Anaïs Mitchell — Xoa
♠ Anaïs Mitchell má hlas a spisovatelský pohled, jako nikdo jiný. Je to zejména zájmem o svět kolem sebe stejně jako o ten uvnitř ní a tím je její psaní vitální a přímé.
♠ Anaïs Mitchell je především vypravěčka. Předtím vydala pět alb včetně senzačně recenzovaného Hadestown — lidová opera na základě mýtu (Orpheus) a 2012 Young Man in America, které bylo oceněno ve Velké Británii listem Independent jako "an epic tale of American becoming", a za kterou získala nominaci na BBC Radio Two Folk Award za nejlepší původní píseň.
♠ Acoustic Guitar Magazine ji označil za “nebojácně emotivní” a nabízí srovnání: Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen a Gillian Welch.
Born: March 26, 1981
Location: Marshfield, VT
Album release: October 6, 2014
Record Label: Wilderland Records
Duration: 48:44
Tracks:
01 Any Way the Wind Blows 2:30
02 Out of Pawn 4:13
03 Your Fonder Heart 3:21
04 Why We Build the Wall 3:35
05 Now You Know 3:09
06 If It's True 3:19
07 Namesake 2:41
08 Young Man in America 4:02
09 Two Kids 3:46
10 The Pursewarden Affair 2:31
11 His Kiss the Riot 2:33
12 Come September 2:50
13 You Are Forgiven 3:23
14 Our Lady of the Underground 3:18
15 Cosmic American 3:41
Notes:
♠ Mitchell's father is a novelist and college professor and named her after author Anaïs Nin. She grew up on a farm in Addison County, Vermont, and after traveling to the Middle East, Europe and Latin America as a child, she attended Middlebury College.
♠ Anaïs Mitchell is first and foremost a storyteller. As a Vermont–based singer–songwriter, Mitchell recorded for Ani Difranco's Righteous Babe Records for several years before starting her own Wilderland label in 2012. Among her recorded works are five full–length albums, including 2010's sensationally–reviewed Hadestown — a folk opera based on the Orpheus myth — and 2012's Young Man in America, which was described by the UK's Independent as 'an epic tale of American becoming' and for which she received a BBC Radio Two Folk Award nomination for Best Original Song. Mitchell has headlined worldwide as well as supporting tours for Bon Iver, Ani Difranco, The Low Anthem (all of whom appear as guest singers on Hadestown), Richard Thompson, Josh Ritter and Punch Brothers. 2013 saw the release of Child Ballads, a collaboration with Jefferson Hamer, featuring traditional Celtic and British Isles ballads. 
© Anaïs Mitchell, Seattle, Washington
____________________________________________________________
Description:
♠ Following the enormous critical success of 2010's Hadestown, 2012's Young Man in America and 2013's Child Ballads, Anais Mitchell goes back to basics with xoa. The album is a fifteen track solo collection, including re–recorded songs up to ten years old; several from Hadestown (recorded in Mitchell's own voice for the first time); and some completely new and previously unrecorded songs. They were taped during two sessions in Nashville with engineer/producer Gary Paczosa (who also produced Child Ballads). Why xoa? It's Mitchell's customary sign–off at the end of a correspondence — hugs, kisses, Anaïs — and she sees the project as just that: a correspondence between herself and her audience, especially those familiar with her songs from way back. 'I chose the songs in response to requests from people over the years. It felt like the right time. Last summer I had a baby, and I wasn't sure when I'd be able to get back in the studio, so when the chance came up to work with Gary [Paczosa] on something again, I jumped on it... xoa is what came out of those sessions. If the title were longer, it would be dear audience, thank you for everything'.
♠ Xoa, a grab–bag of a record from Anaïs Mitchell includes revisits of old songs that failed to work on previous albums, her own versions of songs sung by others on her wry Orphean operetta Hadestown, and some new material. They were taped during two sessions in Nashville with engineer/producer Gary Paczosa, who produced Child Ballads.
