KRISTIN ANDREASSEN LAUNCHES TOUR, SIGNS WITH SYNCH LICENSING AGENCY, PREMIERES VIDEO WITH VILLAGE VOICE, HIGHLIGHTED BY ITUNES STORE, GOES NUTS AT FOLK ALLIANCE INT’L

Kristin Andreassen’s subtlely jaw-dropping new album ‘Gondolier’ continues to gather momentum:

+ Andreassen launches her first solo, headlining tour today and has added support dates on both coasts:

3/4 :: Cambridge, MA :: Club Passim
3/7 :: Katonah, NY :: Caramoor Center for The Arts (opening for Dom Flemons)
3/10 :: New York, NY :: Joe’s Pub (Full band)
3/20 :: Charlottesville, VA :: Jefferson Theater (Opening for Love Canon)
3/21 :: Annapolis, MD :: Ramshead (Opening for Love Canon)
4/1 :: Portland, OR :: Alberta Street Public House (co-bill w/ Ruth Moody)
4/4 :: Seattle, WA :: Town Hall (opening for The Onlies)
4/8-19 :: House Concert tour through Southern British Columbia (w/ Jon Neufeld of Black Prairie)

The Joe’s Pub show will see her joined onstage by Aoife O’Donovan and Ruth Ungar, who, with Kristin, made up Sometymes Why. Chris Eldridge of the Punch Brothers will open the show, which will also feature shadow puppets.

+ Syndicated radio show Folk Alley posted video of Andreassen performing.

+ On release week, ‘Gondolier’ was featured on the Singer-Songwriter page of the iTunes Store.

+ Andreassen joined the Mix Tape Music roster, joining Charles Bradley, Andrew Bird, Beach House, Dolly Parton, Wye Oak, Dr. Dog, Conor Oberst, and others on the synch license-pitching agency.

+ The Village Voice premiered the video for “Lookout,” which was written during Hurricane Irene and was filmed in Red Hook, and ends with a tintype puzzle of Kristin.

+ ‘Gondolier’ remains in the 20 top of the Roots Music Report’s Folk Albums chart.

+ Andreassen’s WFUV session aired Sunday in NYC.

+ She was the talk of Folk Alliance International, performing nine showcases.

KRISTIN ANDREASSEN BRINGS CREAM OF THE NYC FOLK SCENE TO JOE’S PUB MARCH 10 FOR ‘GONDOLIER’ ALBUM RELEASE CONCERT

SHADOW PUPPETS TO ACCOMPANY SONGWRITER’S DEEP NEW MATERIAL

Rising songwriter Kristin Andreassen will be joined by a who’s who of the NYC folk music scene to celebrate the release of her new album ‘Gondolier’ at Joe’s Pub on March 10. In addition, visual artist Amy Helfand will supply shadow puppets created specifically for this concert.

“Gondolier” title track lyric video over vintage stock footage.

She offers vivid metaphors and deep questions on her new album ‘Gondolier,’ which is earning spotlights from the likes of CMT Edge, Travel + Leisure, Country Weekly, UTNE Reader, and syndicated radio spots from Mountain Stage, Woodsongs, and Music City Roots. Executive produced by Chris Eldridge of the Punch Brothers, ‘Gondolier’ tackles topics such as where one belongs; depression; expectations of the future; memories of war; self-imposed isolation; and alcoholism; all with a lightness and freshness of idea and imagery.

Kristin Andreassen videos.

Aoife O’Donovan, her former bandmate who sings on ‘Gondolier,’ says, “In Sometymes Why, we used to call Kristin ‘the mistress of metaphor.’ Her knack for drawing deep (and sometimes dark) meaning out of seemingly sweet lyrics is uncanny. On this new album, Kristin Andreassen has arrived at a whole new level- the production is spot-on, the songs eerily unique yet timeless, and her singing pristine. Gondolier is a spectacular record that we're going to be listening to for a long time.” O’Donovan and Ruth Ungar, Andreassen’s bandmates from the trio Sometymes Why, will both be joining me on harmony vocals at the Joe’s show. (Plus see below for rest of the band).

Full album lyrics and credits.

JOE’S PUB MARCH 10 BAND LINEUP:

Kristin Andreassen – guitar, body percussion
Jefferson Hamer - guitar
Alec Spiegelman - woodwinds
Jacob Silver - bass
Robin MacMillan - drums
Aoife O’Donovan - harmony vocals
Ruth Ungar - harmony vocals

Kristin Andreassen "Gondolier" lyric video

Kristin Andreassen at Folk Alliance

KRISTIN ANDREASSEN EARNING RAVES FOR GORGEOUS ‘GONDOLIER,’ OUT NEXT WEEK

FIRST SOLO HEADLINING TOUR LAUNCHES NEXT MONTH

Brooklyn multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Kristin Andreassen’s gorgeous new album ‘Gondolier’ is earning raves ahead of its release next week. Featuring guests Chris Eldridge (of the Punch Brothers) and Aoife O’Donovan (the latter of whom will sing with her at Joe’s Pub March 10), ‘Gondolier’ is a full of delights, both melodic and lyrical. Here’s a video preview of the album.

