Joe Horton

Joe Horton grew up in Milwaukee, studied psychology at the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire, and eventually gravitated to the Twin Cities, where his mix of music, theater, and visual art has attracted a cohort of steady collaborators. He is best known as the MC for alternative hip hop trio No Bird Sing, whose 2009 self-titled debut received local and national attention for its unique approach to the genre.

He has also been a member of hip hop outfits Hyder Ali and Mixed Blood Majority, and is a co-founder of the arts collective F I X. Horton has performed under the moniker Eric Blair, and it’s no surprise that he would turn to one of his favorite writers for inspiration — Eric Blair being the given name of the author better known to the world as George Orwell.

Horton’s lyrics reflect the explorative tone of Orwell’s work, following an often shaded and winding path through the trappings of social, emotional and intellectual conformity. Early in his career, Horton wrote and performed spoken-word pieces at coffee shops in his native Milwaukee. During college, he began transitioning to songs, longer poems and short stories.

After moving to Minneapolis/St. Paul, Horton began seriously writing prose and enrolled in the MFA program at Hamline University. He is currently the artist-in-residence at Minneapolis Institute of Art. His debut short film, Vessel, premiered September 12 in the black-box space of the museum’s contemporary art galleries. Loosely described, it depicts a hero’s transformative journey as a kind of alchemy, the ancient practice of attempting to turn base metals into gold.

To tell this metaphorical tale, Horton used thousands of disparate images — digitally manipulated, animated, and set to original music.