♠ Why xoa? ” It’s Mitchell’s customary signoff at the end of a correspondence — “hugs, kisses, Anaïs” — and she sees the project as just that: a correspondence between herself and her audience, especially those familiar with her songs from way back. “I chose the songs in response to requests from people over the years. It felt like the right time. Last summer I had a baby, and I wasn’t sure when I’d be able to get back in the studio, so when the chance came up to work with Gary on something again, I jumped on it… xoa is what came out of those sessions. If the title were longer, it would be dear audience, thank you for everything”.
♠ Paczosa has a gift for capturing the female voice and directing the ear to the lyric line. If there’s a common thread in Mitchell’s writing — and the breadth of it is represented well on xoa — it’s that she’s as interested in the world around her as the one inside her. She has a way of tackling big themes with the same emotional intimacy most artists use to describe their inner lives. “That’s why,” as one journalist put it, “even in her most intimate moments, she never sounds like a confessional songwriter.”
Artist Biography by Margaret Reges
♠ Heavily influenced by the confessional alternative folk stylings of Ani DiFranco, Anaïs Mitchell began writing songs when she was 17. Born in Vermont, she attended Middlebury College and traveled throughout the Middle East, Latin America, and Europe studying global politics before alighting in Austin, TX, in the early 2000s. She released her first album, The Song They Sang When Rome Fell, in 2002. Mitchell performed at the Kerrville Folk Festival the following year, where she was awarded with the New Folk award. Her second album, Hymns for the Exiled, came out on Waterbug Records in 2004, and a copy eventually made its way to DiFranco herself. The folk icon attended a few of Mitchell's performances and offered her a deal at Righteous Babe Records soon after. The Brightness, Mitchell's debut on that label, arrived in February 2007. In 2006, Mitchell debuted her "folk opera" Hadestown in collaboration with arranger Michael Chorney and director Ben T. Matchstick based on the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice and set in a futurist poverty–striken America. ♠ A second draft was performed by the a group called the Hadestown Company in 2007. An album entitled Hadestown with appearances from Greg Brown, DiFranco and Bon Iver's Justin Vernon was released on Righteous Babe in March of 2010.
REVIEW
♠ Anaïs Mitchell has a voice and writer perspective like no one else’s. She’s as interested in the world around her as the one inside her and her songwriting is vivid and direct. In the last ten years she’s made five acclaimed albums; one on Waterbug, two for Ani DeFranco’s Righteous Babe label and the last three on her own Wilderland Records. Her operetta Hadestown was based on the Orpheus/Eurydice mythos and performed internationally with an orchestra and eight guests singing each night. She is no stranger to Portland and even lived here for awhile at the turn of the century.
♠ Last year, Mitchell released a duo project with Jefferson Hamer singing English and Scottish tradtional songs by Francis Child and won the 2014 BBC Folk Award for Best Traditional Song. Then her daughter was born and a well–deserved break from the road was taken.
♠ Her new disc is as basic as can be — Anäis Mitchell and fifteen original songs sung solo. Her performance at Doug Fir, 830 E. Burnside on Saturday September 13 will be solo as well and the excellent sound there will surely make for a pin–drop silent music evening.
♠ “I’ve always loved solo shows, watching them and playing them,” she said. “There’s nowhere for anyone to hide.”
♠ Her new CD is named xoa, her customary signoff at the end of a correspondence. ♠ “If the title were longer,” she said, “it would be: dear audience, thank you for everything”. :: http://southeastexaminer.com/
Website: http://anaismitchell.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/anaismitchell
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AnaisMitchellMusic?rf=108174739207166
Press: USA: Emilee Warner / UK:
Agent: USA & Canada: Josh International / Europe: Paul
♠ Anaïs Mitchell has had a busy few years. First there was 2010's sensationally reviewed Hadestown, a folk opera based on the Orpheus myth. Then 2012's Young Man in America, described by the UK's Independent as 'an epic tale of American becoming'. In 2013 she released a collection of reworked English and Scottish traditional songs with Jefferson Hamer called Child Ballads (the opening track “Willie of Winsbury” won the 2014 BBC Folk Award for Best Traditional Song).
