Marisa Anderson – Traditional And Public Domain Songs

Channeling the history of the guitar and stretching the boundaries of traditional genres, Portland based guitarist, composer and improviser Marisa Anderson possesses a unique and distinctive musical voice. Her playing is fluid, emotional, dexterous and original. Anderson’s recent solo records, The Golden Hour (Mississippi Records 2011), and Mercury (Mississippi records 2013) feature improvisations inspired by Delta blues, West African guitar, Appalachian mountain music, vintage country and western, gospel, noise, rhythms, cycles, mortality, and praise.

“Her approach to playing her instrument hovers somewhere between extreme confidence and a kind of poetic tentativeness, coupled with an eager sense of the microtonal exploits you can uncover when a slide meets six strings. Her melodic sense is rustic, earthen, and deep, as though she has been playing these tunes for the better part of her life…” Jon Dale (Signal to Noise)
Before going solo in 2009, Anderson played guitar in the Dolly Ranchers and the Evolutionary Jass Band. In the past two years, Anderson’s music has landed her festival appearances in Europe and the United States and opening slots for artists including Godspeed You! Black Emperor, The Devil Makes 3 and Sharon Van Etten. In August 2013, KBOO Community Radio released a split 7″ featuring Anderson and Elizabeth Cotton.

Anderson’s music has been featured on NPR and on soundtracks including ‘Smokin’ Fish’, ‘For the Love of Dolly’, ‘Girls Rock’, and ‘Gift To Winter’. Recent festival appearances include Le Guess Who, Creative Music Guild Improvisation Summit, Portland Experimental Film Festival, Sound & Music Festival, NOFest, Electrogals, Festival of Endless Gratitude, Pickathon, and PICA’s TBA Festival. Her writings on music and activism have appeared in Bitch Magazine, Leaf Litter, and in Rock ‘n’ Roll Camp for Girls, the book.

She is KBOO Community Radio’s 2013 Artist in Residence. In 2012 Anderson was one of six artists selected for Signal Fire’s Afloat Residency. Anderson’s debut solo recording ‘Holiday Motel’ was a 2006 Outmusic nominee for Best Female Debut Recording. Anderson spent 2003-2011 working at the Rock’n’Roll Camp for Girls in Portland.