Page 44 - Flathead Beacon // 4.8.15

44 | APRIL 8, 2015 & ARTS
FLATHEADBEACON.COM
ENTERTAINMENT
‘GOING TO THE SUN’ ALBUM
TRACKS FAMILY’S HEALING
SIX YEARS AFTER TRAGEDY STRUCK, SONGS OF CATHARSIS EMERGE IN NEW RECORD BY KALISPELL NATIVE BY TRISTAN SCOTT
The self-titled debut album by Going to the Sun is an aptly named mu- sical memoir, even if it’s as much about where Kalispell native David Young and his family have been as it is about where they’re headed.
Six years ago, the Minneapolis-based musician and his family endured a devas- tating tragedy when Young’s sister-in-law, Erin Thompson, died in a car wreck in Ka- lispell along with her 13-year-old son, Ca- den Odell, and her unborn child.
The teenage driver of the car that col- lided head-on with Thompson’s Subaru was convicted of deliberate homicide after prosecutors proved in court that she had crashed on purpose in an attempt to kill herself following a fight with her boyfriend.
The family’s grief – exacerbated by the publicity of the trial and dragged out during a lengthy legal process – took years to me- tabolize, and while they continue to mourn the loss, David and Amber Young, David’s wife and Thompson’s sister, say their lives have begun to feel full of Erin’s and Caden’s love again, and the album represents that catharsis.
“Even after the coldest winter, spring still comes,” Young said. “We miss Erin and Caden and we love them and would never want to part with them. But it gave us some sense of solace knowing that as much as this hurts, our grief is connected to our joy. The level of hurt is an indication of how much we love them.”
David Young, left, and bandmate Zach Young. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO