“Like an Old Country Song” is a multidisciplinary and intergenerational video project that explores the life and death of my grandfather, Connor Frances Creigh. This is a very personal and senstive project because, my grandfather’s death was a suicide, he ended his life in Tucson in 1974, 9 years before my birth. In fact, I moved to Tucson over two decades ago (in 2005) in part to retrace the story of his life and death, which was not really talked about during my upbringing. This project symbolizes a new stage in that journey and represents a continuation of my grandfather’s memory, being passed down to my generation and those beyond.

This project also involves my dad, Sam Creigh, and my two aunts, Emmy and Ginny, as consultants and contributors.

“Like an Old Country Song” refers to the tradition in country music of singing about tragedy and loss. It’s also a reference to the fact that both my aunt Emmy and my dad are country music songwriters and performers. I want to explore how music has informed and aided their healing and personal growth stemming from the tragic loss of their father.

My dad and both aunts will lend their memories, drawings, photos, and other archival materials to the film. As the director of this project I will weave this material together into an experimental film that muses on mental health, family legacies, intergenerational trauma, and also archives stories and memories about my grandfather before they’re lost forever. This final film will be screened in both Tucson and rural Minnesota, where my family has deep community ties. The film will be screened on a hand-stitched patchwork of white fabric that will serve as a projection surface. I will invite any interested family members to help me sew this screen and in this way I will create an intentional space for conversation and reflection about my grandfather.