Music Head Wrote:online listen
had not heard of her
not bad
just misses my list
not sure what the video has to do with anything, but whatever
art for art's sake
1.6 from me and a converted 2.4 from the pros at allmusic

from the album - Proof
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jx5qSJOWdyg

released Jan 15th, 2013



Bio - from allmusic

Raised in Fredricksburg, VA, singer/songwriter Erin McKeown began her folk career by performing
in local clubs and coffeehouses at night. By day, she attended Brown University to study
ethnomusicology, a field that would eventually fuel the diversity and depth of her own music.
In 1995, McKeown entered the mid-Atlantic song contest held by the songwriters' association in
Washington, DC, and finished as a semi-finalist. With proof that others believed in her talent,
she worked hard to found a label of her own, where she could record her music free of outside
constraints. After creating TVP Records, she enlisted help from artists like Ben Demerath,
Katryna Nields, and Beth Amsel to record her debut album, Monday Morning Cold.

In 2000, McKeown completed her second album, Distillation, which was initially released under
her own TVP label before receiving wider exposure courtesy of a partnership with Signature
Records. McKeown continued to shop various labels, and 2003's Grand marked her debut release
for Nettwerk. Two years later, she and producer Tucker Martine came together to record We Will
Become Like Birds, an album that featured duets with Argentine artist Juana Molina and
singer/songwriter Peter Mulvey. North American tour dates with Ani DiFranco -- another female
folk singer with a strong independent streak -- followed shortly thereafter.

McKeown's skill on multiple instruments -- particularly guitar, piano, banjo, and mandolin --
earned her additional gigs, including a spot in the band Voices on the Verge and guest
appearances on albums by Dan Bern, Andy Stochansky, 10,000 Maniacs, Martin Sexton, and Dar
Williams. Her solo career remained at the top of her agenda, however, and she returned to the
studio to record a standards album, Sing You Sinners, in 2006. Hundreds of Lions followed in
2009, marking McKeown's first release for Ani DiFranco's Righteous Babe label. McKeown also
joined the board of the Future of Music Coalition and was a fellow at Harvard University's
Berkman Center for Internet and Society in 2012. For 2013's politically minded Manifestra --
which was funded via the PledgeMusic platform by her fans in six days -- McKeown co-wrote a
song with MSNBC commentator Rachel Maddow, collaborated with Polly Paulusma and Ryan Montbleau
on other tracks and released the album on her own imprint, TVP Records.

Album Review - from allmusic

Singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Erin McKeown has spent the majority of her career
running genres through the shredder, taping them back together and then sending them back
through for another haircut. The politically charged Manifestra, which according to its author
"describes a statement of purpose and unity, a clear action from a female perspective, a bright
hope," begins appropriately with “Politician,” a bluesy, Stax-meets-Sub Pop takedown of public
officials who utilize religion in lieu of band aids in the face of a scandal. The propulsive,
atmospheric "In God We Trust" mines similar thematic territory, but swaps out the blues with
smoky, sub-tropical jazz-pop, while the intoxicating single "Jailer" and the appropriately
fiery, lurching title cut fall somewhere in the middle, sounding for all the world like a
random spin of the radio dial that lands just left of Suzanne Vega and just right of Los Lobos.
Anchored by McKeown's plain yet highly charismatic voice, and featuring guest spots from a
small army of friends and contemporaries who include Anais Mitchell, Sean Hayes, David Wax
Museum, Ryan Montbleau, and Polly Paulusma (the album closer "Baghdad to the Bayou" was
conjured up through texts with political commentator, television host, and author Rachel
Maddow), McKeown's seventh studio album is as bold and determined as anything in her
repertoire, but it never sacrifices musicality for message, resulting in a taut, compact, and
engaging set of 21st century urban folk songs that invites the listener into the fold before
unleashing its directive.

Track Listing

1. The Politician
2. Proof
3. In God We Trust
4. Histories
5. The Jailer
6. Manifestra
7. Delight_Divide
8. Instant Classic (Feat. Ryan Montbleau)
9. That's Just What Happened
10. Baghdad To The Bayou