In a recent interview, she told the musician Jess Williamson that, earlier in her career, she had thought of herself as a songwriter more than a performershe would just stumble out on stage and kind of mumble my songs into the microphone and then stumble off and go out with my friends. Through making Saint Cloud, she realized how much self-respect she had been denying herself: she needed to love myself enough to go out and hone some power for a second and put it out into the world. At the beginning of March, she gathered her touring band for a long and magical weekend of rehearsal in Michigan. Hes just so deeply talented and so yeah, those two guys really did so much. As far as Ive seen, I feel that we all get better as we age. How did they change? Kansas City, MO @ Knuckleheads Saloon, Barney's makeover has dinosaur experts scratching their heads: 'I don't even know where to start with it', Jena Malone was sexually assaulted by someone she worked with on 'Hunger Games': 'I've worked very hard to heal', Dave Grohl's good deed: Rocker barbecues for hundreds at L.A. homeless shelter, 'There were no filmmakers of color': How Robert Townsend changed the game with self-financed 1987 comedy 'Hollywood Shuffle', Emma Willis 'grateful' to work with dementia specialist after Bruce Willis's FTD diagnosis. I both wanted to get away from the scene Iwas a part of but also still have everything I could possibly need out of a city, and it immediately struck me as a place that had all of that. Their musical roots had never led them to one city, either: After beginnings in their local punk scenes (Crutchfields band, P.S. The Plains project with Jess Williamson isnt a total 180 for you, musically, but it is definitely twangier than anything youve ever done before. She has been active in the field of music since 2010 and still loves to follow her passion and dream. It was like pulling teeth. Allison and Katie Crutchfield: Twin rock dreams prevail, Waxahatchee: A Lonesome Voice, Raised In Basements, https://www.bhamwiki.com/wiki/index.php?title=Katie_Crutchfield&oldid=180998, Pelfrey, David (June 1, 2006) "The Ackleys: Local high school kids charm with musical charisma. NYT Critic's Pick. Whether or not I was conscious of it, I think I may have been subconsciously searching for that and I think that thats really whats led to my slow stroll toward country. Katie Crutchfield is anAmerican singer and songwriter who is popularly known for' Waxahatchee' whichis an indie music project after parting ways with P.S Eliot. Its just a full circle thing. And she can hear the focus of Katie's songs starting to shift. Time at home reminded Morby of the isolation-inspired work he had made shortly after he landed in Kansas City full time, when he spent hours in the shed studio even before installing heating and air toying with a four-track recorder and his guitar. The new album opens with Oxbow, where Crutchfields voice floats in and out of orbit around a steady drum beat, repeating the words I want it all. She describes the next track, the brightly melodic Cant Do Much (Love you till the day I die/I guess it dont matter why), as unsentimental. Access the best of Getty Images with our simple subscription plan. The albums first track, Oxbow, begins with a crisp, decisive drumbeat and a synth that sounds like a tape rewinding. Anyone can read what you share. That morning, she had woken up early; the rain in the forecast hadnt materialized; she had made herself a cup of coffee. *A version of this article appears in the January 4, 2021, issue of New York Magazine. So hang in there cause wearegoing to run you through the biography of Katie Crutchfield. Best of 2022 Top 250 Movies Most Popular Movies Top 250 TV Shows Most Popular TV Shows Most Popular Video Games Most Popular Music Videos Most Popular Podcasts. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. I was just in a bad mood. Like, the Flannery O'Connor of it all.". Crutchfields lyrics, more precise than theyve ever been, articulate moments of uncertainty and self-recrimination: We will coalesce our heaven and hell / My eyes roll around like dice on the felt / My mind turns to something useless and trite / My uneasiness, materialized, she sings, on Cant Do Much. They also crack open a sense of acceptance, of time stretching and perspectives changing and everyday continuity threading things along. Their joint project explores a spectrum of country influences and lets them reckon with their pasts. When I was a teenager, I wasnt making any money [on tour], she says. All of these projects were anchored by Crutchfields bold sense of melodic color, her offhandedly piercing lyrics, and the prickly restlessness in her