Ann Magnuson: “The Sun Don’t Care”

Next up in The 2018 PopCult Gift Guide is a downloadable single, but since I don’t usually like to suggest downloads as gifts, I’m including this because it also has an option where you can get actual objects to wrap, plus it’s pretty darned nifty.

Ann Magnuson’s new song “The Sun Don’t Care” draws on her West Virginia roots to deliver an Appalachian-inspired spiritual ballad for today’s troubled times.

Born and raised in Charleston, West Virginia, Ann Magnuson is an actress, writer, musician and artist who is probably best known as the front woman for the band Bongwater. Currently appearing on Season 3 of the Amazon Prime series “The Man in the High Castle”, she guest-curated the critically acclaimed Club 57 exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art, and was recently inducted into the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. She’s also been an inspiration to me and is a personal hero.

The music video for “The Sun Don’t Care” features original folk art sculptures of The Sun that Magnuson created as well as homemade dolls crocheted by her Grandma Magnuson. The video also incorporates family home movies shot by Ann’s father during her West Virginia childhood. But, the literal star of the video is our Sun, particularly as seen in public domain footage created by NASA. While Magnuson does appear briefly, her avatar in the video is Arzetta, a doll created (with others) by Grandma Magnuson in 1950s West Virginia.

You can see the video below, and order the download HERE, but you will also find some other cool options. For fifteen dollars you can get THE SUN DON’T CARE EMBROIDERED PATCH, a 4″x 3″ Embroidered iron-on patch based on the original art for THE SUN DON’T CARE by Ann Magnuson. In addtion to the patch you also get unlimited streaming of “The Sun Don’t Care” via the free Bandcamp app, plus a high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

This is a cool stocking stuffer–an actual personally designed by a famous actress. But that’s not all…

You can also pick The Sunshine Bag. It’s a special THE SUN DON”T CARE GOODIE BAG that contains: 2 Downloads of “The Sun Don’t Care”; 2 embroidered patches; One Double-Arzetta Dream Girl sticker; a Lyric sheet with personalized art; and a Sun charm, all in an optimistic gold organza bag full of shiny stuff. Plus it includes unlimited streaming of The Sun Don’t Care via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more. It’s thirty bucks, which is a bit of a bargain. That’s also available on Ann’s Bandcamp page. This is a great gift for any fan of Ann’s, and I know there are plenty of them out there.

UPDATE: Mention PopCult when you order and Ann says, “I’ll add a Dream Girl download card and Jobriath Medley download sticker to any order that comes through your blog!! Maybe some other fun surprises too!”

Check out the video for “The Sun Don’t Care” here…