This will be the second record cycle of Hannah’s that I’ve contributed to. Her new album Nested in Tangles releases this fall on Fire Talk Records.
Hannah Frances (b. 1997) is a vocalist, guitarist, composer, dancer and poet. Her work is centered at the intersection of grief and nature, exploring the pathways of healing through cathartic process and land connection.
NPR's Ann Powers calls Frances a stunning vocalist and songwriter, making monumental and mythic freak folk, and she was awarded Pitchfork's Best New Music for her triumphant new album Keeper of the Shepherd, as well as nods for Best Albums of 2024 from Pitchfork, Paste Magazine, and Bandcamp, and a full feature in the Chicago Tribune.
A classically trained vocalist and self-taught guitarist with virtuosic dynamism, there is no singular way Hannah grips us with her complex open-tuned guitar work and storytelling. Through profoundly cutting lyricism, percussive polyrhythmic fingerpicking, and a prodigious voice, Frances’ unorthodox sound melds avant-folk, progressive rock, and jazz.
A persistent troubadour, Frances lives in Vermont with roots in Chicago, though she is most often touring internationally and nationally, opening for artists such as Robin Pecknold of Fleet Foxes, Hurray for the Riff Raff, The Weather Station, Hiss Golden Messenger, Billie Marten, Whitney, and Damien Jurado, among others. Whether performing as a solo act or leading her full seven-piece ensemble, her mythology spellbinds with an insistent gravity.
