Cashavelly’s “Meditation Through Gunfire” to be released on UNCSA Media, Oct. 18

UNCSA is releasing the second album on its newly formed label, UNCSA Media, with Cashavelly’s “Meditation Through Gunfire,” Oct. 18.

The first single off the album, “Rewrite,” is available now on all major music streaming platforms; another track, “More than God,” will be available for presave on Aug. 30 and released Sept. 12.

Cashavelly, a UNCSA School of Dance alum (H.S. ’99) turned singer/songwriter, who was named an “Artist You Need to Know” by Rolling Stone, will perform an album release show live at The Ramkat on Thursday, Sept. 12, at 8 p.m. A themed dress-up night, the evening will celebrate women rising together. Tickets are available at theramkat.com.  

Described as “a mix of the emotional rollercoaster of Fleetwood Mac, the punk poetry of Patti Smith, and the heart, swagger and universality of powerful pop queens like Tori Amos and Fiona Apple,” “Meditations” is Cashavelly’s fourth album.

“We are so proud to release Cashavelly’s work on UNCSA Media,” said Chancellor Brian Cole. “Not only is she an incredibly accomplished alum, she epitomizes the ethos we try to instill in our students of creative ownership, entrepreneurship, and finding your path to success in the arts wherever it may take you.”

"When I came to UNCSA as a dancer, my whole life opened up,” said Cashavelly. “What once made me feel like an outsider became the very thing that uplifted me. Everyone I met there and even the energy of the place felt like my incubator. I began to trust in my strangest ideas. It wasn't until I left that I appreciated the gift that had been given.

“The relationships I made there were so strong that they fueled my creativity through collaborations,” Cashavelly continued. “I realized I was still an artist even if I could no longer dance. In this fourth album, I feel like all those strange ideas that began so long ago have found their fullest expression. I don't mince words on this record. This is my every part coming out to play. It's a ride that rages as much as it loves and presents a clear way forward to heal our divisions."

Cashavelly has established a robust network of UNCSA alumni and students with whom she regularly works. The album also features Ryan MacLeod (Music ’06) on guitar and she will perform with MacLeod and Luke Payne (M.M. Music ’06) on guitar at The Ramkat. In addition she will work with Mara Trefzger (B.F.A. Design & Production ’24) on wig & makeup for the show, and worked with Christal Schanes (M.F.A. D&P ’03 and former faculty), Natasha Martin (D&P ’22), and Nova Cunningham (B.F.A. D&P ’23) on album art. Cashavelly has collaborated with several students and alumni on music videos including James Wiley (B.F.A. Filmmaking ’19), Paris Newman (B.F.A. Dance ’25), Ashtyn Babb (B.F.A. Dance ’24), and Kayla Jackson (B.F.A. Dance ’25).

About Cashavelly and “Meditations”

In a review of “Rewrite,” “Essentially Pop” writes, “Cashavelly should be crowned the queen of new feminist songwriting if she hasn’t already.” As described in album notes, “Cashavelly calls the bluff of a societal narrative that seeks to diminish women with age, knowing they often find their full power at the moment they’re written off. Her substantive pop music defies, provokes, and benevolently empathizes, convincing all who listen that the rebirth of a new world is not only possible, but already underway. Her latest album, ‘Meditation Through Gunfire,’ is a bold manifesto, weaving together threads of unflinching personal inquiry, societal critique, and urgent philosophical defiance.”

Her early albums, “The Kingdom Belongs to a Child” (2015) and “Hunger” (2018), earned awards and accolades for their haunting melodies and evocative lyrics. But it was in her next album and award-winning feature film, “Metamorphosis” (2021), where she “would confront the world with questions that to answer would upend our way of life.” 

Cashavelly grew up taking ballet classes in her hometown of Beckley, West Virginia, and came to the UNCSA high school dance program as a sophomore.

“Immediately, it was the most magical place I’d ever been,” she said. “People were open-minded, loving and supportive.”

Following graduation, she danced with the Fort Worth Dallas Ballet (now Texas Ballet Theater) and then the Richmond Ballet, before a back injury led to her decision to stop dancing. She enrolled at Salem College, where she majored in English and creative writing, and deepened her relationship with the UNCSA and Winston-Salem community. She met her husband, Ryan MacLeod, and band member Luke Payne, studying at the time in UNCSA’s classical guitar studio. After completing her graduate studies in creative writing at Hollins University, she returned to Winston-Salem, where she taught English in the Division of Liberal Arts at UNCSA for nearly a decade as her music career took off. She was named an “Artist You Need to Know” by Rolling Stone in 2018, and has performed on NPR’s “Mountain Stage,” forging deep relationships with stars of the region’s folk and pop scene.

“Meditation through Gunfire” was produced by David Wimbish; released by UNCSA Media; songs by Cashavelly, except “The Queen,” “Ancestors,” “Meditation through Gunfire,” and “Be My Echo” by Cashavelly and David Wimbish; vocals by Cashavelly; group vocals by Martha Bassett, Sarah Howell, Jess Klein, Tamika Wells, Tiffany Thompson, Ryan MacLeod, Luke Payne, and Spencer Aubrey; all instrumentation by David Wimbish, except drums and percussion on all songs by Chaisaray Schenck; and additional guitar on “Your Clue” and “Oyster” by Ryan Macleod. Recorded at Benzai Bloomstead and the Sandra and John Wimbish household; engineered by David Wimbish; mixed by Damien Lewis; mastered by Chris Athens; album photography by Heather Evans Smith; hair and makeup by Christal Schanes, Natosha Martin and Nova Cunningham at ChristaLine Studios; and album design by Alexis Reid.

About UNCSA Media

UNCSA, with generous support from the Thomas S. Kenan Institute for the Arts, launched its first-ever media publishing arm, UNCSA Media, in September 2023 with the release of “Windows,” a contemporary classical recording featuring UNCSA faculty members performing works by Valerie Coleman, Jessie Montgomery and Reena Esmail, as well as a world premiere commission by Kamala Sankaram. A mission-driven recording label, UNCSA Media features the creative projects of faculty and alumni from UNCSA across all disciplines and offers curricular opportunities for students to gain practical career skills in intellectual property and entrepreneurship. UNCSA Media leverages the conservatory’s unique arts ecosystem with five disciplines on one campus and its extensive worldwide network of talented alumni and world-class faculty.

UNCSA Media follows a rights-friendly approach for its artists and creates learning opportunities for students to understand the importance of managing their own intellectual property. In most cases, artists will maintain ownership of their master recording and publishing rights. Works will be licensed to UNCSA Media for limited terms of three to five years with options for renewal and equitable splits for both artists and the label.

UNCSA Media is led in consultation with Michael Winger, former executive director of the Recording Academy / GRAMMYs and Winston-Salem native.

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