Transparent is an audible family portrait and in-depth exploration of what it is to parent through gender reassignment. “We need to look at the new contemporary structures of family; we have to find a new concept of what family is, right?”, says Herzig.

Since 2020, each year has hit a new record of state bills attempting to roll back transgender rights. Concerned and impassioned by the rise of transphobia in the US — in 2025 alone, more than 120 anti-trans bills were passed — Herzig gathered a band of trusted collaborators including her husband and fellow trans parent, guitarist Peter Kienle, to generate opportunities for listening, discussion and empathy.

Awarded with a four week residency by nonprofit regional arts organization Jazz Road Creative Residencies, a Program by South Arts, funded by the Doris Duke Foundation with additional support from the Mellon Foundation, Herzig partnered with the Hundredth Hill Artist Retreat Center to conceptualise and record Transparent. Herzig began by hosting focus group sessions with other parents of trans people that shared her experiences. From stories of transformation to identity-building, societal transphobia to conflict and allyship, they left nothing off the table. “Transgenderism is just a part of nature—gender chromosomes turned around”, reflects Herzig. “We have to support everybody to be who they are in their most authentic way”.

The conversations at these focus sessions were the soil from which the album bloomed.

-Tina Edwards