Anais Mitchell
(NORTH ADAMS, Mass.) — Folk singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell will perform in the Eleanor Furst Roberts Auditorium at the MCLA Church Street Center on Friday, December 4, at 7:30pm as part of the 2015-16 MCLA Presents! series. Mitchell, who is based in Vermont, recorded for Ani DiFranco’s Righteous Babe Records for several years before starting her own Wilderland label in 2012. Duo Bridget Kearney and Benjamin Lazar Davis will warm up the crowd for Mitchell.
Among her recorded works are five full-length albums, including 2010’s critically acclaimed “Hadestown” – a folk opera based on the Orpheus myth – and 2012’s “Young Man in America,” which was described by the UK’s Independent as “an epic tale of American becoming,” and for which she received a BBC Radio Two Folk Award nomination for “Best Original Song.”
“Mitchell is a skilled storyteller … and her delivery gives an emotional complexity that welcomes and even demands repeated listens,” according to Pitchfork.
Anais Mitchell
Mitchell’s most recent release, 2014’s “xoa,” features the artist on guitar and vocals with no other accompaniment. It’s composed of newly recorded versions of songs from throughout her career, including some tunes whose lead vocals were sung by guest artists on the original versions, plus a few that haven’t been heard before.
“It really is more of a homespun effort, for people who are already familiar with the music,” Mitchell said of her most recent release.
Mitchell has headlined worldwide, and has toured in support of Bon Iver, Ani DiFranco, the Low Anthem (all of whom appear as guest singers on Hadestown), Richard Thompson, Josh Ritter and Punch Brothers.
Opening for Mitchell will be duo Bridget Kearney and Benjamin Lazar Davis, who are touring in support of their recent EP release, “Bawa.” NPR Music recently featured “Slow Rider” from the Bawa EP release on their show, “Songs We Love,” and commented that the track “rises unhurriedly towards a state of gentle bliss.”
Members receive free admission to all MCLA Presents! performances. For more information about becoming a MCLA Presents! member, call 413-662-5193.
Tickets may be purchased online at mcla.ticketleap.edu. Admission to MCLA Presents! performances are $12 for general admission, $8 for MCLA Alumni, $5 for staff and faculty and non-MCLA students, $2 for MCLA students.