Erin McKeown

McKeown in August 1999.

Erin McKeown (b. October 15, 1977) is a multi-instrumentalist and folk-rock singer/songwriter.

McKeown began her career in the folk scene. She released her first album, Monday Morning Cold, on her own label (TVP Records), travelling throughout New England while still a student at Brown University in order to promote the record. Although she had begun studying ornithology, she graduated from Brown with a degree in ethnomusicology.

McKeown's music is difficult to categorize in terms of genre; it has touched on pop, swing, rock, folk, and electronic music, as well as many other genres. She continues to perform regularly, spending much of her time touring throughout the world with artists such as Ani DiFranco, Josh Ritter, the Indigo Girls, Martin Sexton, Andrew Bird, Thea Gilmore, Melissa Ferrick, and others. McKeown, a lesbian, took part in Queerstock, a music festival dedicated to promoting GLBT musicians.

Early in her career, she also collaborated with Beth Amsel, Jess Klein, and Rose Polenzani; the four of them performed as Voices on the Verge.

McKeown's 2005 album, We Will Become Like Birds (produced by Tucker Martine), served as a departure from her earlier work, with a more rock-oriented sound.

Her latest release, Sing You Sinners, was released in Europe on the 23 October 2006 and in the United States on January 9, 2007 by Nettwerk Records LLC. It consists mostly of covers of jazz standards from the 1920s through 1950s.

Discography

• Monday Morning Cold (TVP Records) (1999)
• Distillation (Signature Sounds) (2000)
• Grand (Nettwerk Records) (2003)
• We Will Become Like Birds (Nettwerk Records) (2005)
• Sing You Sinners (Nettwerk Records) (2006)
• Lafayette (Live) (Signature Sounds) (2007)

External links

• Official home page
• Washington Post review of We Will Become Like Birds
• Interview with Erin McKeown - small WORLD Podcast 2006