Andreassen will also launch her first solo headlining tour next month with a full band (dates below).

“Whimsical indie-folk style.”
- Caroline Hallemann, Travel + Leisure, February 10, 2014

“Delicate beauty.”
- Chris Parton, CMT Edge, December 4, 2014

“She brought shimmering, breezy vocals and wildly interesting melodies. Her clean, malleable tone reminded me of her colleagues and friends Aoife O’Donovan and Ruth Ungar. But the songs were as personal as a signature.”
- Craig Havighurst, Music City Roots, January 21, 2015

“A beautiful collection of songs.”
- Christian Williams, UTNE Reader, February 3, 2015

“The elegantly understated acoustic pop of Andreassen’s upcoming second solo album, ‘Gondolier,’ is as catchy as anything out there.”
- David Menconi, Raleigh News & Observer, January 15, 2015

“A fantastic collection of ethereal folk tunes, jangly Americana and indie-heavy pop.”
- Cameron Matthews, The Bluegrass Situation, January 27, 2015

"At the start of any year, it’s always a challenge to pick a handful of artists who could break out of the musical pack to make a big impact. This deeply soulful artist is easily one of those."
- Bill Bentley, Morton Report, January 12, 2015

“A collection of gorgeous indie-folk songs”
- Michael Hamad, CTNow (Hartford Courant), December 29, 2014

Kristin Andreassen Tour Dates

3/3 :: Northampton, MA :: The Parlor Room
3/4 :: Cambridge, MA :: Club Passim
3/7 :: Katonah, NY :: Caramoor Center for The Arts (opening for Dom Flemons)
3/10 :: New York, NY :: Joe’s Pub (Full band + Aoife O'Donovan & Ruth Ungar on harmony vocals & Amy Helfand on shadow puppets)
4/1 :: Portland, OR :: Alberta Street Public House (co-bill w/ Ruth Moody)
4/4 :: Seattle, WA :: Town Hall (opening for The Onlies)

Kristin Andreassen short bio

‘Gondolier' finds songwriter Kristin Andreassen juxtaposing deep traditional roots with modern Brooklyn indie influences. Featuring guests (Aoife O'Donovan, Jefferson Hamer and Punch Brother Chris Eldridge to name a few) from the exploding New York folk scene, but written largely on a remote island in New Hampshire, the lyrically and instrumentally rich arrangements on Andreassen’s first studio album explore secret passageways connecting the outer edges of disparate notions – urban and rural, childhood and old age, expectation and reality. 2015 sees Andreassen performing on syndicated radio shows Woodsongs, Mountain Stage, and Music City Roots while earning raves from the UTNE Reader, Pop Matters, and CMT Edge. Before embarking on her solo journey, Andreassen toured the world with the stringband Uncle Earl, with her folk-noir trio Sometymes Why, and as a clogger with Maryland's Footworks Percussive Dance Ensemble. Along the way, she's performed and recorded alongside such maverick talents as John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin), Dirk Powell (Joan Baez, Cold Mountain), Sufjan Stevens, Aoife O'Donovan, Black Prairie and New York anti-folk icon Jeffrey Lewis. Her debut CD Kiss Me Hello was a collection of kitchen recordings that made fast friends with those who stumbled upon it, including Garrison Keillor of NPR’s A Prairie Home Companion. The album kicks off with the John Lennon Song Contest Grand Prize-winning "Crayola Doesn't Make a Color for Your Eyes," which has been covered by dozens of diverse artists ranging from Tyne Daly to more than one high school marching band.

KRISTIN ANDREASSEN CELEBRATES FIFTH ANNIVERSARY OF MILES OF MUSIC CAMP, COMBINING TRAD FOLK, SONGWRITING, AND PERFORMING INTO HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE

REGISTRATION OPEN NOW FOR ALL AGES CAMPS IN NYC, BOSTON, AND ON IDYLLIC NEW HAMPSHIRE ISLAND

‘GONDOLIER’ NEW ALBUM BY ANDREASSEN OUT FEB 17, WRITTEN ON THE ISLAND

“It all fell into place as soon as I saw the island. I could see it all,” remembers Kristin Andreassen, co-founder and co-director of the Miles of Music camp for all ages and all levels. The organization she and Laura Cortese started now hosts weekends in New York and Boston, and a week on a private island on Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire that will celebrate its fifth year in 2015. The main event, the week-long NH camp has sold out each of the last two years.

Kristin was first invited to join a private group of songwriters on the island in 2010. Not only did she realize immediately that she’d found a home for her longtime dream (shared with fiddler/songwriter Laura) of a music camp, but she also wrote the bulk of her new album ‘Gondolier’ over the summers at a private retreat held by a group of songwriters on the property. (Now, the songwriters go the week before the campers.) “We piled instruments in a motor boat and cruised over to the island in the dark. By the next morning, I could picture where it would all be: in the Rec. Hall we’d have a band-in-a-box class where singers get to work with a staff rhythm section, we’d have one-on-one lessons on the porch by the water.”

Andreassen’s new album ‘Gondolier’ comes out February 17. She recently taped syndicated radio shows Mountain Stage, Woodsongs, and Music City Roots. Here is video from the latter performance of the song “New Ground."