delivery. Collect, curate and comment on your files. Eliothas given way to the unadorned sound of an older country-blues tradition. Plus: each Wednesday, exclusively for subscribers, the best books of the week. Streamline your workflow with our best-in-class digital asset management system. Musician Katie Crutchfield has created music under several different identities, be it the pop-punk band she founded with her sister Allison, P.S. Last 2 on Earth 8. I had all this frustrating creative energy. CRUTCHFIELD: (Singing) We've heard this summer GREENE: It's MORNING EDITION from NPR News. TYLER-AMEEN: Keith Spencer is one of the housemates and worked with Katie to arrange the new songs for a band. It was written between Kansas City, Los Angeles, and Marfa, Texas, and recorded in Durham, North Carolina. You can hear references to her settling in here on the album. And everyone was like, there's a Joni Mitchell album called "Blue," Katie. Williamson, on the other hand, had mostly worked as a solo artist, so the Plains experience meant opening herself up to new techniques: Crutchfield wanted to achieve a loose, spontaneous feel by tracking their vocals in as few takes as possible, for example. Menu. "Cerulean Salt," she says, isn't a breakup record. Crutchfield is thirty-one, and shes been a front woman for more than half of her life. I grew up in Alabama and my parentsmy mom, especially, just loves pop music from all eras and the era specifically that she grew up in. As a ninth grader, alongside her sister, she sang and played guitar in the Ackleys, a pop-rock band and Birmingham favorite that got booked on the 2006 Warped Tour; after P.S. CRUTCHFIELD: For me, it's a lot about family and about our childhood and us growing up. Then, in January of 2011, on the eve of her 22nd birthday, Katie got in her car and headed south. Her other body measurement is yet not known. Lately, Morby and Crutchfield have taken to the same mundane quarantine activities as the rest of the country: cooking, gardening, home improvement. CRUTCHFIELD: (Singing) My gal and father, vomit and water, we're not alone here. There is this level of, like, intimacy with the listener that she's telling you things that she can't even tell the people in her life. Its just fun and yeah, it does give me a lot of freedom and I feel like the thing Im sort of dancing aroundits like, Kansas City is sort of outside the spotlight of the music business, in a way. Together, the two songwriters craft stories of heartbreak, empathy and self-knowledge, bolstered by a wry wisdom and rooted in their shared love of classic country sounds. Get the latest from The Pitch delivered directly to your inbox. For me, the album is a potent reminder of the world we will eventually return toa life of ordinary motion, in which we negotiate each day alongside other people, witness one anothers fluctuations and longings face to face. Eliot. The 200 Greatest Singers of All Time CRUTCHFIELD: A lot of the songs were so loose when we first started working on them that I didn't even know what I wanted. We invent our own fear. ", "50 Best Albums of 2017" (November 27, 2017). Yeah. Its a nice little nod to my dad, she says. I returned to my roots, musically.. Wed both been so on the move constantly this has been the one place we can come when theres a slow moment, Crutchfield adds. Eliot or her solo indie-folk as Waxahatchee, but the latest creative project for Crutchfield, Plains, in partnership with Jess Williamson sees her branching out into new musical territory. The living room has a piano and a keyboard; the front room is a cozy listening area housing dozens of records. What are your roots in country music? Shes since released four albums to even greater acclaim, establishing herself as one of rocks most sensitive songwriters and embracing the life of a touring musician. As Katie Crutchfield eases her Jeep inside the garage, there's a nostalgic tone to the overhead door opener as the grinding chain strains to hoist the folding panels a suburban equivalent to car wheels on a gravel road. In a still unfamiliar place, and with Morby often away, she found a solitude she had spent years searching for in bigger cities. Eliot, the band she co-founded with her twin sister Allison), Crutchfield has carved a consistent recording and performing career that has. Katie is currently 31 years old having white ethnicity in her bloodline she was raised in a loving and caring family. Cities had inspired most of his past albums New York for Harlem River and City Music, L.A. for Singing Saw. But the album had to begin in Barcelona, in the frustration and clarity of early sobriety, which she captures on Oxbow. It felt like the