GORGEOUS NEW INDIE-FOLK ALBUM FEATURES COMMUNITY OF BROOKLYN MUSICIANS INCLUDING AOIFE O’DONOVAN AND CHRIS ELDRIDGE
CMT EDGE PREMIERES “AZALEA”
ANDREASSEN JOINING “ON YOUR RADAR” WFUV SHOW DEC 9 AT ROCKWOOD MUSIC HALL; AND SYNDICATED RADIO SHOWS MOUNTAIN STAGE JAN 18 & MUSIC CITY ROOTS JAN 21
Prairie Home Companion favorite and Brooklyn denizen Kristin Andreassen has created the gorgeous indie-folk album ‘Gondolier’ (February 17) by synthesizing and reorienting the core ingredients of the traditional folk tunes and old time music of her past. CMT Edge premiered the first track, “Azalea,” calling it “delicate beauty."
Lyrics from the album: “We lived by the freeway; I thought it was the ocean, Sounded like a seashell in my sleep in the night."
‘Gondolier’ abounds with inventive, unexpected melodies, lyrics, and
arrangements, which contrast the pastoral with the urban. Largely
written on Lake Winnipesaukee, New Hampshire but with her Brooklyn home
in mind, ‘Gondolier’ finds Andreassen contemplating the differences
between expectation and reality, from a cold night in Louisiana to
wishing one’s childhood pet dog was a horse, to the way that dreams
morph over time.
Another sample: "For some reason my dreams are all about water. It replaces the concrete; I can breathe it like air."
Starting out in Annapolis, MD as a professional clogger with the
Footworks Percussive Dance Ensemble, she soon joined the old-time band
Uncle Earl (Rounder Records). Soon, she became one third of the original
singer-songwriter group Sometymes Why, with Aoife O’Donovan and Ruth
Ungar, who each sing on ‘Gondolier.’ (O’Donovan mentioned Andreassen in
the NY Times as one of the “amazing people” in the Brooklyn scene.)
Other accompanists heard throughout Gondolier include bassist Paul
Kowert (Punch Brothers), multi-woodwind player Alec Spiegelman (Cuddle
Magic), cellist Rushad Eggleston (Crooked Still), former Pere Ubu
bassist Tony Maimone (heard here on clattering banjo bass), guitarist
Jefferson Hamer, fiddler Stephanie Coleman (who has played alongside
Andreassen in Uncle Earl and with whom she co-hosts a popular weekly old
time jam session), and vocalists Aoife O'Donovan, Ruth Ungar Merenda
(the Mammals, Mike+Ruthy), and Cassandra Jenkins.
Andreassen has spent her career building a community of folk musicians,
hosting a weekly old-time jam at Brooklyn’s Lowlands Bar and founding
the Miles of Music Camp for all ages but ‘Gondolier’ marks a new phase
in her life and career and a powerful songwriter reaching new heights.
New Yorkers: Andreassen will perform duo with Chris Eldridge as part of
John Platt’s WFUV On Your Radar show at Rockwood Music Hall, Stage 3 on
December 9.
Kristin Andreassen Performance Schedule
12/9: New York, NY - WFUV’s On Your Radar at Rockwood Music Hall (Duo w/ Chris Eldridge)
12/17: Marlboro, NY - Concert & Square Dance (w/ Chris Eldridge & Mike + Ruthy)
1/4 - 5/2015 - Cambridge, MA - Club Passim (as member of Sub Rosa Collective)
1/6/2015 - Northampton, MA - The Parlor Room (as member of Sub Rosa Collective)
1/7/2015: New Haven, CT - Cafe 9 (w/ Chris Eldridge)
1/8/2015: Brooklyn, NY - Jalopy Theatre (APAP Showcase)
1/9/2015: New York, NY - Don’t Tell Mama (APAP Showcase)
1/11/2015: Huntington, VT – Valley Stage (w/ Jefferson Hamer)
1/13/2015: New York, NY – Rockwood Music Hall, Stage 1
1/16/2015: Raleigh, NC – Duke Energy Center for the Arts (opening for Aoife O’Donovan)
1/18/2015: Charleston, WV - Mountain Stage
1/21/2015: Nashville, TN - Music City Roots
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