She explains how Miles of Music is unique by saying, “We take a holistic approach to learning music. It’s not broken up by instrument, on purpose. People are playing real music with each other from the moment they start in the morning.” Campers are also coached on performance skills, including thinking about incorporating visual arts as they prepare to play their music at evening concerts. (Last year there was a resident dancer, a painter and a shadow puppeteer on staff with the mission to encourage collaborations between the arts).

The singer-songwriter explains, “Night-time revelry ranges from a square dance to people singing Katy Perry at full-band karaoke. It’s a ridiculous range of genres. We are conscious about that. We are bringing in old and new traditions, with the intent of exploring the essence of each thing and see how we might consciously pull things out of new and old traditions to make something new in the moment.”

Andreassen reflects, “This is how folk music is still transmitted in this country. I’ve taught at half a dozen folk camps, including some ’song school’ type camps where I’m teaching songwriting and some 'old time weeks' where I’m generally teaching clogging or square dancing.  Our camp is a combination of those approaches. Our camp teaches traditional music and creativity. We don’t blend those ideas together. We just think each can inform the other. And sometimes it’s just more fun to try old fiddle tune with electric bass and drums.”

Miles of Music Camp takes place on a private 43-acre rocky woodland island on Lake Winnipesaukee near Meredith, New Hampshire, at the *Three Mile Island Camp managed by the Appalachian Mountain Club. The camp consists of 50 small rustic cabins along the lake shore plus recreational facilities and a community dining hall. In between music classes, jams and concerts, campers can explore the woods, go for a swim in the lake, or canoe around the island.

2015 Island Camp dates:

Jun 13-19: Lake Winnipesaukee, NH

Miles of Music also hosts two weekend workshops in Kristin & Laura’s respective home towns, which happen to also be where a majority of the campers hail from. Those dates are:

Feb 6-8:  Boston, MA
Feb 27-Mar 1: Brooklyn, NY

Andreassen says of the June camp, “There are 110 people on the island, of whom at least thirty are teachers. One of the things that we've worked hard on is keeping the ratio of music teachers to music students.” Instructors include co-founder and co-director Laura Cortese, who performed at Pete Seeger’s 90th birthday celebration at Madison Square Garden; Jefferson Hamer; Yep Roc artists The Stray Birds; Josh Ritter bassist Zachariah Hickman; winner of the 2013 Clifftop Appalachian Stringband Festival Fiddle Contest Clelia Stefanini; indie songwriters Heather Robb of the Spring Standards and Shane Leonard of Field Report; Louisiana cajun and swamp pop kings The Revelers; ace cellist Valerie Thompson; traditional square dance…and clogging mistress Christine Galante; “squarely convincing” (NY Times) singer-songwriter Michaela Anne; and Dinty Child, multi-instrumentalist from Boston’s legendary Session Americana. It was Dinty who first invited Kristin and Laura to the island since he’s the off-season manager of the facility.

“I get a strong sense of the community that we’ve created,” says the co-founder, continuing, “I’ve watched bands form from the people who attended camp. I feel some sort of impact on helping nudge other people’s creative projects along. I feel it every week, either when I go to my old time session at Lowlands [Bar in Brooklyn, NY] or when I play a show.”

She’s not just a co-director, but she’s also a client. She exclaims, “Also, I get to play my songs with really great musicians!”

Kristin Andreassen clips

Country Weekly feature, December 22, 2014:

CMT Edge feature, December 4, 2014

Village Voice feature (Feb 23, 2015)

KRISTIN ANDREASSEN CONFIRMS FULL SCHEDULE OF RADIO TAPINGS AND SESSIONS BEFORE RELEASE OF ‘GONDOLIER’ AS TOUR LAUNCHES

A month and a half before the release of ‘Gondolier,’ Kristin Andreassen has a full slate of radio sessions and taping, both local and nationally syndicated. She is also announcing a series of tour dates, both headlining and supporting. ‘Gondolier’ features Aoife O’Donovan and Chris Eldridge (Punch Brothers) and combines her trad-folk background with her indie rock sensibility, which she earns by singing backup onstage for Lucius and on record for Sufjan Stevens. CMT Edge has called ‘Gondolier’ a “delicate beauty.”

Kristin Andreassen Early Radio Activity:

1/8   New York, NY- WFUV: studio session

1/12 Saranac Lake NY- Folk Alley:  studio Session

1/14 Baltimore, MD- WRNR Voices of the Bay    

1/18 Morgantown, WV- Mountain Stage taping

1/19 Lexington, KY- Woodsongs taping

1/20 Knoxville, TN- WDVX Blue Plate Special

1/21 Nashville, TN- Music City Roots

1/23 Louisville, TN-WFPK Live Lunch

Kristin Andreassen Tour Dates:

1/13 New York, NY - Rockwood Music Hall, Stage 1

1/14 Baltimore, MD – Baltimore Street House Concerts

1/15 Washington, D.C. – House Concert

1/16 Raleigh, NC Duke Energy - Center/Fletcher Theater (w/ Aoife O’Donovan)

