While driving down an East Texas country road I spotted this scene. The autumn trees and the late afternoon sun made these golden bales of hay shine just a little bit more. Fortunately I had my camera with me. (c) James Q. Eddy Jr.
The Four States NPR News Source 2025 Kansas Association of Broadcasters Award Winner 2nd Place for Website in a Medium Market
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Hear HD-2 All Classical & HD-3 Your Un-NPR News Source on your HD-Radio or in the NPR app

A Brooklyn Band Finds Inspiration In Stormy Seas

SOFTSPOT's new album, Clearing, is out now.
Landon Speers
/
Courtesy of the artist
SOFTSPOT's new album, Clearing, is out now.

A couple summers ago, Sarah Kinlaw of the Brooklyn indie-rock band SOFTSPOT was on a boat off the coast of North Carolina with her father. A sudden thunderstorm swept in, disrupting the previously calm waters — and inspiring the song "Maritime Law," which appears on SOFTSPOT's new album, Clearing.

"We just kind of waited it out," Kinlaw says of that storm. "I feel like it's very symbolic, because growing up ... I looked towards my parents for guidance, for safety, for comfort. And the symbol of just being out with him in an unpredictable setting and something which he couldn't control — that was powerful to me."

Hear Kinlaw tell the story of "Maritime Law" at the audio link.

Copyright 2026 NPR