By Haven Lindsey
Late afternoon sunlight filters through the windowpanes in Eliza Gilkyson’s century-old home near Taos, New Mexico. Her husband, Robert “Bob” Jensen, greets me at the door as the warmth from the woodstove envelops me.
Gilkyson, the twice Grammy-nominated folksinger, enters the room wearing black, the dark fabric accentuating her cropped gray hair and bright, knowing eyes. There’s a quiet aura of peace and contentment around her. As we settle into her cozy living room — its walls adorned with colorful New Mexican tapestries and Buddhist thangkas — I become even more aware of her sense of ease. It feels like the quiet wisdom of a life led with intention.
I’m here to talk with Gilkyson about her new album, “Dark Ages.” At 74, she’s lived through other dark times and moments of rebellion. The album is filled with songs that guide today’s listeners through the political and environmental upheaval of our current reality in 2025. But it also reflects who Gilkyson is — deeply caring, with a profound love for the planet, humanity and the people in her life.
Musician Eliza Gilkyson stands for portrait at her home in Arroyo Seco.
She’s a person with decades of lived experience and a seasoned musician who understands the difference between a powerful lyric and a powerful crescendo. Not everyone can see the shadows of political unrest and the climate crisis clearly without being consumed by the darkness. Gilkyson has found a balance, much like the way the moon casts its light on the Sangre de Cristo Mountains that rise above her home: It’s not a blinding flood of light, but a soft, steady presence.
There is simple acuity to Gilkyson, but that doesn’t mean life is simpler now.
“When I was a hippie, living gig to gig, two keys on my keychain — that was a simpler life,” she explains. “Having kids changed some of that, but even then, it was simpler than now. Back then, we had a feeling we had a future. But now, the life of our planet is threatened. We’ve come through dark times — worse than this — but we’ve never seen a climate crisis like this before.”
“Dark Ages” captures both Gilkyson’s self-described “apoplectic” mindset and the love and peace she embodies.
“My job is to make sure people continue to care,” she says of the songs on her new album. “I don’t want to live in a world where people don’t care.”
Music, she says, keeps her young.
“I full-on care, but you can’t live in a state of constant grief. We don’t know what’s coming, but I will continue to show up as a sentient being.” She describes being “gob smacked” that people voted for Project 2025. “The songs started coming out after the election, and one of them was a song I wrote more than 50 years ago. It has an innocence to it.”
The album begins, as she describes, “from a place of light,” with “Song to You” — soft, sincere and serene. The song feels like a hug. The album guides the listener through emotions that are ripe and raw now.
“Holy” is her favorite song on the album.
“There are people who rise up, who fight, and they are holy to me,” she reflects.
“Dark Ages” is, as she describes, “a scathing takedown of the current regime,” as we both note how common the word “regime” has become. “Dark Night of the Soul” is upbeat. “The song helps put things in perspective — we need to keep the lights on through the dark night of the soul.”
“Stranger” is a song about her husband of 20 years. “It’s a love song but not presumptuous. It’s personal, about the truth of not really knowing someone completely.” The album culminates with “Esta Salida del Sol,” a simple song, Gilkyson notes, “because I can only write Spanish in the present tense.”
Like the final song on an album, our conversation didn’t feel like it was ending, but rather something that lingers, waiting to be played again. The aroma of dinner on the stove, however, began to weave its way into the living room. Bob is the cook in the family, and his signature rice and greens dish, borrowed from his late friend Jim Koplin, was nearly ready. One taste, and I was an instant believer.
Later, I realized I never asked Gilkyson — who deeply feels the weight of our world — what success means to her. But as I thought about her work as a musician, her role as a wife and life partner, a mother and grandmother, I realized she had already answered the question. Gilkyson knows what success is. She’s living it.
FYI
Gilkyson joins Andrea Magee’s annual She Rises III Music Fest July 18–19 at Daleee at, 9 NM150, Taos. For more information, tickets and to join the email list, visit sherisesfest.com.