“Channeling her inner Joni Mitchell, Gustafson-Zook’s performance is simply gorgeous.” – Laura Whitmore, Parade
SEATTLE (February 11, 2022) – Sadie Gustafson-Zook announces the release of her cottagecore folk single, “Maybe I Don’t Know” on March 8. It’s off the album, Sin of Certainty, due out April 22. An anthem for those feeling stuck and uncertain, “Maybe I Don’t Know” guides a path forward in the midst of questioning assumptions, societal norms, and wrong decisions.
“with every wrong decision I get closer to me”
Gustafson-Zook wrote “Maybe I Don’t Know” before the pandemic hit the US, which was also during a precipice of big career and relational shifts in her own life. The song became a personal anthem to lead her through the next few years. She says, “Plans will change, things will seem uncertain, and it’s okay to just keep going and trying new things until something sticks.”
In the first verse, she talks about her journey with coming out and entering queer relationships. She says, “I was so surprised to find out that I was queer, which isn’t something people talk about often. But once I started really evaluating myself and my past and my past relationships, a trail of bread crumbs lead me to the realization that I could be queer if I wanted to be. But if I hadn’t let myself dig so deep and consider it as an option, I might not have realized it and my life would certainly look quite different right now.”
Sin of Certainty unearths a new way of looking at identity, the world around us, and our community. Gustafson-Zook says, “I say ‘Sin’ of certainty because I don’t think that being certain should be something to strive for. Instead, I think we should uplift uncertainty, which can lead to so much growth and possibility.” Through delightful musical twists and turns, Gustafson-Zook shows that embracing uncertainty can deliver rays of wonder in unexpected places.
Sin of Certainty Track Listing
- Birdsong
- Maybe I Don’t Know
- Go Easy
- Keep Myself
- Lean In More
- Two
- Alewife
- Digestion
- Your Love Makes Me Smile
- Everyone
About Sadie Gustafson-Zook
Raised in a liberal Mennonite community in Indiana, Sadie Gustafson-Zook grew up playing music and attending quilt auctions with her folk musician parents. Life in a small town where her mother was a pastor was comfortable and straightforward, and she always felt supported in her music-making. On her new album Sin of Certainty, Gustafson-Zook explores the process of questioning all that she had taken for granted through finding a new community in the roots scene of Boston, studying jazz, and coming out as gay.
Praise For Sadie Gustafson-Zook
“Simply arranged with arpeggiated guitar and a focus on her lovely voice, the song builds to an urgent and poignant climax that radiates both hope and sadness…Channeling her inner Joni Mitchell, Gustafson-Zook’s performance is simply gorgeous.” – Laura Whitmore, Parade
“The stand-out though, is the sprightly fingerpicked folksy ‘Birdsong’, which, with its scatting passage, details how hearing the sound of birds triggers traumatic memories of being sexually harassed by wolf-whistling workers when she was younger, encompassing the feelings women experience all too often.” – folking.com
“Folk artist Sadie Gustafson-Zook’s EP Vol. 1 is a paradox: it’s the specificity of the lyrics that make them relatable. Gustafson-Zook sings with precision about moments in her life, from riding the train in Boston to mistaking a bird’s song for a street harasser, but her reflections on these experiences relate them to broader challenges nearly all of us contend with.” – Suzannah Weiss, Audio Femme
