KRISTIN HERSH (USA)
The inimitable Kristin Hersh is a musician’s musician, a songwriter’s songwriter, and an innovator’s innovator. Her first band, Throwing Muses, began recording and playing out when they were just 14 years old and they’re still going – 2020’s critically acclaimed Sun Racket was hailed as “a perfect record”.
Hersh’s refusal to participate in a corporate industry saw her leave a Warner Brothers recording contract at the top of her success in order to become listener-supported. “Music is humanist and so are we”, as she puts it. Wildly prolific, she has released more than 20 albums solo, with Throwing Muses and with her noise rock band, 50 Foot Wave. She’s also a celebrated author: Rolling Stone named her first book, Rat Girl, one of the ten best rock memoirs of all time. NPR said of her second book, Don’t Suck, Don’t Die, “one of the most beautiful rock memoirs ever written.” Her third, the game-changing Seeing Sideways, pushes the envelope of creative non-fiction while telling the story of raising her 4 sons on a tour bus.
“Few artists understand the intensity of living one’s art like Hersh” – The Guardian
“Kristin Hersh is a musical genius” – Huffington Post
“A fearless rock innovator” – New York Times