Q

How music helped Phil Elverum grieve his wife's death

Phil Elverum talks about how he wrote the album A Crow Looked At Me shortly after his wife Genevieve Castrée died of cancer.
Phil Elverum recorded A Crow Looked At Me shortly after his wife's death.

Under the name Mount Eerie, Phil Elverum wrote the album A Crow Looked At Me shortly after his wife, Genevieve Castrée, died of cancer. He did it because he wanted to create something that would keep her memory alive while at the same time be an honest portrayal of his feelings of why grief isn't something you work through, you just live with forever.

Elverum talks to q host Tom Power about the motivation for recording the album at home, using his wife's instruments, and how he deals with an intensely personal album of music being available to the public.

— Produced by Beza Seife