Carolina Chauffe, performing as Hemlock, has spent the past year and three months as a musical nomad, never staying in one place for more than two weeks. Transmitting from Chicago between tour stops, she describes this lifestyle as a delicate balance of the "miraculous and exhausting" — finding empowerment and community connection while sacrificing stability and proximity to loved ones.
Chauffe's musical journey began in competitive choirs, gradually transitioning from the safety of collective performance to the vulnerability of solo artistry. This evolution reflects her approach to creativity: embracing vulnerability while remaining connected to community. Most fascinating is her "Song of Day" project, now in its sixth year, where she writes and records one song daily for an entire month annually. This practice has generated hundreds of compositions and fundamentally transformed her relationship with songwriting. "The more songs that I write, the more kinds of songs I feel comfortable writing," she explains, describing how the project expanded her creative boundaries across genres, narration styles, and instrumentation.
Her latest album 444, released in October 2024, showcases twelve selections from these Song of Day collections, reimagined with a full band of Chicago musicians. The album deliberately spans all six years of the project, opening with "Day One" to honor where it all began. With touring planned through August and several recording projects in development, Schaaf exemplifies artistic dedication in its purest form. Her practice of observing both "the miraculous and the mundane" transforms everyday experiences into universally relatable songs, creating what she beautifully describes as "golden strings that defy geographical proximity and linear time." Don't miss the chance to experience Hemlock live — follow her journey, attend a show, and discover the power of daily creative practice.

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