Music
Beacon
October 4, 2019
Beacon was written when I arrived in LA, amidst settling into a new city, starting the NELA Song Salon with Adam Levy, beginning work at the LA College of Music, and finding out I was pregnant. The bulk of this collection intersects at a place of great transition, of searching for light. This album panned three years: Tyler and I prepped the songs for weeks. We tracked half of the album live in one full day, and the other half in pieces between Tyler’s studio & Jay’s house throughout the last few months of my pregnancy, wrapping all of the tracking two weeks before giving birth. Todd joined the project and mixed this album about six months later, and Tyler and I worked for another six months following with Eric Boulanger who had worked on my first two albums in college. From its writing to release, this album journeyed in tandem with the pregnancy, birth, infancy, and toddlerhood of my son — Jasper.
Produced by Tyler Chester & Anna Vogelzang. Engineered by Tyler Chester at Paperchaser Studio, Shabby Road, and by Pete Min at Lucy’s Meat Market in Los Angeles. Mixed by Todd Sickafoose at Earycanal. Mastered by Eric Boulanger at The Bakery in Los Angeles.
Hiker
May 6, 2016
I made Hiker in Eugene, Oregon with Todd Sickafoose and Shane Leonard. Most of these songs were written in a cabin in the woods in Wisconsin; many of the songs pre-dated my 2014 album Driftless, but we were saving them for this particular collection. Working with Todd and Shane for two weeks in the studio together was a total dream. This was the first time I’d ever recorded live in the room, and the first time I’d ever stepped aside to let someone else produce an album of mine. It was a musically heart-opening project.
Produced by Todd Sickafoose. Engineered by Billy Barnett at Gung-Ho Studio and Todd Sickafoose at Earycanal in Eugene, OR. Mixed by Todd Sickafoose at Earycanal. Mastered by Alan Douches at West West Side Audio in NYC.
Driftless
November 11, 2014
Driftless was the first album I made in Madison, WI, though I’d lived there for six years. I’d spent so much time on the road and traveling to record, it was an amazing thing to be rooted during the recording process. Driftless is my love letter to Wisconsin; I made it during a year that I was writing a song a week for “Real Women Real Songs”, and the majority of the songs on this album were written for that project.
Produced by Anna Vogelzang. Engineered by Mike Zirkel at Audio for the Arts in Madison, WI. Mixed by James Frazee in Brooklyn, NY. Mastered by Warren Russell-Smith.
Canary in a Coal Mine
February 28, 2012
Canary was the culmination of touring for four years, making time for the craft of songwriting for the first time, and of the momentum that came from releasing albums so quickly in succession. I locked myself in a cabin in the Wisconsin woods to write and demo many these songs. In 2011, I turned to Kickstarter to fund the making of the album, which brought me to New York to record with a dreamy band of friends that felt like family.
Produced by Anna Vogelzang. Engineered & mixed by James Frazee, assisted by Frank Lopez at Hobo Sound in Weehawken, NJ. Additional recording at Water Music in Hoboken, NJ, assisted by Sean Kelly. Mastered by Warren Russell-Smith in the Blue Room at the Magic Shop. Featuring a cello ensemble arranged by Emily Hope Price.
Secret Cedar Room (EP)
October 5, 2010
This was a little EP we put out ahead of Canary in a Coal Mine, including 3 acoustic versions of songs on LP, and a banjo, sing-along cover of “The Sign” by Ace of Base.
Produced by Anna Vogelzang. Mixed & Mastered by James Frazee at Aubergine.
Paper Boats
April 6, 2010
Paper Boats was my first album after touring non-stop for two years, written on the road from 2008-2010. We dove into lots of production on this one, trying to recreate the sounds of the DIY touring circuit. This was during a phase where I would pass out percussion instruments and lead singalongs during my live shows. I knew I wanted to make this album with my friend Djim Reynolds; I’d made a little tour home in Portsmouth and was excited to set up camp to record, following a writing retreat on Star Island. It was a magical process and a lot of it comes out in the songs.
Produced by Anna Vogelzang. Engineered & Mixed by Djim Reynolds at the Electric Cave in Portsmouth, NH. Mastered by Eric Hester in Madison, WI. Featuring the Rhapsody-Trinity Children’s Choir and a string arrangement by Katherine Pukinskis.
Marry Me (EP)
February 9, 2010
This was my first time pressing a 7” vinyl! It features my rendition of Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” — the day that song came out, I drank a bunch of wine and recorded a banjo cover for youtube; this album features a slightly more refined version of that cover. It also includes two B-sides from the Paper Boats recording session that didn’t make the final album.
Produced by Anna Vogelzang.
Listen: Bandcamp
Nesting (EP)
January 15, 2009
Written between Autumn 2007 & 2008, these songs explore a long distance relationship, the intricacies/struggles of family, and what it feels like to be in your early twenties and living in a small apartment in a big city for the first time. I recorded two of these songs while in Portsmouth NH, and the rest in my home studio after moving to Madison, WI in late 2008. “Love & thanks to all the people who talked with me on the phone on the many drives up & down I-90.”
Produced by Anna Vogelzang. Recorded in Anna’s Laundry Room in Madison, WI & Guy’s Attic in Portsmouth, NH. Mixed & Mastered by Eric Boulanger in Ojai, CA. Featuring a co-write with Andrew Young.
The Things That Airplanes Do
April 1, 2007
Airplanes was my senior thesis for music school, and pulled out all the stops that one would expect a music student to pull out. It was much more of an undertaking than my first album, recorded over about 8 months, featuring bass, drums, guitar, and violin as the core band. There are additions of full string sections, flute, piano, timpani, and a large scale choir. Alongside classical voice, I spent my last two college years studying poetry, jazz guitar, and sound engineering, all of which were implemented in writing and producing this album. Most of the songs were rooted in heavy travel and explore the closeness of distance. The album includes a liner note to “Chicago, Philadelphia, Harare, Boston, Pittsburgh, and New York.”
Produced by Anna Vogelzang. Recorded at the Carnegie Mellon University Studios in Pittsburgh, PA. Engineered & Mixed by Eric Boulanger. Mastered by Ron McMaster at Capitol Records in Los Angeles. Featuring two string quintet arrangements by Katherine Pukinskis.
Learn more about the making of The Things That Airplanes Do.
Listen: iTunes
Some Kind of Parade
January 1, 2005
This was the first collection of songs I ever recorded in a real studio. I spent the first two years of college writing furiously, epically, and completely enamored with everything the art entailed — pouring out words, banging on the piano, experimenting with vocal expression. All of my feelings went down on paper, and eventually turned into songs. “Ballad for An Insomniac” was my first experience producing a band live in a room and was a glance forward to my next project which we started in the studio only a year later.
Produced by Anna Vogelzang. Recorded at the Carnegie Mellon University Studios in Pittsburgh, PA. Featuring two duets co-written with Emily Hope Price, and two string quartets arranged and conducted by Michael Kooman.