yet strangely comforting. It is my music and my vision, my voice and my strength. It calls me by a different name, driving me ever onward.”
Folk’s Tales is Nate’s primary artistic project, but not his only one. Check out some of his other work below.
Fragile Son
Fragile Son is Nate’s outlet for songwriting and music-making. After two years of studying music production at Ohio University, Nate Sahr dedicated his entire summer to creating his first album. The album, self-titled Fragile Son, was released in April 2020, near the very start of the COVID pandemic. It features some of Nate’s best songwriting from the first 5 years of his practice, all set to a collection of folk-inspired arrangments blanketed in layers of warm synthesizers and ambiance.
This formula was carried forward into Nate’s most recent work Awake Sleeper, but the tone of the music has shifted to become darker and more uncertain. Awake Sleeper is a micro-concept album focused on the intersection of brokenness and the biblical themes of death and rebirth. While it only runs 18 minutes, each song builds upon the last to create a distinct atmosphere and carry the storyline from the first minute to the last.
Music for Dance
Cut and Paste is a dance film created by Zoë Meadows-Sahr. Nate composed and produced the music for this piece.
Podcast Production
Two writers, Morgan Page & Sara Billups, pause from tackling more “serious” topics to create a silly and lighthearted “podcast about nothing for those carrying everything.” Nate is their producer.
Telling Stories is a project of Grace Chruch Seattle where congregation members share stories from their lives. Nate handles the postproduction, creates the theme music, and assists with many other aspects of this project.