Mia Stegner - Scribbled Pleas on Yellowed Keys (2021)

I’m no stranger to introspection, but Scribbled Pleas on Yellowed Keys has felt like the deepest dive into my own thoughts and feelings yet. In this chapter of life, my world has somehow felt both numbingly unchanging and terrifyingly fragile, and I don’t have much of a clue what I’m doing, where I’m going, or what I want.
These twelve songs are a direct response to the way my constant, desperate attempts to understand what’s going on in my mind and heart have intensified over the past few months. The first song, Scribbles, attempts to explain how I visualize this process in my brain; the rest of the album is filled with examples of the internal monologues, questions, and conclusions the aforementioned process has resulted in; we end with Into Music, a slightly disjointed ode to songwriting as my preferred method of exploring, expressing, and externalizing all of this.
Driven to grow as a musician, I fought the temptation to sink into autopilot, and instead tried my best to chose chords and melodies with intention, try new things, and seek others' expertise as needed (shoutout to Jimmy Montague for mixing/mastering - very happy to have his fingerprints on this album!).
Scribbled Pleas on Yellowed Keys has been described as “sensational,” “quirky,” and “heartfelt.” I send it into the world with the hope that it will resonate.