Song Release

Inspired by childhood in Polson, Fugleberg launches music project

By Taylor Davison / Valley Journal

POLSON — A man from Polson recently launched his new music project that’s bringing together big-name artists from throughout the nation to create messages of hope.

The project “Seeking Permission: Songs in the Key of Hope” started back in 2020, when Polson’s Tom Fugleberg, now residing in Minnesota, found himself in a challenging position as a father of three young kids.

“Covid hit, then a whole lot of other things hit. We were in a very unique position here in Minneapolis, because we were right at the center of everybody’s eye globally because of all the protests in the wake of the George Floyd travesty,” Fugleberg recalled. “The intensity and anxiety of the world really felt like it was amplified. It really felt like it was getting kicked up to a notch where I didn’t know if I had any real words to explain all this to my kids.”

Once heavily involved in music, Fugleberg said he hadn’t done anything musical for a very long time. But finally, it hit a point where he couldn’t leave it bottled up anymore, and so he began trying to create songs to explain what he couldn’t explain with words. “It was literally intended as a project for my kids,” he explained.

At some point, Fugleberg realized he couldn’t leave the songs he was writing stuck in himself and his iPhone, so he reached out to a former creative partner to see if he’d be interested in contributing.

That old friend was Brian Kroening, who experienced quite a bit of success since their last partnership in the country band “Rocket Club,” which has become a multi-top 40 charting act through the years. Fugleberg admitted he was a bit nervous to reach back out to him, but Kroening was readily welcoming.

The two began meeting in parks during Covid, Fugleberg sharing what he’d written and the two starting to hammer out songs. After working together for a while, Kroening asked if he could reach out to his producer from Rocket Club, Matt Kirkwold. Fugleberg agreed.

“Really it just kind of caught momentum from there,” Fugleberg laughed. “(Kirkwold) got all of these big timers on board, and now here we are two years later, ready to release something that was originally intended for my living room onto a far bigger stage. It’s overwhelming in a good way.”

The project has become an entire collection of artists and singer songwriters, all with the same goal. “This project is about songs of hope and love and putting a little of those things out into the world,” Fugleberg explained. “’Seeking Permission’ was inspired by how we think of the songs and writing process, like little permission slips to not forget in the chaos of the world that it’s okay to love.”

Fugleberg may now reside in Minneapolis, but his roots in Polson have been a driving force for his work. The son of Paul Fugleberg, his dad was “the newspaper guy” in Polson for over 50 years. Former editor and owner of the Flathead Courier, later the Lake County Leader, Paul’s ‘Among Other Things’ column ran from 1959 until 2016, and was even published into a book in 2010. Paul passed away in 2017.

“I don’t think anyone who grew up in any era could say there weren’t tough times. It just felt a little more insular,” Fugleberg said of his childhood in Polson. “The small, simple pleasures like driving with the windows down, down the strip to the beach, and the friends you had and the way you’d play together, and the way people connected was different.”

One of Fugleberg’s upcoming songs, ‘The Best for You,’ is inspired by the innocence of his small-town Montana upbringing, and is meant for his son. “How do I give that to my son in his life? Growing up in these times, how do you maintain some of that innocence?” Fugleberg said he explored in the song. “It’s a song about sharing a little of my yesterday, with the idea that today is (my son’s) yesterday. So how can I give a little bit of that so he can look back as fondly as I do?”

The project website, seeking-permission.com, has recently gone live, and features Fugleberg’s first song with Seeking Hope, “We Can Try.” This Father’s Day weekend, “The Best for You” will also be released. All songs will become available on iTunes, Spotify, and 150 other streaming platforms worldwide in the next couple of weeks.

Some of the artists involved with the project are names like Justin Cortelyou, a Grammy nominated, multi-platinum selling mixing engineer and producer, Maureen Murphy, a lead and background vocalist who has performed with the likes of Carrie Underwood and John Mayer, and Tommy Barbarella, Prince’s longtime keyboardist and songwriting collaborator. And the list keeps growing. Fugleberg hopes the project will grow enough to add in a charitable component down the road.

“I think no matter what side of the fence you’re on, I think everybody is kind of beaten down and tired sometimes,” Fugleberg stated. “Hopefully this project is a feel good for everybody.”

COURTESY PHOTOS Songs by the project are available on iTunes and Spotify and will be released on over 150 streaming platforms worldwide in the coming weeks.

USDA seeks applications

News from USDA

BOZEMAN — The U.S. Department of Agriculture is making $43.1 million available this year for two national-level funding competitions that support community agriculture.

This is the third year that USDA is offering these national funding opportunities through the USDA Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production. Specifically, USDA is investing $10.2 million in new cooperative agreements to expand compost and food waste reduction efforts; and $14.2 million in new grants to support the development of community agriculture and innovative production projects.

“Investing in community agriculture innovations helps us build a more fair, more transparent food system and promote equity by increasing nutrition security and economic opportunity in underserved communities,” said Tom Watson, state conservationist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Montana.

Composting and Food Waste Reduction Cooperative Agreements (CFWR)

So far USDA has invested $3 million in community composting across the country. The $10.2 million to be awarded in 2022 will fund pilot projects that develop and implement strategies for municipal compost plans and food waste reduction plans.

Local governments may submit projects that do one or more of the following:

Local governments may submit projects that do one or more of the following: generate compost; generate compost; provide access to compost to farmers; reduce fertilizer use; improve soil quality; encourage waste management and permaculture business development; increase rainwater absorption; reduce municipal food waste; and/ or divert food waste from landfills.

Priority will be given to projects that anticipate or demonstrate economic benefits, incorporate plans to make compost easily accessible to farming operations of all sizes, including community gardeners, integrate other food waste strategies, including food recovery efforts and collaborate with multiple partners.Projects should span two years.

Applications for CFWR cooperative agreements are due Sept. 1, 2022, on: grants.gov.

Office of Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production (UAIP) Grants

UAIP grants have already provided more than $7.5 million focused on food access, education, business and start-up costs for new farmers, and development of policies related to zoning and other needs. The $14.2 million to be awarded in 2022 will support the development of community agriculture and innovative production projects through: planning projects that initiate or expand efforts of community and suburban farmers, gardeners, citizens, government officials, schools and other stakeholders to target areas of food access, education, business and start-up costs for new farmers, urban forestry, and policies related to zoning and other needs of community food production.

Implementation Projects that accelerate community, urban, indoor and other agricultural practices that serve multiple farmers and improve local food access. They may support infrastructure needs, emerging technologies, education and community farming policy implementation.

Applications for UAIP grants are due Aug. 2, 2022, on grants.gov.

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