1/31 Olivebridge, NY - The Winter Hoot

3/3   Northampton, MA - The Parlor Room

3/4   Cambridge, MA - Club Passim

3/7   Katonah, NY - Caramoor Center for Music & the Arts

3/10 New York, NY - Joe's Pub

Kristin Andreassen 'Gondolier' credits and lyrics

KRISTIN ANDREASSEN

GONDOLIER
Liner Notes & Lyrics

Appearing on Gondolier:

Kristin Andreassen / lead vocal, guitar, piano, organ, body percussion, harmonica

Tom Ayres / guitar, bass

Stephanie Coleman / fiddle

Erik Deutsch / piano, Hammond organ

Rushad Eggleston / cello

Chris Eldridge / guitar

Nico Georis / accordion

Jefferson Hamer / harmony vocals

Lyndon Hardy / harmony vocals

Cassandra Jenkins / harmony vocals

Paul Kowert / bass

Frank Locrasto / piano, organ

Tony Maimone / banjo bass

Robin MacMillan / drums

Ruth Merenda / harmony vocals

Aoife O’Donovan / harmony vocals

Mike Riddleberger / drums

Ryan Scott / guitar 

Jacob Silver / bass

Alec Spiegelman / bass clarinet, clarinet, flute

Lawson White / drums, percussion

Chris Eldridge & Paul Kowert appear courtesy of Nonesuch.

Aoife O’Donovan appears courtesy of Yep Roc Records.

1. THE FISH & THE SEA

If I was a fish in the sea

How could I see the sea

How could I see the sea

If I was a fish in the sea

If I was the wind in the leaves

How would I feel the breeze

How would I feel the breeze

If I was the wind in the leaves

If I was a note in a song

I could feel short or long

Short or long

And what I feel could be wrong

You were never lost so you couldn't be found

We were never stopped so we couldn’t be wound

Just a kernel of corn in a big corn maze

Doesn’t see no puzzle, doesn’t need to know the way

I was never nothing if not your friend

At the start and the middle of a world without end

If I was a fish in a tree

I would feel the breeze

Dry as autumn leaves

If I was a fish in a tree

When we get caught up in the air

That’s when we see the water down there

Now I know, I know I need it on my skin

I know I need it on my skin oh would you throw me

Would you throw me back in

Throw me back in

Throw me back in

Throw me back in

Kristin: electric guitar / Cassandra: harmony vocals /

Robin: drums / Chris: electric & acoustic guitar /

Jacob: bass / Alec: clarinet, bass clarinet & flute

2. LOOKOUT

One if by land, two if by sea

Three if by time, and that I would believe

The future’s camped out there like a sleeping army

Three if by time, four if by air

I’ll climb up in the steeple with a feather in my hair

And light the lamps that tell you what I see out there

I was always looking out for you

Would you let me be your lookout

I was always looking out for you

Will you be my lookout now?

