Marisa Anderson

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 second solo record, The Golden Hour (Mississippi Records 2011), features twelve improvisations inspired by Delta blues, West African guitar, vintage country and western, gospel, noise, rhythms, cycles, mortality, and praise.

Her upcoming record "Mercury", out on June 5 on Mississippi Records, mines new veins of hidden gems as Anderson shifts her focus from the Delta swamps to the high lonesome sounds of the Appalachian region before heading west to follow the trail from Nashville to Bakersfield and beyond. Songs like 'Mojave' and 'Embudo' are steeped in the sounds of the American West, while 'Galax' and 'Deep Gap' are tributes to the rural mountain music of the South. "Mercury" picks up where "The Golden Hour" leaves off, featuring sixteen compositions for solo guitar and lap steel, recorded live in single takes, with no overdubs,looping or electronic layering.

Anderson’s current and past projects include the Evolutionary Jass Band,the Dolly Ranchers, and the One Railroad Circus. She has toured throughout Europe and the US and has opened for Sharon Van Etten, Mt Eerie, The Devil Makes 3, and Thao & Mirah. Anderson has collaborated with musicians including Beth Ditto, Mirah, Tara Jane O’Neil, Sarah Dougher, Lori Goldston, Rachel Blumberg, and many others.

Anderson’s music has been featured 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. 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. Before arriving in Portland in 1999, Marisa walked across the US, toured with Circo De Manos through southern Mexico, was a founding member of the Chaos Collective and helped create the One Railroad Circus in Santa Fe, New Mexico.