Shad (Shadrach Kabango) is a Canadian recording artist of Rwandan descent, raised in London Ontario. He is known for blending humour and weighty themes, inspiring positivity while exploring a range of sounds over the course of his 20-year career. Shad won the Juno Award for Rap Recording Of The Year in 2011 and five of his albums have been shortlisted for the Polaris Music Prize for Canadian Album Of The Year, the most shortlist nominations of any artist in the prize’s history. Shad has also served as a broadcaster, hosting CBC Radio's Q and Netflix’s Emmy and Peabody Award-winning series Hip-Hop Evolution, and has taught hip-hop-related courses at both Wilfrid Laurier University and the University of Toronto.

We drove 22 miles into the country around Farmington. There were meadows and apple orchards. White fences trailed through the rolling fields. Soon the sign started appearing. THE MOST PHOTOGRAPHED BARN IN AMERICA. We counted five signs before we reached the site. There were 40 cars and a tour bus in the makeshift lot. We walked along a cowpath to the slightly elevated spot set aside for viewing and photographing. All the people had cameras; some had tripods, telephoto lenses, filter kits. A man in a booth sold postcards and slides -- pictures of the barn taken from the elevated spot. We stood near a grove of trees and watched the photographers. Murray maintained a prolonged silence, occasionally scrawling some notes in a little book. 

"No one sees the barn," he said finally. 

A long silence followed. 

"Once you've seen the signs about the barn, it becomes impossible to see the barn."

He fell silent once more. People with cameras left the elevated site, replaced by others.

We're not here to capture an image, we're here to maintain one. Every photograph reinforces the aura. Can you feel it, Jack? An accumulation of nameless energies." 

There was an extended silence. The man in the booth sold postcards and slides. 

"Being here is a kind of spiritual surrender. We see only what the others see. The thousands who were here in the past, those who will come in the future. We've agreed to be part of a collective perception. It literally colors our vision. A religious experience in a way, like all tourism." 

Another silence ensued. 

"They are taking pictures of taking pictures," he said.

Contact: noah.gund@gmail.com

Booking: brian@highroadtouring.com

New album, The Love Still Held Me Near - available now on Still Records.

danemadsgaard is following