♠ Mitchell toured with different outfits for each release: a six–member orchestra and up to eight guest singers during Hadestown; her four–piece folk–rock Young Man Band
(which also toured in support of Bon Iver); and the two–guitar, close harmony duo of
Child Ballads. Now, Mitchell is going back to basics. xoa is a fifteen–track solo collection. It includes rerecorded songs up to ten years old; several from Hadestown (recorded in her own voice for the first time); as well as some completely new and previously unrecorded songs. They were taped during two sessions in Nashville with
engineer/producer Gary Paczosa, who produced Child Ballads. The album comes out
at the beginning of October as a limited release on Mitchell’s own Wilderland
Records, and she will tour the USA and Europe — solo, of course.
♠ “I’ve always loved solo shows, watching them and playing them,” says Mitchell.
♠ “There’s nowhere for anyone to hide.”
Why xoa? " It’s Mitchell’s customary signoff at the end of a correspondence — “hugs,
kisses, Anaïs” — and she sees the project as just that: a correspondence between
herself and her audience, especially those familiar with her songs from way back.
“I chose the songs in response to requests from people over the years. It felt like the right time. Last summer I had a baby, and I wasn’t sure when I’d be able to get back in the studio, so when the chance came up to work with Gary [Paczosa] on something again, I jumped on it… xoa is what came out of those sessions. If the title were longer, it would be dear audience, thank you for everything”.
♠ Paczosa has a gift for capturing the female voice and directing the ear to the lyric line.
♠ If there's a common thread in Mitchell's writing — and the breadth of it is represented
well on xoa — it's that she's as interested in the world around her as the one inside her. She has a way of tackling big themes with the same emotional intimacy most artists use to describe their inner lives. "That's why," as one journalist put it, "even in her most intimate moments, she never sounds like a confessional songwriter." ~ ♣ photo © by Jay Sansone
Discography:
• The Song They Sang... When Rome Fell (2002)
• Hymns for the Exiled (2004) Waterbug Records
• The Brightness (2007) Righteous Babe Records
• Country E.P. (2008) Righteous Babe Records (with Rachel Ries)
• Hadestown (2010) Righteous Babe Records (with Ani DiFranco, Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, Greg Brown and Ben Knox Miller)
• Young Man in America (2012) Wilderland Records
• Child Ballads (2013) Wilderland Records (with Jefferson Hamer)
• xoa (2014) Wilderland Records
____________________________________________________________
♠ Anaïs Mitchell má hlas a spisovatelský pohled, jako nikdo jiný. Je to zejména zájmem o svět kolem sebe stejně jako o ten uvnitř ní a tím je její psaní vitální a přímé.
♠ Anaïs Mitchell je především vypravěčka. Předtím vydala pět alb včetně senzačně recenzovaného Hadestown — lidová opera na základě mýtu (Orpheus) a 2012 Young Man in America, které bylo oceněno ve Velké Británii listem Independent jako "an epic tale of American becoming", a za kterou získala nominaci na BBC Radio Two Folk Award za nejlepší původní píseň.
♠ Acoustic Guitar Magazine ji označil za “nebojácně emotivní” a nabízí srovnání: Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen a Gillian Welch.
Born: March 26, 1981
Location: Marshfield, VT
Album release: October 6, 2014
Record Label: Wilderland Records
Duration: 48:44
Tracks:
01 Any Way the Wind Blows 2:30
02 Out of Pawn 4:13
03 Your Fonder Heart 3:21
04 Why We Build the Wall 3:35
05 Now You Know 3:09
06 If It's True 3:19
07 Namesake 2:41
08 Young Man in America 4:02
09 Two Kids 3:46
10 The Pursewarden Affair 2:31
11 His Kiss the Riot 2:33
12 Come September 2:50
13 You Are Forgiven 3:23
14 Our Lady of the Underground 3:18
15 Cosmic American 3:41
Notes:
♠ Mitchell's father is a novelist and college professor and named her after author Anaïs Nin. She grew up on a farm in Addison County, Vermont, and after traveling to the Middle East, Europe and Latin America as a child, she attended Middlebury College.