A bird in the wind flies steady like a weathervane

A bird in a storm is a marionette on strings of rain

So you got pulled around by the hurricane

And with every revolution, it’s crawling up the coast

I got a flashlight and a flask, but I need a friend the most

You been up and down, tell me what you know

Chorus

Looking out for the right time

Holding on for the good time

One if by land, two if by sea

Three if by time, and that you should believe

The future’s marching on a sleeping army

Chorus

Looking out for the right time

Holding on for the good time

Waiting up for the right time

Looking out for the good time

Kristin: harmonica / Jefferson: harmony vocals /

Robin: drums, percussion & bass / Ryan: electric guitar /

Chris: acoustic & electric guitar

3. ‘SIMMON

You get a line, honey, and I’ll get a pole

Together we’ll go down to that old crawdad hole

Where we set down our blanket on the green  grassy ground

Catching catfish by the dozen and crawdads by the pound

I’ve got a memory, so strong

Of Indian summer and a corny old song, babe

August was hot, and the lake has gone dry

We’ll just stand on the banks and watch the old crawdads die

Raccoon chased the possum, oh look what they found

A black tree with bright fruit and the branches bowed down

I’ve got a camera, so new

It makes color pictures like only paints used to do, babe

You climb on up, honey, and I’ll stay right here

I’ll catch what you throw me, I can see it so clear

The fruit was exactly the color of the sun

As seen through closed eyes when the afternoon’s humming, babe

You ride the grey mare, and I’ll ride the roan

You ride the G Train, and I’ll just walk home

I’ve got a camera, so old

It takes old timey pictures where silver stands in for gold

You ate a fruit, it was perfectly round

And the color of the sun when it’s close to the ground

Don’t you remember it, when we were kids

The color of sunshine as seen through closed eyelids, babe

Kristin: guitar / Jefferson: harmony vocal / Stephanie: fiddle /

Chris: guitar / Paul: bass / Mike: drums / Lawson: triangle /

Erik: piano & Hammond organ / Alec: clarinet

4. HOW THE WATER WALKS

I hear, I hear, footsteps on the rocks

Oh not, that’s just the water, that’s how it walks

Down in the bunker, with the night watch on the shore

We try to sleep until we don’t try anymore

Dawn has barely broken when they call us up above

I’m thinking only of my life, sorry my love

Our guns are big as boats and their boats are small as birds

We are the hunter and the prey awaiting the word

As the cannons find the silence, you know I fear the worst

That someone will live to tell how I fired first

I feel, I feel the wind is pushing me around

But the wind is just the air when it’s falling down

Oh the wind is just the air falling down

Kristin: body percussion & piano / Rushad: cello /

Alec: bass clarinet, clarinet & flute

5. THE NEW GROUND

Here on the new ground, oh what will we grow

Here on the new ground, what seeds will we sow

I know, I know, I know

You know I loved the trees, it pained me to take them down

I traded them for sunlight and the bright new ground

Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go

Oh, the stones were heavy. It muscled up my back

A fence, a field and a house we made, the firewood neatly stacked

Hard row, hard row, hard row

Kneel down to the buzzard and bow to the crow

The earth is black as a bird’s wing and braided in corn rows

Just so, just so, just so

Kristin: baritone ukulele / Jefferson: guitar & background

vocals / Tony: banjo bass / Paul: acoustic bass /

Lawson: percussion / Alec: flute

6. AZALEA

It can get cold in Louisiana.

Colder than northerners know.

We can plug in the heat in the kitchen

But cold air finds the holes in the floor.

It can get cold in Louisiana.

Rice fields fields drawn in brown and grey ink.

But right there in winter, I’ll show you a flower

A cornet cast in purplish pink.

Azalea, I won’t fail ya.

After our party last weekend

When the band and the dancers had gone.

The rain and the flames and the mud and the boots

Together had conquered the lawn.

I thought on how everything transforms.

Fire to smoke, smoke to air, air to breathing.

I thought on how everything’s transforming me

But I’ll change like a tree, slow and even.

Azalea, I won’t fail ya.

Kristin: guitar / Ruth & Lyn: harmony vocals / Robin: drums / Tom: electric guitar & electric baritone guitar / Jacob: bass / Alec: clarinet, bass clarinet & flute

7. THE BOAT SONG

When I was a girl, I wished I was a boy

I had a dog, I wished it was a horse

We lived by the freeway, I thought it was the ocean,

Sounded like a seashell in my sleep in the night

I would go riding and I would go sailing

All the while bouncing a ball at the wall

And I was a gondolier, pushing through Venice

I was a tour guide of my own heart’s desires

Over there I’m a painter, over there I’m a builder,

Over there I’m a cab driver who knows every street

But I can’t find the bridge, or is it a ferry

Some way to cross over, some way to connect

No man is an island, but most of us choose one

There are islands for bakers and bankers

 and thieves.

And you row & row & row your boat on down the baby river

Row it oh so gently, as though life were but a dream

For some reason my dreams are all about water

It replaces the concrete, I can breathe it like air

Perhaps in a past life, I was a great swimmer

Or maybe in this life, I’m destined to drown

I’m destined to choose. So it’s been foretold

Sure enough, as I’ve chosen, my destiny is unfolding

Row & row & row your boat on down the baby river

Row it oh so gently, as though life were but a dream                   

But oh, I know, that dreaming is not living

So many lives there are to land upon,

The dreams just flow between

When I am an old man, I’ll wish I was a girl

I’ll wish I had parents. I’m sure that it’s true

I will want a tour then of my own heart’s desires

So many, so varied, all softened with time

No man is an island, but most of us choose one

There are islands for hustlers and mothers and kings

But the fearless explorers, they find secret passageways

Through melting obstacles. They move up

 and downstream

Saying look out for the rocks. Lean into the wind.

Look into your heart. Look out for your friends.

Hold fast to the oars. Maybe wait for the full moon.

Look up at the sky. Look down at your hands.

And row & row & row your boat on down the baby river

Row it oh so gently as though life were but a dream

But you and I know that dreaming is not living

So many dreams each night to lie upon,

And one life between the dreams

Kristin: organ, Wurlitzer & background vocals / Aoife: background vocals / Alec: clarinet, bass clarinet & flute / Robin: drums & percussion / Tom: bass

8. SUNNY ABOVE THE CLOUDS

Go on, would you tell me just a little bit more about that place

Go on, you’d rather be there even now, I can see it in your face

Go on, you took your hand from mine, you think  I’d hold you here

But don’t think I don’t remember what you whispered in my ear

It was sunny above the clouds

Sunny till the plane came down

If I don’t keep on moving I fall like rain on the ground

Sunny above the clouds,

Sunny till the plane came down

I fell without a warning, I didn’t make a sound

Go on, you’re not the only one gets jealous of the birds when they fly south

Go on, you’re not the only one who’s tried the taste of metal in your mouth

Go on, you heard me right, I’m enough like you to know you’ve mapped the entrances and the exits but the courage, it comes and goes

Chorus

Go on, at home we watch the sky and you say there’s sunshine way up there

So go, you’d take one look and then you’d fall

What would you hold onto but air

You’re right, with us down here there is no true and constant sun

We just have time, and we have weather

And some have faith

Don’t come undone

Kristin : guitar / Ruth: banjo & harmony vocal / Aoife: harmony vocal / Robin: drums / Chris: electric & acoustic guitar / Jacob: bass

9. THE APPLE SONG

 (ONE MORE TIME)