beginning of the story, she said. Crutchfield then signed with Durham, North Carolina's Merge Records, which released the album Ivy Tripp in 2015 and sent her out on tour with Kurt Vile and the Violators and Sleater Kinney. CRUTCHFIELD: We sat them both down basically, and said that, you know, if you want to pursue your music and work, that's fine. Obviously, now Ive been writing songs and touring and being a musician for over half my life. In a new film the pop star co-wrote with director Trey Edward Shults. So I think that just trying to relax a bit has helped me a lot. She let out a deep sigh. My astrologer had oddly told me, This one week in July is going to be so important for you. And when I went back and looked, thats the week that I picked. Sleater Kinney. CRUTCHFIELD: (Singing) I'm not a whipper in the wind or solace laying at the bottom of a bottle, or your thick skin TYLER-AMEEN: Katie says, unlike "American Weekend," this album was a team effort. Whether its something happening right now or something that happened 100 years ago, some stories dont fit in the short few minutes of a newscast. She barely. Loneliness had been part of the mythology of Waxahatchee ever since her debut, American Weekend, recorded over one snowed-in week at her familys Alabama home. (SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "I THINK I LOVE YOU"). Alabama-born singer-songwriter Katie Crutchfield broke through to a bigger audience last year by releasing an aching, bare-bones solo album. TYLER-AMEEN: And whatever Katie Crutchfield is writing about, she'll probably find a way to keep living the way she and her sister grew up: with a community of musical friends and a basement where they can be as honest and as loud as they want. All these country powerhouse women. I feel like it was on the tip of my tongue., The turbulent Lilacs, the final song she wrote for the record, came together at her piano in Kansas City (I get so angry, baby, at something you might say/I dream about an awful stranger, work my way through the day). Jenna Ortega Will Dance, Dance, Dance With the Weeknd. I talked about how I wanted to quit drinking, and that was so long ago., Its 11 a.m., but Crutchfield, who performs under the name Waxahatchee, is still in her pajamas, sitting in her twin sister Allisons backyard in Los Angeles. She began thinking of Saint Cloud as an album that would relate a long, elliptical, autobiographical story. Both grew up in Southern states where country music was omnipresent (Crutchfield, who records as Waxahatchee, in Alabama; Williamson in Texas). I Walked With You a Ways, Plains Tour Dates Oct. 21 Seattle, WA @ The Neptune Theatre Oct. 22 Portland, OR @ Revolution Hall Oct. 24 Sonoma, CA @ Gundlach Bundschu Winery Oct. 25 San Francisco, CA @ The Regency Ballroom Oct. 26 Los Angeles, CA @ Belasco Theater Oct. 28 Pioneertown, CA @ Pappy and Harriets Oct. 29 Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom Oct. 31 Dallas, TX @ Studio at The Factory Nov. 1 Austin, TX @ Scoot Inn Nov. 3 New Orleans, LA @ Tipitinas Nov. 4 Birmingham, AL @ Saturn Nov. 5 Nashville, TN @ Brooklyn Bowl Nashville Nov. 6 Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse Nov. 7 Saxapahaw, NC @ Haw River Ballroom Nov. 9 Washington DC @ The Howard Theatre Nov. 10 Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer Nov. 11 New York, NY @ Webster Hall Nov. 12 Jersey City, NJ @ White Eagle Hall Nov. 13 Boston, MA @ Royale Nov. 15 Toronto, ON, Canada @ Danforth Music Hall Nov. 16 Detroit, MI @ Majestic Theatre Nov. 17 Chicago, IL @ Vic Theatre Nov. 18 Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue Nov. 19. Last falls Sundowner, hushed and sparse, was his Kansas record, a more grounded contrast to 2019s Oh My God, which was drawn from the liminal spaces of touring like flights and backstages. When you went into the studio with Spencer Tweedy and Phil Cook and Jess, how did the songs take form, given that this was the first time youve all four been in the same space, but youve brought these songs with ideas in mind? And I smashed my phone. Lilacs have a longer lifespan if they drink soda water, she laughs. Additionally, Crutchfield moved to Kansas City several years back with her partner and fellow musician, Kevin Morby, a KC native, making her something of a local these days. "It just gave me a lot more clarity, which at first was quite difficult.". She was alone. I am learning how to be alone TYLER-AMEEN: She called her new project Waxahatchee, the name of a nearby creek. She explains her journey, as well as how she was able to center herself during a time of uncertainty. She has blackhair with attractive black eyes. He says the band was a little shaky