On August 10th, 2020 Iowa was one several midwest states hit by a derecho, compared to an inland hurricane, but defined by the NOAA as "a widespread, long-lived wind storm that is associated with a band of rapidly moving showers or thunderstorms." 

Estimated maximum winds of 140 mph were charted in Cedar Rapids, IA, 30 minutes from the home of the composers (Chris Wiersema and Gabi Vanek of Death Bag) in Iowa City, IA, where winds were measured to be 82 mph.

During the storm, Wiersema took field recordings where the emergency weather siren was quite present alongside the severe rain and winds. The siren pitched around an A became a focal point of the later composed piece entitled "Hue & Cry (Derecho)", with Vanek meandering around both it and the sounds of the storm at large on bassoon, challenging the listener to decipher where the storm begins and the bassoon ends.

Death Bag was the long term experimental music collaboration of electronicist Chris Wiersema and electro-acoustic bassoonist Gabi Vanek.