If there was an apple, it’s all gone now

Even the stem and the seeds, she don’t remember how

Once her skin was golden but she stayed till it burned

Fell asleep in the sunshine, you would think she’d learn

If you gave her sweet lemon pie, she’d ask for lime

If you gave her eight days a week, she’d hold out for nine

Now she says she wants to fall in love

One more time

If there was a garden, they’ve closed the gate

Our friend she is knocking, she knows that she’s late

Empty with hunger, she whispers with thirst

I know you don’t trust her, you saw her at her worst

When she begged for a nickel and you gave her a dime

And she still showed up on Sunday to drink the free wine

Now she says she wants to fall in love one more time

If you gave her an apple, she’d plant the seed

Kneel in the garden, get dirt on her knees

There would be sweet trees and shade if she had her way

Somehow I believe her when I hear her say

That she could be true, she could even be kind

Could see it through, finish the line

She could be true, she could even be kind

Do you think you could spare her one more rhyme?

Would you let her fall in love

She only wants to fall in love

Asking please to fall in love

Begging please to fall in love

Would you let her fall in love

One more time?

Kristin: guitar / Ruth, Lyn & Aoife: harmony vocals / Robin: drums / Tom Ayres: electric guitar & bass

10. SOME DO

Not every oyster hides a pearl

Some questions don’t want an answer

If you’re counting all the raindrops, some never find the thirsty grass

But some do

How bout me and you?

Not many horses run the Derby

Some clocks just don’t keep good time

If you’re counting every snowflake, not many find an outstretched hand

But some do

How bout me and you?

How many hearts go untested?

How many loves go untasted?

How many listened when they said

Only a love saved is wasted?

Not every river finds the ocean

Not all the oceans grow with time

If you’re counting every kindness, some never find a grateful heart

But some do

How bout me and you?

I have got a heart that’s untested.

I’ve got a little bit of love left untasted.

The wiser ones, I once heard they said

Only a love saved is wasted.

Only a love unspent is wasted.

Not every song becomes a favorite

Not all good books get read again

If you’re counting every raindrop, some never find the thirsty grass

But some do

How bout me and you?

Kristin: tenor guitar & harmonica / Chris: guitar / Lawson: tambourine

Produced, Recorded & Mixed by Robin MacMillan

Except Tracks 3, 5 & 10 Produced, Recorded & Mixed by Lawson White

Track 2 vocals recorded by Jefferson Hamer

Track 7 mixed by Adam Armstrong

Mastered at Engine Room Audio by Dan Millice

Woodwinds arranged by Alec Spiegelman

Body percussion on “How the Water Walks” choreographed by Sandy Silva

Executive Producer Chris Eldridge

Cover art Doug Chayka

Photographs Laura Crosta

Album layout Claire Taylor Hansen

All songs by Kristin Andreassen / Yellowcar Music, ASCAP

All rights controlled & administered by Yellowcar Music, ASCAP

Most of these songs were either started or finished in a cabin on Three Mile Island in Lake Winnipesaukee, New Hampshire. For the past few years, I’ve carefully guarded a week in June for a trip to this island where I write with a group of friends known as the Sub Rosa Collective. Thanks to all the musicians in that crew, and to the Passim Iguana Music Fund for supporting our work.

Thank you to all the artists who contributed to this project. I’m in awe of you

talents. Sincere thanks also to Molly Driessen, Brad Paul, Nick Loss-Eaton,

Paul Loren, Tom Krueger, Alex Marvar, Launa Schweizer, Buck McAllister,

Rob Rock, Amy Helfand, Lucas Miller, everyone who backed the album on

Pledge Music, my Miles of Music Camp “family” and my real life family,

especially Mom and Dad. Special double thanks to Aoife, Critter and Michelle.

Thanks above all to Robin MacMillan, whose suggestion that I make a record was

just the first of his many tireless and soulful contributions to this project.

LUCIUS, DAWN LANDES, AOIFE O’DONOVAN OPINE ON KRISTIN ANDREASSEN’S NEW “SPECTACULAR” ‘GONDOLER’ (FEBRUARY 17)

WFUV’S JOHN PLATT: “GONDOLIER IS A BEAUTIFUL RECORD”

DAWN LANDES: “WARNING: THESE SONGS WILL FOLLOW YOU AROUND FOR DAYS”

Kristin Andreassen’s musical voyage from traditional folk to indie folk – culminating in the new album ‘Gondolier’ (February 17) – are apparent in the company that she keeps. On any given night, she might be hosting an old-time music jam in Brooklyn, recording backup vocals with Sufjan Stevens, calling a square dance in upstate New York, or singing onstage at Terminal 5 with Lucius.

WFUV’s John Platt, who hosted a set of hers at the On Your Radar concert Tuesday night, told the packed house, “‘Gondolier’ is a beautiful record.”

Andreassen says, “Being a part of the community in Brooklyn has been one of the most fulfilling parts of my career.” That respect is reflected right back at her from her peers:

Dawn Landes, with whom Andreassen has toured, says, "Andreassen has made another gorgeous album. These songs feel at once familiar and completely original. Her melodies seem to flow from a primeval stream. It's a perfect bed for these bemusing tales and subtle turns of phrase. Warning, these songs will follow you around for days! They are wonderful company."

