In some cases, songwriters discover their writing is premonition only after living through the experiences their past-self penned. In 2025, Jacob Brodovsky lived through a loss of community that, at the time, he didn’t realize he’d foretold while writing his sophomore LP, Tell The Kids We Tried.

The award-winning indie-folk songwriter, based in Treaty 1 Territory, began recording with a group of trusted friends and heroes. He brought a batch of songs to producers Gavin Gardiner and Champagne James Robinson (Moonriivr), only to quickly discard many of them in favour of brand new songs stemming from a “Song Every Week” songwriting challenge that the Winnipeg music community takes part in every Winter.

Without time to edit or really even think about them, these eleven songs revealed themselves to be more vulnerable and personal than previous work. With the help of bassist John Mark Baron (Begonia, William Prince), Jason Tait (The Weakerthans, Bahamas), Keiran Placetka (Leith Ross, William Prince, Bros. Landreth), Dominique Adams (Leith Ross, Madeleine Roger), and Taylor Jackson, they recorded live to an 8-track tape machine, quickly capturing the true expression of each song and being forced to commit to creative decisions in the moment.

After spending the vast majority of his life in the Jewish Summer Camp world, including becoming Co-Executive Director with his wife of the popular local community camp they met at over 25 years ago, political tensions forced him to walk away from both what he thought was his life’s work, and the community he grew up in just days after the birth of their second son. Many tracks like “Kids”, “Beneath it all”, “It’s Alright”, “Lack Thereof,” and “Older, Too” foreshadowed the upcoming loss of community that Jacob would experience while his child was being born.

The political and personal impacts live in each song, sharing the sense of loss and confusion Brodovsky felt through the process. At the same time, the collection of songs shares more hope than disappointment. With a close listen, many songs show the importance of finding true community, seeing good in tough situations, and learning to feel less allergic to growing up and getting older.

On one level, the album is a clear message to Jacob’s former campers and staff. On another level, telling the kids we tried is directed at his own two children, hoping for understanding as to why he’s raising them in a world that’s getting harder and harder to believe in.

Finally, it’s a reminder for all of us as we try to carve space for kindness and community in an increasingly bleak time.

Please, tell them we tried.