Red Ryder Entertainment
chicago, illinois 60622, info@rryder.com
773.384.0050 voice, 773.384.0070 fax
The shimmering sound of Sharon
Van Etten'sJagjaguwar debut
album, Tramp, both
defies and illuminates the unsteadiness of a life in flux.
Throughout the 14 months of scattered recording sessions, Van
Etten was without a home -- crashing with friends and storing her
possessions between varied locations. The only constant in Van
Etten's life during this time was spent in the garage studio
of The
National's Aaron Dessner.
A two year journey brought her to that point of instability. Upon
the release of epic (Ba
Da Bing; 2010), Sharon Van Etten surprised the music world with a
touching embrace. Having established herself as a
reliable performer around New York, and coming off the
release of her spartan first effort, Because
I Was In Love (Language
of Stone; 2009), Van Etten created a short album of diverse songs
connected by a shared goal of expanded sound and her unmistakable
voice. Fans quickly picked favorites, discovered their choices
changing, then changing yet again. That is the magic
of epic;
the intricate, understated record covered so much ground within
its 33 minutes, it required more than an initial half hour to
absorb. Since epic's
release, she has opened the Pitchfork Music Festival, played The
Hollywood Bowl with Neko Case and at Radio City Music Hall with
The Antlers, sung on new records for Beirut and Ed Askew, and
collaborated with Bon Iver's Justin Vernon and Megafaun on
the Songs
Of The South project.
Dessner, the guitarist of The National, heard Van Etten early on,
Dessner covered "Love More" from epic in
collaboration with Justin
Vernon.
Van Etten contacted Dessner, and almost immediately they formed
plans for working together. Dessner offered both a location for
Van Etten to record new songs, as well as the opinions of a wise
producer.
One year later, and Van Etten unveils Tramp,
an album showcasing an artist in full control of her
powers. Tramp contains
as much striking rock (the precise venom of “Serpents,” the
overwhelming power of “Ask”), as pious, minimal beauty (the
earnest solemnity of “All I Can,” the breathtaking “Kevins,”
“Joke or a Lie”); it can be as emotionally combative (“Give Out”)
as it can sultry (“Magic Chords”). Contributions from Matt
Barrick (Walkmen), Thomas
Bartlett (Doveman), Zach
Condon (Beirut), Jenn
Wasner (Wye Oak),Julianna
Barwick,
and Dessner himself add a glowing sheen to the already
substantial offering.
Van Etten has traveled far, and if her displacement took an
emotional toll, she offset those setbacks with a powerfully
articulated vision. And so, once again, each listener will
discover their own moments along the way, and the debates as to
the best song start anew.
| 2.22 | Montreal, QC | Il Motore |
| 2.23 | Boston, MA | Paradise Rock Club |
| 2.24 | Brooklyn, NY | MHOW |
| 2.25 | New York, NY | The Bowery Ballroom |
| 2.26 | New York, NY | The Bowery Ballroom |
| 3.14 | Austin, TX | NPR SXSW at Stubb's |
| 3.20 | Los Angeles, CA | The Avalon |
| 3.21 | San Francisco, CA | The Independent |
| 3.23 | Portland, OR | The Alladin Theater |
| 3.24 | Vancouver, BC | Biltmore Cabaret |
| 3.25 | Seattle, WA | Neptune Theatre |
| 3.27 | Salt Lake City, UT | The State Room |
| 3.28 | Denver, CO | The Bluebird Theater |
| 3.30 | Iowa City, IA | Mission Creek Festival |
| 3.31 | St Louis, MO | The Luminary Center |
| 4.1 | Bloomington, IN | Rhino's |
| 4.19 | Baltimore, MD | Ottobar |
| 4.20 | Charlottesville, VA | Jefferson Theatre |
| 4.21 | Asheville, NC | Grey Eagle |
| 4.22 | Birmingham, AL | Bottletree Cafe |
| 4.24 | Knoxville, TN | The Square Room |
| 4.25 | Atlanta, GA | The Earl |
| 4.26 | Nashville, TN | Mercy Lounge |
| 4.27 | Cincinnati, OH | Mayday Northside |
| 4.28 | Pittsburgh, PA | Carnegie Lecture Hall |
| 6.21 | Philadelphia, PA | Union Transfer |
| 8.4 | Minneapolis, MN | First Avenue |