Aoife O’Donovan, her former bandmate who sings on ‘Gondolier,’ says, “In Sometymes Why, we used to call Kristin ‘the mistress of metaphor.’ Her knack for drawing deep (and sometimes dark) meaning out of seemingly sweet lyrics is uncanny. On this new album, Kristin Andreassen has arrived at a whole new level- the production is spot-on, the songs eerily unique yet timeless, and her singing pristine. Gondolier is a spectacular record that we're going to be listening to for a long time…”

Holly Laessig of Lucius, with whom Andressen has sung backing vocals, says, “Kristin's new record Gondolier - it's an ear's chance to get a break from the New York winter and take a warm summer drive. "

Jess Wolfe, also of Lucius, declares, “Kristin's voice is effortless and silky smooth. The songs are refreshing and yet familiar. A gem for all to be delighted!”

Kristin Andreassen Tour Dates

12/17: Marlboro, NY - Concert & Square Dance (w/ Chris Eldridge & Mike + Ruthy)
12/31: Olivebridge, NY – Ashokan New Years Eve square dance
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)
1/10/2015: 1/10/2015: Cooperstown, NY – Cooperstown Concert Series (opening for David Wax Museum)
1/11/2015: Huntington, VT – Valley Stage (w/ Jefferson Hamer)
1/13/2015: New York, NY – Rockwood Music Hall, Stage 1
1/14/2015: Baltimore, MD – Calvert Street House Concerts
1/16/2015: Raleigh, NC – Duke Energy Center for the Arts (opening for Aoife O’Donovan)
1/18/2015: Charleston, WV - Mountain Stage
1/20/2015: Knoxville, TN - The Blue Plate Special
1/21/2015: Nashville, TN - Music City Roots

KRISTIN ANDREASSEN CASTS ‘GONDOLIER’ DOWNSTREAM FEB. 17

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

Kristin Andreassen - Gondolier Album Preview

Kristin Andreassen bio

Gondolier was born in isolation – a solitary flintspark nurtured into lantern light. Given life by a community of musicians committed to translating traditional music's lasting lessons into indefinable new truths, the result is beguiling, enticing. It’s an album that asks but only sometimes answers – and, for that reason, is all the more moving and uplifting.

At the back of the craft, her hand on the rémo, is Kristin Andreassen. She says her feet were her first instrument – and her years as a professional clogger lend an undeniable rhythmic undercurrent to her music. On her debut album, 2007's Kiss Me Hello, that rhythm bounced and swayed. Gondolier's pulse is more of a heartbeat: consistent, comforting, almost tidal – in keeping with the thematic elements that bind its songs. “Most of these were written on a quiet island in New Hampshire,” she explains. “So the lake itself shows up everywhere — rainstorms, boats, fish — submersive sounds and layers in the lyrics and the music.” Throughout Gondolier, rural and urban play against each other, in parallel to Andreassen’s explorations of the lines dividing fantasy from reality. “For some reason my dreams are all about water,” she sings in the title track “The Boat Song.” “It replaces the concrete, I can breathe it like air.”

These songs coalesced over a period of years – years in which Andreassen was performing and recording as a supporting musician and harmony singer with Aoife O'Donovan, Sufjan Stevens and Jeffrey Lewis, among others. She hosted a weekly old time session in Brooklyn, called square dances, founded a popular week-long music camp for adults, and occasionally performed her own music for a range of audiences. Over time, the sum of these experiences progressed into a sound both grounded and ethereal, brought to life by a unique ecosystem of performers and writers. “I feel very lucky to be a part of this community where many of us have some background in traditional music,” Andreassen says. “When we write songs, I think we're choosing what to carry with us from the folk music we know, and we’re asking what newness we have to offer from our own modern experience.”

Gondolier entered the water when producer and percussionist Robin MacMillan invited her to record a few songs in his home studio in Williamsburg, just for fun. “Robin is one of the purest artists I’ve ever encountered,” she says of MacMillan, who has performed and recorded with Aoife O'Donovan, Mike + Ruthy (aka Michael Merenda and Ruth Ungar of The Mammals), and Christina Courtin. “He wants to make beautiful sounds and serve the song, and he doesn’t care how long it takes. He’ll try any number of different things before settling on one approach. That was great for me, because it got me off the obvious path. I could have made a record more quickly with strumming guitars, fiddles, and banjos, but we chose to do something else.”

That “something else” is as difficult to describe as it is to resist. Beds of circular finger-picked figures blur the boundary between organic and mechanical; wood-toned clarinets give the sensation of breath; percussion alternately laps like waves and rolls like thunder. While every element is identifiable, the ensembles are arrayed and arranged in intriguing, counter-intuitive ways that beautifully illuminate Andreassen's observations and ruminations.

The musical approach, deriving from hours of experimentation, is decades away from the “old time” sound that Andreassen was known for in her time touring with the clogging company Footworks or with her stringband Uncle Earl, or even from the friendly kitchen folk sound of Kiss Me Hello. “With these new songs  traditional music seeps in through the lyrics above all,” she says. The song “‘Simmon” self-consciously steals verses wholesale from the folksy standard “The Crawdad Song,” while the choruses pay back the theft with a poetic nod to nostalgia itself, and the way human memory is the traveling companion of any old song.

