mailing list
“I hope we can see gardens
from space.”
Caleb Eberhardt AKA Rosehardt is a self-produced R&B / hip-hop artist and actor from San Francisco, currently based out of Brooklyn. Rosehardt made his debut in Tarrell Alvin McCranney’s 2019 Tony-nominated play Choir Boy, followed by performances in Crystal Moselle’s Betty (HBO) and the Ryan Coogler-produced Judas and The Black Messiah. With upwards of 1 million total streams of his debut album Songs in the Key of Solitude, sold-out performances in multiple cities and a powerful “COLORS” performance that’s nearing 3 million plays on YouTube, Rosehardt occupies both the music and acting worlds with power and grace.
His newest (and now sold out) concert performance and screening, Rosehardt: Live at National Sawdust premieres on February 4, 2022 at the Williamsburg Brooklyn performance space National Sawdust. After exploding onto the scene in 2018 with the release of his debut album, Songs in the Key of Solitude, and following an extended hiatus from live performance, March 12, 2020 was set to be the artist Rosehardt’s first sold-out show in over two years. Instead, it became the day that changed all of our lives forever. As the pandemic swept across the globe, Rosehardt canceled his show and focused on the future. Now, he’s returned. Filmed over the course of two years, Rosehardt: Live at National Sawdust chronicles the rising creator’s artistic and emotional journey before and throughout the COVID-19 era. This concert film and music documentary hybrid offers audiences a raw and unfiltered look into the experience of what it means to be an artist – and, more importantly, human – in our new world.
“People who love great music,
and good storytelling.”
Who are you hoping your music can connect with? Describe your perfect audience.
Kindred artists. People who feel as though they’re constantly in a liminal state, as I do. People willing to shed all the protective sheen we’re expected to have in this IG-age and have an authentic, non-judgmental experience, knowing facing fears is a part of it. People who love great music, and good storytelling.
“She’s real as fuck, and that inspires me.”
What’s your relationship with Kristine Kruta and her ensemble and how is it informing this performance? Do you have a personal relationship with her away from the art world?
Kristine and I had been on a trajectory toward each other for a while actually. We had a ton of mutual artistic colleagues and she actually made the first move when she reached out and suggested collaborating for a show at Rockwood in September. It was an amazing success and we immediately knew we wanted to run it back. We actually didn’t have a chance to sit and speak and get to know each other as friends until after that show, and we hit it off just as we knew we would. We’re both Geminis, that helped, and we both just share a passion for conquering our insecurities through what we make. She’s real as fuck, and that inspires me. I’m very happy to be working with her and the ensemble.
Keeping going through the pandemic years has required considerable strength of spirit. How have you kept your spirits up and your creative juices flowing?
It’s really luck of the draw, day by day, as you’ll see in the film. I could say that I developed a routine, which I sort of did, (several, actually) but those weren’t always dependable. I could say I had a support system, which I do, but depression has a way of convincing you that it isn’t strong enough, or that you aren’t worth holding up, when you’re at your most self-deprecating.
So I’d say I’ve tried to maintain a clear picture in my head of myself once I’m out all the murk, past all the heaviness. Reminding myself that darkness wanes, and although light tends to as well, each time it’s around it’s an opportunity to try your best to make it last a bit longer.
When you look back on the work you’ve created in this moment twenty years from now, what do you hope you’ll see? What do you hope will have changed, both in you and in the world around you?
I hope to be proud of 31 year old Caleb in this moment, for seeing all of the things through. I hope to see a man who was clearly ready to shed most of the bullshit that had kept him from being fearless, and i hope to have changed into that fearless person. I hope the world will have changed into…I dunno…a place with a shit ton of gardens. I hope we can see gardens from space.
Your show at National Sawdust in February closes a circle that began at the beginning of COVID. Does it feel like the consummation of a larger project or the start of a new one for you? What’s next?
Both. I can genuinely say that at the start of 2020 I did not imagine the project coming to a close like this. But I’m better for it, and now i have an album to finish.
