Sufjan Stevens — “Illinois” Sufjan Stevens, a singer/songwriter from Michigan by way of New York, devised a lofty goal to create an album for each state in the union. The first installment, 2003’s “Greetings from Michigan: The Great Lakes State,” was a beautiful post-rock and folk inspired take on the state for which it is named; one could almost see the glistening lakes and smell the towering pines while listening. The second installment, simply titled “Illinois,” evokes images of its namesake as well. The buoyant title track “Come on feel the Illinoise” has a Tortoise-meets-Polyphonic Spree feel with its jazzy/post-rock vibe, choral vocals and Vince Guaraldi inspired piano. The most notable track, however, is the grisly ode to “John Wayne Gacy.” The lyrics are heartbreaking as they describe the deaths of “27 people, even more, they were boys, with their cars and summer jobs, Oh My God.” With 22 tracks covering the good and bad of Illinois, Sufjan has amassed a second success in his 50-part installment—very highly recommended!
Mississippi native Donna Ladd and partner Todd Stauffer founded the Jackson Free Press in 2002 in the capital city. The heavily awarded local newspaper did many investigations heralded across the state and nation and served as a paper of record due to its diversity, inclusion, in-depth reporting and deep connection to readers and dedication to narrative change in and about Mississippi. In 2022, the nonprofit Mississippi Free Press, founded by Ladd and JFP Associate Publisher Kimberly Griffin in 2020, purchased the journalism assets and archives of the Jackson Free Press. A Google grant through AAN Publishers enabled Newspack's integration of the JFP archives into the Mississippi Free Press website to become part of a more searchable archive of recent Mississippi history and essential journalism.
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