Other fragments of traditional songs appear like trail markers, carefully placed throughout Gondolier to guide the listener. “The Boat Song” echoes an ageless children's round while reflecting on choices one makes from childhood to the present day. “That's the most autobiographical song on the record,” Andreassen says. “The first verse is completely true: If you ask my parents, they'll say all I ever did as a kid was daydream and bounce a ball against the garage door.” Twin organ parts recall aging fairground calliopes, as Andreassen's observations spiral outward from childhood dreams to adult consequences – searching for the wonder and truth in both.

The gently swinging “Azalea” emerged from a specific moment – a chilly, early spring wedding in Louisiana. “I started writing it the day of the wedding,” Andreassen says. “These friends of mine got married in their backyard. It was cold and grey, and they built a big fire. It started raining, and we ended up dancing a big hole in the lawn.” Embroidered by lightly twanging guitars and accented by harmonizing clarinet and flute, “Azalea” becomes a meditation on commitment and change. “As I get older,” she continues, “these are questions that I'm asking myself now. How do you stay with the people you love? How do you grow and change but still be in that relationship?” The answer comes to her in this song, as she realizes that, to keep time and love in balance, she must “change like a tree, slow and even…”.

Gondolier's original sessions with MacMillan at the helm were subsequently complimented with three songs recorded with percussionist Lawson White acting as producer. These recordings share the same spirit of adventure and experimentation, while adding a bracing dose of immediacy. “Some Do” was recorded live on the studio floor with Andreassen on tenor guitar and harmonica, White on percussion, and Chris Eldridge of the Punch Brothers on acoustic guitar. 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 (The Mammals, Mike + Ruthy), and Cassandra Jenkins (Eleanor Friedberger).

A native of Portland, Oregon, Andreassen's own roots as a performer stretch back to her early years touring as a featured dancer in the Maryland-based Footworks Percussive Dance Ensemble. In 2003 she joined Uncle Earl, a pioneering all-g'Earl stringband that blended traditional and modern influences. With Uncle Earl, she toured the world, appearing on such festival stages as Bonnaroo, Telluride, and Celtic Connections, and released two well-received albums for Rounder Records, including the acclaimed Waterloo, Tennessee,  produced by former Led Zeppelin multi-instrumentalist John Paul Jones. Andreassen's debut record, Kiss Me Hello, was released in 2007 and featured her song “Crayola Doesn't Make a Color for Your Eyes” – co-written with fellow dancer Megan Downes and winner of the children's music category of the John Lennon Songwriting Contest. She also recorded two albums with Sometymes Why, the irreverent and evocative trio she formed with Ruth Merenda and Aoife O'Donovan.

Constantly on the road, Andreassen only put down roots in Brooklyn a few years ago, where she quickly integrated herself into the vibrant avant-roots scene that helped bring Gondolier into the world. Depending on the night, she can be found driving fiddle tunes on acoustic guitar, adding bells, ukulele, or harmonica to an indie-folk outfit, or performing her own songs on her own. It's the latter that intrigues her most these days. “I feel like I've gone in reverse,” she says. “I started with full bands playing old time tunes, but lately I've been dialing it back to just me, a guitar, and a song…I like the freedom of being able to interpret my own song on the spot.”

From its most orchestrated moments to its smallest gestures, that conversational intimacy and willingness to take changes enriches every aspect of Gondolier. “We took our time making this record,” Andreassen concludes. “Looking back, I can still feel how the quiet space of being on that island informs these songs. They are thoughtful and more philosophical than I've been in the past. I can't shake the idea that, when you chose to do something, you close off a door to something else. I wanted to pay respect to the various dreams that we've all had but chosen not to pursue: Those dreams have a certain untapped power that, if we let them, can inspire us while telling us more about who we are…”.

WFUV WELCOMES KRISTIN ANDREASSEN FOR ON YOUR RADAR CONCERT AT ROCKWOOD MUSIC HALL STAGE 3 DECEMBER 9

Kristin Andreassen – the former member of Uncle Earl and Sometymes Why whose new indie-folk album ‘Gondolier’ comes out in February – will join a WFUV-curated concert hosted by John Platt December 9 at Rockwood Music Hall, Stage 3. Possessing one of Brooklyn’s finest singing voices, Andreassen has already joined Black Prairie and Dawn Landes for tours and is confirmed on nationally syndicated radio shows Music City Roots (Nashville, TN) and Mountain Stage (Charleston, WV) for early 2015. Andreassen’s sound benefits from the unexpected, both lyrically and melodically.

WHO: Kristin Andreassen, with WFUV’s John Platt, Zak Smith, and The Hello Strangers
WHAT: WFUV On Your Radar Concert
WHEN: 7pm, December 9, 2014
WHERE: Rockwood Music Hall, Stage 3, 196 Allen Street, NYC 10002
TICKETS: $12 via Rockwood box office or at TicketFly

Kristin Andreassen artwork

 credit: Laura Crosta

 credit: Laura Crosta