Marriage was an even more troubling time, and HallвЂ™s decision to divorce stemmed, at least in part, from feeling at odds with everything she thought she knew to be true. She blamed herself for the assault she must have been doing something wrong for such a thing to happen. Growing up, there were double-standards and judgments. Today, Hall looks at those experiences as the seed for everything that came after. The divorce happened when she was just 21. Just a few years later, when she was 19, Hall married. It was during this time period, Hall says, that she was raped. By the time she was 15, the family had settled in Sacramento and Hall started attending public high school. The kids, who were home-schooled, shared a tight bond as the family moved around it was a nomadic existence that included a stint in Mendocino, where her parents ran a Christian prayer retreat.

Hall was raised in a big, religiously conservative family-sheвЂ™s the oldest of seven, with three brothers and three sisters. That music, as it turns out, is rich with moody electronic beats and trippy rock vibes, the bones of which sound as though they were crafted deep in a forest, alone. вЂњI wanted to write music that I myself would buy.вЂќ вЂњI found myself playing folk because guitar was the first thing I learned to play,вЂќ the 27-year-old singer-songwriter said. Those expecting HallвЂ™s usual garden-variety, flower-crown, twee folk-pretty, if not particularly distinct-will likely be in for a big surprise. The song, along with the rest of Scream of Consciousness, HallвЂ™s EP with Write or Die, documents her journey this past year, a time of loss and gain, of exploring feminism, sexuality and new endeavors. The music beneath-thumping beats and pretty bell chimes-recalls the likes of early club-scene Madonna, Bjork and Sister Crayon. Hills hits rewind repeatedly and snippets of voice-sometimes a growl, sometimes an ethereal siren call-fill the cramped room at Earth Tone Studios. Now Hall is trying to nail the vocals on a crucial part. Word got out that Hall was looking for a guitarist and Karriker contacted her. The band, named Write or Die, came together last summer. with Hills and her new bandmates Chris Karriker and Jarrod Affonso. Dressed in a cropped denim jumpsuit, she looks tired-maybe thatвЂ™s because theyвЂ™ve been working since 7 a.m. ItвЂ™s just past noon on a Monday in September and Hall is in the studio to record вЂњVirginityвЂќ with producer Patrick Hills. But, maybe, the best of times, too.Д«ecause when you hit bottom thereвЂ™s no where else to go but up. вЂњIf I was going to continue doing music, I needed to do something that I actually cared about,вЂќ she explained of the transformation. She left Midtown for the suburbs, writing songs in her bedroom, trying to start over, alone. Gone are the auburn locks, replaced with a cut thatвЂ™s shorter and tougher. This after 12 years of doing everything from requisite coffee-shop gigs to captivating huge crowds at Concerts in the Park. The young woman probably best known to her fans as simply Autumn Sky-the auburn-haired singer with a guitar and fairy-tale pretty dresses-was out of the public eye. And even a job at a sex shop.ДЄmid all the craziness and blowback, one of SacramentoвЂ™s most beloved performers disappeared. Then some serious illnesses, a theft and an emptied bank account. Then came a scam that left her penniless, followed by a subsequent crowd-funding campaign asking for money that brought on ruthless Internet trolls. It was a wildly public breakup, Facebook confessions and all. Soon after writing it, Hall found herself dumped by her boyfriend and without a band. But the song was also perhaps prescient-an indication of everything yet to come. If anything, Hall just felt ready to confront it head-on. вЂњI wrote uplifting songs because I needed to be uplifted.вЂќ вЂњThe songs I wrote in the past were extremely fanciful and otherworldly, because I had a lot of painful stuff going on in my life I had to escape from,вЂќ she says now. The track, which she would eventually title вЂњVirginity,вЂќ wasДifferent than anything sheвЂ™d done before. SheвЂ™d been thinking of the concept for a while and suddenly had a fully formed idea. On February 13 of last year, and Autumn Sky Hall woke up with a song in her head.

Autumn sky