As a child, Gail Swanson accompanied her mother to civil rights marches. She recently released a new recording “My Mama Marched” that is available online and at streaming sites. Courtesy photo

When Maui musician Gail Swanson was growing up in Chicago, she would often accompany her mother on protest marches.

“On the weekends she would take my sister and I to the marches when Martin Luther King Jr. was leading the civil rights movement,” Swanson recalled. “My mom really believed that we should see it and be there.”

Those memories and the urgency of this time prompted her to pay tribute to her mother by composing and recording the empowering bluesy rocking song “My Mama Marched.”

Teaming with Maui filmmakers Todd Soliday and Leah Warshawski, she released a powerful video for the song, which includes cameo appearances by Sheryl Crow and Willie Nelson and animation by Micah Nelson.

“My mom was the coolest,” she said. “The biggest names in our house were Martin Luther King, Pete Seeger and Gandhi. We grew up on folk music, and she fought for civil rights. She fought for equal housing in the town I lived in outside Chicago, and worked with abused women, helping them escape dire situations. Then she worked with kids in drug court, and she used to do animal therapy. She had llamas, and she literally brought a llama into the courtroom.”

Wishing to honor her mother, Swanson wrote the song and contacted Micah Nelson to produce it.

“When I sent him the song in the beginning, it was just guitar and vocal,” she said. “He turned it into this really cool, almost Ani DiFranco kind of thing. He did the first mixes on a plane because he was on tour with Neil Young.”

Micah Nelson also became involved in adding animation with the video for “My Mama Marched.”

“He does these incredible animations,” Swanson explained. “I said, ‘We’re going to do this video,’ and I’m thinking, ‘The world’s spinning backwards. Is there any way you could do a world spinning backward and a little alien or something?’ And next thing you know, he sent me two different animations, and it was just so cool to put that in the video.”

Annie Nelson also played a pivotal role in the project.

“Annie is the biggest supporter,” Swanson said. “She’s amazing. She helped with the signs (in the video) and she made the sign that I use the most with Ukraine’s colors. And she took a picture of Willie for a cameo.”

Willie Nelson’s wife also helped secure Sheryl Crow’s participation in the video.

“She played the song for Sheryl, and she really liked it,” Swanson said. “Then I asked, there’s footage of Sheryl when she was donating her Tesla for public radio funds at a peak of Elon (Musk) craziness. Sheryl speaks up about stuff, so she was like, ‘No problem.'”

Gail Swanson (right) is pictured with Lily Meola at the soldout “Lōkahi: A Celebration of Maui” benefit concert Saturday at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center. Jon Woodhouse/For The Maui News

Friends with filmmakers Soliday and Warshawski, who have made music videos for Steve Grimes, Swanson asked for their help.

“They were just so excited and immediately had great ideas and were so passionate about making it happen,” she said. “They got licenses for the footage from the ’60s, and came up with really good ideas, and said, ‘We should do a sign-making party and film you guys all at the local march.'”

Blending contemporary protest footage with archival material, the video features film and photos of civil rights marches, Martin Luther King Jr. speaking, the 1963 March on Washington, school integration and equal rights protests.

“I just want to spread the word to people about how important it is right now to stand up and march and resist the things that are unacceptable,” said Swanson. “Everything is so upside down right now, and the only thing that makes sense is to stand up and speak out.”

Securing national publicity through L.A.-based Shock Ink agency, she hopes that it inspires people to march and stand up for what they believe in.

“We need everybody to take to the streets and exercise their rights,” she said. “I’m honoring my mom, and I just want it out in the world.”

Recently playing “My Mama Marched” to an enthusiastic response at the Ocean Organic Farm, she was joined on stage by Micah Nelson.

“He started playing guitar, and I was like, ‘Oh, man, you just made it better again,'” she said. “I never realized it could be a really cool jam song.”

In March, she will travel to Texas to perform on Willie Nelson’s land at the legendary Luck Reunion festival, where she will likely play the song. “There are little venues, and I might play in the chapel or the saloon,” she said. “I asked Micah. He said yes if he’s not playing somewhere else because there’s five or six stages. You just kind of play it by ear and go with the flow.”

Swanson’s “My Mama Marched” is available at www.mymamamarched.com and all streaming sites. She will perform Feb. 20 at the Ocean Organic Farm.