Where most might see the raw and untouched emptiness of America’s public lands, Jessica Kilroy sees opportunity. The swooping chatter of birds. Rocks tapping against one another. Bristling desert brush. For Kilroy, such wild places produce their own unique soundscapes as she captures and incorporates them into her musical compositions in an effort to preserve them.
The music of Kilroy and her band Pterodactyl Plains is inherently conservationist. It creates a new way to experience the beauty of some of America’s most raw locales, spurring people to see these places differently. Or, rather, hear them differently.
As a climber, Kilroy has long been attracted to the recreation opportunities at Bears Ears National Monument in Utah. But after an 85 percent reduction in the size of the recently-designated national monument, Kilroy decided to head to Indian Creek, Utah in an effort to raise awareness about these battles being waged over public lands.