♠ Anaïs Mitchell is first and foremost a storyteller. As a Vermont–based singer–songwriter, Mitchell recorded for Ani Difranco's Righteous Babe Records for several years before starting her own Wilderland label in 2012. Among her recorded works are five full–length albums, including 2010's sensationally–reviewed Hadestown — a folk opera based on the Orpheus myth — and 2012's Young Man in America, which was described by the UK's Independent as 'an epic tale of American becoming' and for which she received a BBC Radio Two Folk Award nomination for Best Original Song. Mitchell has headlined worldwide as well as supporting tours for Bon Iver, Ani Difranco, The Low Anthem (all of whom appear as guest singers on Hadestown), Richard Thompson, Josh Ritter and Punch Brothers. 2013 saw the release of Child Ballads, a collaboration with Jefferson Hamer, featuring traditional Celtic and British Isles ballads.
____________________________________________________________
Description:
♠ Following the enormous critical success of 2010's Hadestown, 2012's Young Man in America and 2013's Child Ballads, Anais Mitchell goes back to basics with xoa. The album is a fifteen track solo collection, including re–recorded songs up to ten years old; several from Hadestown (recorded in Mitchell's own voice for the first time); and some completely new and previously unrecorded songs. They were taped during two sessions in Nashville with engineer/producer Gary Paczosa (who also produced Child Ballads). Why xoa? It's Mitchell's customary sign–off at the end of a correspondence — hugs, kisses, Anaïs — and she sees the project as just that: a correspondence between herself and her audience, especially those familiar with her songs from way back. 'I chose the songs in response to requests from people over the years. It felt like the right time. Last summer I had a baby, and I wasn't sure when I'd be able to get back in the studio, so when the chance came up to work with Gary [Paczosa] on something again, I jumped on it... xoa is what came out of those sessions. If the title were longer, it would be dear audience, thank you for everything'.
♠ Xoa, a grab–bag of a record from Anaïs Mitchell includes revisits of old songs that failed to work on previous albums, her own versions of songs sung by others on her wry Orphean operetta Hadestown, and some new material. They were taped during two sessions in Nashville with engineer/producer Gary Paczosa, who produced Child Ballads.
♠ Why xoa? ” It’s Mitchell’s customary signoff at the end of a correspondence — “hugs, kisses, Anaïs” — and she sees the project as just that: a correspondence between herself and her audience, especially those familiar with her songs from way back. “I chose the songs in response to requests from people over the years. It felt like the right time. Last summer I had a baby, and I wasn’t sure when I’d be able to get back in the studio, so when the chance came up to work with Gary on something again, I jumped on it… xoa is what came out of those sessions. If the title were longer, it would be dear audience, thank you for everything”.
♠ Paczosa has a gift for capturing the female voice and directing the ear to the lyric line. If there’s a common thread in Mitchell’s writing — and the breadth of it is represented well on xoa — it’s that she’s as interested in the world around her as the one inside her. She has a way of tackling big themes with the same emotional intimacy most artists use to describe their inner lives. “That’s why,” as one journalist put it, “even in her most intimate moments, she never sounds like a confessional songwriter.”
Artist Biography by Margaret Reges
♠ Heavily influenced by the confessional alternative folk stylings of Ani DiFranco, Anaïs Mitchell began writing songs when she was 17. Born in Vermont, she attended Middlebury College and traveled throughout the Middle East, Latin America, and Europe studying global politics before alighting in Austin, TX, in the early 2000s. She released her first album, The Song They Sang When Rome Fell, in 2002. Mitchell performed at the Kerrville Folk Festival the following year, where she was awarded with the New Folk award. Her second album, Hymns for the Exiled, came out on Waterbug Records in 2004, and a copy eventually made its way to DiFranco herself. The folk icon attended a few of Mitchell's performances and offered her a deal at Righteous Babe Records soon after. The Brightness, Mitchell's debut on that label, arrived in February 2007. In 2006, Mitchell debuted her "folk opera" Hadestown in collaboration with arranger Michael Chorney and director Ben T. Matchstick based on the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice and set in a futurist poverty–striken America. ♠ A second draft was performed by the a group called the Hadestown Company in 2007. An album entitled Hadestown with appearances from Greg Brown, DiFranco and Bon Iver's Justin Vernon was released on Righteous Babe in March of 2010.