but Katie's songwriting showed a lot of potential. I grew up in a small city. I mean, all of that 90s pop country just ruled the radio down there and thats just what I grew up listening to, hearing all the time so its sort of imprinted on me in this way that I resisted or rejected for many years. Plains plays Knuckleheads this Saturday, November 19, with MJ Lenderman. Eliot chugged along smoothly for close to four years. Summer Sun 2. Youre in charge of creating peoples fun night out. Ad Choices. The LP was produced by Crutchfields recent collaborator Brad Cook, and features Spencer Tweedy on drums. From the beginning, thats the thing thats guided mea confidence and a belief in the songs and the way that the album turned outso it has been really cool to see people have a big reaction and really enjoy it and connect with it. Earlier this year, she released a very different follow up album. That I can take joy in simplicity, that I can have these moments. The long-delayed second part of the canceled HBO series came and went so quietly you were bound to miss it. TYLER-AMEEN: In 2007, Katie and Allison Crutchfield started a new band together: P.S. Search instead in. She has been contributing tothe genre of indie rocks for a while with her lyrics mainly focusing on her personal life, relationship, and wondering about what to do in their adulthood. Most dates on his world tour have been canceled. KEITH SPENCER: She was pretty much running the show. Here, Waxahatchee's Katie Crutchfield talks about her lifelong admiration for Fiona Apple's music, . It isnt like living in New York or LA or Nashville or theres a million musicians around, all of our peers are around. I know that well tour it, Crutchfield told me when we spoke. I got sober right before I made it, and I had to work backwards to recognize myself again and learn how to write songs and make records again. She said she wasnt quite ready to make another Waxahatchee record, but I had all of this energy to do something, so I feel like this project was such a godsend.. I grew up with that stuff. Reach me at mackenzie@kcur.org or find me on Twitter @_macmartin. Katie's solo project took shape when she went to write at the family's rustic retreat in Alabama. A lot of Jesss songs were these old-school country waltzes, which I love, Crutchfield said, and it was a nice juxtaposition to the songs I was bringing in, which were a little more 90s pop-country or Southern-rock feeling.. And I was like, oh yeah, I love that album and I completely forgot about that. And if it's real to me then maybe someone else will be able to relate to it. "It was a pivot for me creatively and it was a bit of a risk," Crutchfield says. Shes looking forward to seeing them bloom in the spring. And separately we will see chaos condolence defeat One of the reasons that I write things that are so specific, I think, is just because it's real to me. They began dating each other during their spring tour in 2017. Katie Crutchfield: Oh yeah, its affected it a lot. Inside, it becomes clear this is a musicians home. She also has massive followers on her Instagram and Twitter handle where she gives updates about her music and personal lifeto her fans. Crutchfield had scheduled weekly digital concerts throughout the month of June, in which she planned to play each of the albums in her catalogue; on June 1st, she announced that she was pushing the shows back a week to hold space & stand in solidarity with those protesting now during this important moment in the fight against white supremacy & police violence. A portion of ticket proceeds would be donated to local organizations and chapters of Black Lives Matter. Trump wasn't a fan. (Crutchfield, home during Morbys album rollout, starred in multiple music videos and sang backup on lead single Campfire.) It felt good to offer something that might be comforting to people, he says. I felt myself start to pull back from drinking slowly, and then anytime that I would have a crazy night out, I would feel extra, extra bad., By the time she finished touring 2017s noisy Out in the Storm, she knew it was time for a change. Katie Crutchfield recently read a diary entry from when she was 17 years old. Crutchfield wrote Fire, a folky slow-burner, while she and her partner, musician Kevin Morby, were driving from Birmingham to their home in Kansas City, a route that goes directly through Memphis. Crutchfield and Williamson each brought songs theyd written individually relying on the other for some in-the-room punch-ups and they found their styles to be quite complementary. Its caused me to look a little bit deeper about whats inspiring this. 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