ANAIS MITCHELL CD RELEASE + Rachel Ries March 2, 2012

Young Man follows Mitchell's critically beloved 2010 folk opera Hadestown, a modern retelling of the Orpheus myth set in a Depression era America. In 2010, Righteous Babe Records released the recorded version of her folk opera Hadestown, a modern retelling of the Orpheus myth, featuring guest singers Justin Vernon (Bon Iver), Ani Difranco and Greg Brown. The album became something of a critical phenomenon in the UK, making "Best of 2010" lists in the Guardian, Sunday Times and Observer. Young Man is not an opera, but it is an epic tale with multiple protagonists. As a songwriter Mitchell takes on the voices of different characters, men as well as women. If there's a common thread in Mitchell's work-from her earliest ballads, to the opera, to this new chapter-it's that she's as interested in the world around her as the one inside her. She has a way of tackling big themes with the same emotional intimacy most artists use to describe their inner lives.
http://www.anaismitchell.com/

Classically trained in voice, piano, violin and viola, Rachel marries sophisticated, at times vintage, musicality to smart lyrics. With a self-taught guitar style reminiscent of Mississippi John Hurt and vocals that at times recall Billie Holiday and early Maria Muldaur, her songs range from the romantic simplicity of jazz standards to the distilled intensity of poet Anne Sexton. Ms. Ries has an adventurous ear for melody and a voice flexible enough to accomplish it. After the 2008 Righteous Babe Records release of country ep, a split 7" with friend Anaïs Mitchell, Rachel took a quiet break from the mad scrabble of touring and music-making. In 2010, ready to start making noise again, she began exploring sounds and forms different from her norm: from playing electric guitar in a rock & roll version of Wagner's epic Ring Cycle, to writing and recording the music for ReRooted, to learning how to play the drums to tour in Anaïs' band.
http://rachelries.com/

Official Website: http://www.jamminjava.com/