REVIEW
♠ Anaïs Mitchell has a voice and writer perspective like no one else’s. She’s as interested in the world around her as the one inside her and her songwriting is vivid and direct. In the last ten years she’s made five acclaimed albums; one on Waterbug, two for Ani DeFranco’s Righteous Babe label and the last three on her own Wilderland Records. Her operetta Hadestown was based on the Orpheus/Eurydice mythos and performed internationally with an orchestra and eight guests singing each night. She is no stranger to Portland and even lived here for awhile at the turn of the century.
♠ Last year, Mitchell released a duo project with Jefferson Hamer singing English and Scottish tradtional songs by Francis Child and won the 2014 BBC Folk Award for Best Traditional Song. Then her daughter was born and a well–deserved break from the road was taken.
♠ Her new disc is as basic as can be — Anäis Mitchell and fifteen original songs sung solo. Her performance at Doug Fir, 830 E. Burnside on Saturday September 13 will be solo as well and the excellent sound there will surely make for a pin–drop silent music evening.
♠ “I’ve always loved solo shows, watching them and playing them,” she said. “There’s nowhere for anyone to hide.”
♠ Her new CD is named xoa, her customary signoff at the end of a correspondence. ♠ “If the title were longer,” she said, “it would be: dear audience, thank you for everything”. :: http://southeastexaminer.com/
Website: http://anaismitchell.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/anaismitchell
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AnaisMitchellMusic?rf=108174739207166
Press: USA: Emilee Warner / UK:
Agent: USA & Canada: Josh International / Europe: Paul
♠ Anaïs Mitchell has had a busy few years. First there was 2010's sensationally reviewed Hadestown, a folk opera based on the Orpheus myth. Then 2012's Young Man in America, described by the UK's Independent as 'an epic tale of American becoming'. In 2013 she released a collection of reworked English and Scottish traditional songs with Jefferson Hamer called Child Ballads (the opening track “Willie of Winsbury” won the 2014 BBC Folk Award for Best Traditional Song).
♠ Mitchell toured with different outfits for each release: a six–member orchestra and up to eight guest singers during Hadestown; her four–piece folk–rock Young Man Band
(which also toured in support of Bon Iver); and the two–guitar, close harmony duo of
Child Ballads. Now, Mitchell is going back to basics. xoa is a fifteen–track solo collection. It includes rerecorded songs up to ten years old; several from Hadestown (recorded in her own voice for the first time); as well as some completely new and previously unrecorded songs. They were taped during two sessions in Nashville with
engineer/producer Gary Paczosa, who produced Child Ballads. The album comes out
at the beginning of October as a limited release on Mitchell’s own Wilderland
Records, and she will tour the USA and Europe — solo, of course.
♠ “I’ve always loved solo shows, watching them and playing them,” says Mitchell.
♠ “There’s nowhere for anyone to hide.”
Why xoa? " It’s Mitchell’s customary signoff at the end of a correspondence — “hugs,
kisses, Anaïs” — and she sees the project as just that: a correspondence between
herself and her audience, especially those familiar with her songs from way back.
“I chose the songs in response to requests from people over the years. It felt like the right time. Last summer I had a baby, and I wasn’t sure when I’d be able to get back in the studio, so when the chance came up to work with Gary [Paczosa] on something again, I jumped on it… xoa is what came out of those sessions. If the title were longer, it would be dear audience, thank you for everything”.
♠ Paczosa has a gift for capturing the female voice and directing the ear to the lyric line.
♠ If there's a common thread in Mitchell's writing — and the breadth of it is represented
well on xoa — it's that she's as interested in the world around her as the one inside her. She has a way of tackling big themes with the same emotional intimacy most artists use to describe their inner lives. "That's why," as one journalist put it, "even in her most intimate moments, she never sounds like a confessional songwriter." ~ ♣ photo © by Jay Sansone
Discography:
• The Song They Sang... When Rome Fell (2002)
• Hymns for the Exiled (2004) Waterbug Records
• The Brightness (2007) Righteous Babe Records
• Country E.P. (2008) Righteous Babe Records (with Rachel Ries)
• Hadestown (2010) Righteous Babe Records (with Ani DiFranco, Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, Greg Brown and Ben Knox Miller)
• Young Man in America (2012) Wilderland Records
• Child Ballads (2013) Wilderland Records (with Jefferson Hamer)
• xoa (2014) Wilderland Records
____________________________________________________________