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Anna Tivel
American singer-songwriter From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Anna Tivel is an American indie folk artist from Portland, Oregon who is critically recognized as "one of the finest songwriters of her generation."[3] She is noted for being a "masterful storyteller"[4] with her music often compared to that of Big Thief's Adrianne Lenker, as well as Elliot Smith and Paul Simon.[5][6][7]
Frequently collaborating with engineer Brian Joseph (Sufjan Stevens, Bon Iver) and producer Shane Leonard (Mipso, Field Report), Tivel has released five studio albums of new original songs on the Portland-based label Fluff & Gravy Records and one with Mama Bird Recording Co.[8][9][10] She also regularly records and releases alternative or acoustic versions of her past work.[11]
Tivel's NPR Tiny Desk concert premiered on May 22, 2023 with critic Ann Powers commenting, "Tivel's remarkable empathy elevates her folk-based, jazz-touched compositions from mere stories to secular prayers."[12]
Tivel’s upcoming seventh studio album Animal Poem was announced on June 17, 2025 and is set to release on August 29, 2025 via Fluff & Gravy Records.[13]
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Biography
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Tivel was born in La Conner, Washington and grew up in a musical family, learning violin and fiddle as a child. After moving to Portland at age 18, she developed an interest in songwriting and began to write and perform her own material.[14] Many of her songs are vignettes about the lives and struggles of ordinary people; she said in an interview, "I'm drawn over and over to the small stories of people (myself included) just trying to get by, to do a little better, to feel some sort of beauty in an ugly world."[15] Her songs tend to unfold like short stories, filled with rich characters, vivid imagery, and emotional depth. She often writes from an observational, almost novelistic perspective, bringing characters and their inner worlds to life in just a few verses.[4][8][16][17]
Tivel's third album Small Believer was released on September 29, 2017 to positive reviews and named a "Top 10 underheard album of 2017" by Ann Powers of NPR Music.[18] She followed it with The Question on April 19, 2019, which was called "one of the most ambitious folk records of 2019" by NPR[19] and listed among "10 essential folk albums from 2019" by Paste Magazine.[20] Later that year, Rolling Stone named Tivel as one of the best acts they saw at AmericanaFest in Nashville, writing, "In a week of countless songsmiths showcasing their attempt at that exact type of singer-songwriter storytelling, Tivel's winding, largely chorus-less tales shined and shimmered."[21]
On July 16, 2021, Tivel shared Blue World, a compilation of re-recorded alternative versions of songs from her other albums.[11]
Tivel's breakout album Outsiders (released August 19, 2022) received multiple Best of Year accolades from NPR Music, including "Best Roots Music of 2022," "Best Songs of 2022" (for single "Black Umbrella"), "Ann Powers' Top Album of 2022," and "Bob Boilen's Favorite Music of 2022."[22] Upon release, Ann Powers said on-air, "She's one of my absolute favorite songwriters living right now and I think this is her best record yet...Her writing on this record is at the level Paul Simon was at when he wrote 'The Boxer' and 'American Tune.'"[23] Outsiders was also named among Brooklyn Vegan's "15 Great Folk Albums from 2022",[24] Aquarium Drunkard's 2022 Year in Review,[25] and Bandcamp Daily's "The Best Country Music on Bandcamp."[26] Roots music journal No Depression wrote in a review, "Tivel has many strengths and no flaws. She's one of the finest storytellers modern folk music has to offer, with lyrics so literary that it's tempting to think of her as a poet with an exceptional gift for playing guitar and singing."[4] The album led to her NPR Tiny Desk debut on May 22, 2023.[12]
On May 31, 2024, Tivel released Living Thing via Fluff and Gravy Records, which gained praise from KEXP for expanding the sounds of her previous work: "...a beautiful collection of melodic folk-rock. Living Thing finds Tivel building upon her brand of folk music with richly layered guitar, violin, field recordings, keys and programmed loops with a pop sensibility to accompany her excellent storytelling."[27] It was ranked the #1 album of 2024 by Folk Alley,[28] and NPR Music discussed the album on their New Music Friday broadcast, saying, "Anna Tivel continues her winning streak."[29]
Nathaniel Rateliff reportedly hand-picked Tivel to perform at Newport Folk Festival in July 2025.[30]
Tivel’s upcoming seventh studio album Animal Poem was announced on June 17, 2025 and is set to release on August 29, 2025 via Fluff & Gravy Records. Recorded live in a circle with some of her dearest friends, including fellow Portland artist and co-producer Sam Weber, the 10-track set was made in conversation: everyone together in the room, listening and responding in real time without the separation of walls and headphones. Of the album, Tivel has shared, "It’s hard to know how to hold a creative life in a time that feels fraught with venomous division, careening technological advance, and an ever widening chasm between the affluent and the dispossessed. What good are poems when affordable housing is scarce, the climate teeters on a dangerous edge, and war breaks out over misinformation spread by profit hungry algorithms?...Everyone here is living a creative life – teachers and parents, kids and convenience store clerks. We’re all tasting this wild existence, finding ways to express how much it hurts and moves us. This work is my own small addition to that communal story. The water we swim in. The way our attention molds our truths. Humanity is unfolding as we describe it. We’ll never get it right, but the attempt is everything."[13]
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Discography
- Brimstone Lullaby (2012) (as Anna and the Underbelly)
- Before Machines (2014)
- Heroes Waking Up (2016)
- Small Believer (2017)
- The Question (2019)
- Blue World (2021)
- Outsiders (2022)
- Living Thing (2024)
Touring history
Anna Tivel has toured with or been direct support for artists that include The Avett Brothers, Watchhouse, The Mountain Goats, Gregory Alan Isakov, Josh Ritter, Blind Pilot, Blitzen Trapper, Christian Lee Hutson, Fenne Lily, Andrew Marlin String Band, The Weather Station, Willi Carlisle, Sam Amidon, Joe Pug, Courtney Marie Andrews, Bendigo Fletcher, Hayes Carll, Sean Rowe, Mason Jennings, Willie Watson, The Ballroom Thieves, Mipso, TK and the Holy Know Nothings, Mary Gauthier, Mick Flannery, and Jeffrey Martin.
Notable Festivals at which Anna Tivel has performed: Rocky Mountain Folk Festival, Edmonton Folk Festival, Calgary Folk Festival, Tønder Music Festival, Telluride Bluegrass Festival, Pickathon, Treefort Music Fest, Red Wing Roots, Sisters Folk Festival, Greenbelt Festival, Nowhere Else Festival, Doe Bay Music Fest, Timber Festival, Sawtooth Festival, and Wildwood Music Festival.
References
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