Singer-Songwriter Opeongo Shares Somber Collection of Mourning for a Friend on the Dedicated Album Eventual Mt. Lee
Opeongo is the moniker of Midland, Ontario’s Keegan Trumpour, and an ever-rotating cast of musicians. Opeongo has released two full-length albums (2019’s Miasma and 2021’s we’ll all go with the will-o’-the-wisp); the brand new Eventual Mt. Lee marks their third release, with a fourth underway in the near future.
The songs on Eventual Mt. Lee were informed by the sudden loss of Keegan’s best friend Liam Steffler, with whom they were living at the time of his passing. He considered this album as needing to be written to honour Liam, as well as offer healing to listeners experiencing loss.
“This album has taught me that the beauty in this world can help make sense of loss and grief and pain, and that though the joy and love and happiness that is abundant in living can never and should never supersede tragedy and devastation, the two can mutually coexist and help contextualize one another.“
Eventual Mt. Lee’s highlighted single, “H,” found new meaning to Keegan as part of this collection of tribute songs. Speaking on its origin, he says:
“I wrote the first line of this song years ago when I was still in highschool after reading about the 1930’s Hollywood actress Peg Entwistle who took her own life by jumping off of the “H” of the Hollywood(land) sign – Holy hell, Peg, Hollywood is haunting me. I never had an idea beyond the alliteration until I truly knew what grief was; that it looks you in the eye at every stop and start of the day; that it can be a friend, but mostly a menace; that it might get muted in moments but is always present, clear as day. I imagined being someone who loved Peg and was loved by her, and constantly seeing this “H” taunting and haunting like the sore thumb that grief was. Once I had truly lost someone this deeply I understood what this silly line I had started writing in highschool was all about.“