Anais Mitchell

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Anaïs Mitchell
Anais performing at the 2006 Great Hudson River Clearwater Revival
Anais performing at the 2006 Great Hudson River Clearwater Revival
Background information
Origin Montpelier, Vermont, U.S.
Genre(s) Folk
Instrument(s) Guitar
Years active 2004 - Present
Label(s) Righteous Babe Records
Website Official Website
Members
Anaïs Mitchell
Michael Chorney
Austin Nevins

Anaïs Mitchell (pronounced 'uh-nay-is') (born c. 1981) is a singer-songwriter based in Vermont.

Contents

[edit] History

Anais Mitchell grew up on a farm in rural Vermont. In addition to farming, her father is a writer who teaches in the English department of Middlebury College, and her mother works in various social services. Mitchell began writing songs at the age of seventeen and performing them during her school days, where she studied political science and languages. Her studies were punctuated by a remarkable amount of traveling; in a short period of time, Mitchell made several trips to the Middle East, Europe and Latin America. This troubadour-like experience seeped into her music, and she became adept at fusing her passion for literature and journalism in her lyrics.[1]

[edit] Recordings

Mitchell recorded her out-of-print debut The Song They Sang When Rome Fell in a single afternoon in 2002. Her next album, Hymns for the Exiled, was released on Chicago's Waterbug Records label in 2004. The record eventually reached the ears of Ani DiFranco, a songwriter whose fusion of personal and political themes was a formative influence on a teen-aged Mitchell. After seeing a few of Mitchell’s captivating concerts, Ms. DiFranco signed the artist to her label, Righteous Babe Records. Mitchell told a Vermont reporter after signing:

“ If you knew what Ani DiFranco meant to me as a young woman and a young songwriter … well, I was simultaneously elated and in total disbelief.[2] ”

The Brightness was released February 13, 2007 by Righteous Babe Records.[3]

December 8, 2006 marked the debut of the initial draft of Hadestown, a "folk opera" written by Mitchell in collaboration with arranger Michael Chorney and director Ben T. Matchstick.[4] The Hadestown company staged a second draft of the piece in 2007. A Music of Hadestown recording is slated for release by RBR in 2009.

In September 2008 Righteous Babe Records released country e.p., a split vinyl/CD EP Mitchell recorded with her friend Rachel Ries. She appears with Gregory Douglass, a fellow Vermont singer-songwriter on his upcoming 2009 album Battler; she also lent her vocals to the song "Miss Independence", off of Burlington-based singer Myra Flynn's album "Crooked Measures".

[edit] Sound and style

"A songwriter of startling clarity and depth, equally skilled at turning a melody or lyrical phrase into what you didn't know you needed until you heard it... fearlessly emotive...like Dylan, Cohen, and Welch, Mitchell weaves her stories into an effortlessly beautiful and cohesive tapestry with the skill of an artisan's carpenter, showing no seams."

—review, Acoustic Guitar[5]

"Girlishly sprite and brimming with innocence... brings to mind the hippie-throwback charm of Victoria Williams, though... people more commonly note a resemblance to '80s pop star Cyndi Lauper."

—Russell Hall, No Depression[6]

"The earthiness of Shawn Colvin, the child-like bite of Joanna Newsom, and the urban jumpiness of Ani DiFranco.. These elements, as disparate as they might seem, come together as nicely as cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg.."

—Margaret Reges, Allmusic[7]

"In Mitchell’s universe, there is no light between the personal and the political, the venerable and the radical... she brilliantly intertwines the mundane and the profound, singing with the same intimacy about a carefree night on the town and wandering the warring towns of Israel. Her vivid snapshots of sweetly ordinary moments spin suddenly outward to bemoan the eternal woes of poverty and militarism."

—review, Boston Globe[8]

"Anaïs sings of love among the ruins, coming of age to find yourself an outsider looking for the place you belong, finding other strangers along the way. Details of silverware and napkins, capes and shoes, the unexpected pooling of light, are offered like clues or keys to the reality all of us sense is imminent and eternal beneath the surfaces of things."

—Rich Warren, Sing Out![9]

[edit] Distinctions and awards

  • Mitchell was nominated in the Contemporary Artist category of the third annual Folk Alliance awards show broadcast February 20, 2008 from Memphis, Tennessee (simulcast on XM).[10]
  • In 2003 Mitchell was among the winners of the New Folk Competition at the Kerrville Folk Festival.[11]

[edit] Discography

[edit] Articles, reviews, interviews

[edit] References

  1. ^ Official Website
  2. ^ Official Website
  3. ^ "oh, the places she's gone! anaïs mitchell's righteous babe records' debut the brightness is poetry in motion. in stores february 13, 2007." press release Righteous Babe Records.
  4. ^ "Hadestown by Anaïs Mitchell" December 7, 2006 by Megan James Addison County Independent.
  5. ^ "Family politics, love, and music infuse the stunning Hymns for the Exiled. Vermont-based singer-songwriter details her new album." by Anand Nayak Songcraft: Anais Mitchell Acoustic Guitar April 2005, No. 148.
  6. ^ http://www.nodepression.net/ No Depression
  7. ^ http://www.allmusic.com/ Allmusic
  8. ^ http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ Boston Globe
  9. ^ sound recording review of The Brightness by Rich Warren June 22, 2007 in Sing Out!.
  10. ^ "Ellen Jewell, Uncle Earl highlight Folk Alliance award nominees" News You Should Note posted February 4, 2008 No Depression.
  11. ^ " New Folk Finalist History" Kerrville Folk Festival.

[edit] External links

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