Molly Joyce at the keyboard. Photo by Shervin Lainez.

Molly Joyce Explains in British Music Mag Why She is “Disability First”

Former Surel’s Place Artist-in-Residence Molly Joyce wrote a piece for Wire magazine this month on her always-evolving answer to the question: “What is the difference between being a disabled musician and an able musician who happens to be disabled?”

For Joyce, she wrote, “the answer has turned to ‘disability first.’ I would rather the world become more aware of disability and its ramifications through my work.”

Disability — and ability — were core concepts to the work Joyce did at Surel’s Place in 2021, when she worked with Boise’s Open Arms Dance Project on a piece that combined spoken word, music and dance (and ended up on Joyce’s 2022 album, Perspective).

Read Joyce’s piece for Wire magazine here.