KRISTIN HERSH, leader of US alternative-rock icons Throwing Muses, frontwoman of power trio 50FOOTWAVE, solo artist of the highest calibre, and acclaimed author, plays Galway next week.
Kristen Hersh plays the Róisín Dubh on Friday November 4 at 8pm as part of her Irish and British tour. Billed as An Evening with Kristin Hersh, it will feature songs from across her career, as well as readings.
Tomorrow also sees the release of Wyatt at the Coyote Palace, the artist's new solo double-album and accompanying book via Omnibus Press. This is her third book-CD release, following 2011 solo album Crooked, and Throwing Muses’ 2013 release Purgatory/Paradise.
Wyatt... was written over the last five years. It was inspired by her son Wyatt, who is on the autism spectrum, and his fascination with an abandoned apartment building inhabited by coyotes. Wyatt often visited and even filmed the coyotes during the recording of the music, yet suddenly his intense fascination ended.
“I had so loved his love of the place," Hersh has said. "Throwing Muses' drummer, Dave, my best friend since third grade, decided Wyatt needed to encapsulate his sense memories of the coyote palace, make the experience finite, like bottling a memory. Dave thinks we'll see it again, and Wyatt's love of the place will come back, when the images have been filtered through Wyatt's intense and fascinating psychology.”
The album is acoustically driven, featuring Hersh's distinctive, riffing, style. Punctuated lightly throughout are the faint sounds of voices; feedback breaking into a song, like static coming over a radio; and noises in the background, which serve to heighten the intimacy of Hersh's committed, driven, performances, giving each track an organic, spontaneous, feel. Highlights are 'Day 3', 'Christmas Underground', and 'Between Piety and Desire', with its unsettling line: "We're only here through sheer dumb luck."
The album was recorded in Portsmouth, Rhode Island, with engineer Steve Rizzo, and Hersh performing all instruments across the 24-tracks, including guitar, bass, drums, piano, horns, cello, and provided the various field recordings.
Tickets are available at www.roisindubh.net, the Ticket Desk at OMG Zhivago, Shop Street, and The Róisín Dubh.
