Acclaimed singer-songwriter folktronic Native Americana rock artist Marx Cassity releases the new, groundbreaking album, 2Sacred (National release: Nov.5th, 2023) 2Sacred is a gorgeous collection of 10 songs that Marx created working alongside engineer Justin Phelps (Amanda Palmer, Joe Satriani, Chris Isaak), and co-produced by Cassity and Lynx DeMuth. The album explores what it means to be Two-Spirit – a Native American LGBTQ+ person who often fulfills traditional gender variant ceremonial and social roles in their cultures – and one who has learned to love and accept themselves and pursue art as an act of devotion. 
Marx, who works under their given name Marca as a trauma therapist serving LGBTQ+ and Native clients, is an enrolled member of the Osage Nation. Marx placed an X in their name for the creation of 2Sacred in honor of the history of gender diversity in tribal societies around the world. Influences on the album include Annie Lennox, The Cranberries, Freddie Mercury and Robbie Robertson, among others. 
A fire was lit under Marx to create 2Sacred after reading the shocking statistic that 33% of Native American LGBTQ+ youth attempted suicide in 2020. Marx poured the emotions of being made to feel they were an abomination growing up queer on a Native reservation in Oklahoma into the powerhouse album, which also addresses themes of trauma, suicide awareness, decolonization of sexuality and gender, having to leave home due to being ostracized for being queer, as well as the power of community, ceremony, love and support and inspiration channeled through their ancestors. 
“After hearing the horrifying statistic about the shockingly high suicide rates of Native American LGBTQ youth, my mission for creating this project was born,” Marx says. “If I can make art that even one person hears, or sees, and they stay alive and love themselves and their identity more because of it, mission accomplished.” Marx struggled with addiction and suicidal thoughts as a young person, until one day, a building they were leaning against got struck by lightning. Marx was thrown several feet and heard an undeniable message they believe came from Creator: “Stop killing yourself, you’re here for a reason” expressed in moving piano-rock anthem “How Long,” which builds to a crescendo of love and self-acceptance. Reminiscent of Eurythmics in its edgy synthesizers, dance beats and powerful vocals, it conveys that vital message for anyone who has felt marginalized by society, “Rise up child, you’re here for a reason.” 
Cassity (vocals, piano, acoustic guitar) is joined by Brandon Warren (drums, percussion), Paul Olguin (bass), Clay Parkman (bass), Michael Abraham (electric guitar), Eddie Martinez (electric guitar). Full album credits here.
Haunting album opener “Somewhere” is a fiery beacon of hope that combines Native and pop vocalizations and staccato percussion. Marx found inspiration for “Somewhere” in the trauma their Osage people endured, which is depicted in the book and the critically acclaimed Martin Scorcese film Killers of the Flower Moon. The song ends by giving voice to Marx’s ancestors who endured genocide, starvation, and displacement from their hunting grounds, rivers and homelands of the Midwest.
Stand-out track “Thunderbird” was inspired by the Standing Rock pipeline protest and how it brought together hundreds of Native nations and people from all over the world to take climate action and brought visibility to Native Americans fighting for the Earth. “Thunderbird” was also inspired by Sinead O’Connor, and The Cranberries’ haunting track “Zombie,” incorporating Marx’s Irish roots. 
After years living in the Bay Area, Portland and Boulder, Colorado, Marx recently returned to live in their native Oklahoma as an artist, therapist and activist for LGBTQ+ rights. Marx received the NDN Collective Radical Imagination Grant and support from the Osage Nation Foundation to produce the album 2Sacred, and the video for the single “How Long.”

2Sacred- Full Album-Marx Cassity(2023)

2Sacred

The Dawn

Fly Away

Under Your Wing-by Brianna Lea Pruett

The Way You Move

Thunderbird

A Little Better

How Long

Mourning Dove

Somewhere