Beth Bombara – the Americana artist who’s opened for Pokey LaFarge,
Waxahatchee, Madisen Ward & Mama Bear, and Joe Pug – has found her
way with new album ‘Map & No Direction,’ out March 3.
After servicing as a side-woman for many years with Samantha Crain and
she’s found her voice as a frontwoman on the new album. And after
battling depression – as Beth puts it “a couple months of a
can’t-quite-get-out-of-bed, always-tired-but-can’t-sleep kind of
depression” – she’s found her clarity as a songwriter. The result is
equal parts George Harrison-influenced hooky Americana and rock &
roll and "like a bourbon-warmed Neko Case" as her hometown Riverfront
Times put it in naming her best Americana artist in St. Louis, MO. She’s
also drawn comparisons to Kathleen Edwards.
It’s not the only acclaim the hard-touring artist has earned. Pop
Matters said, “Honed songwriting… honest… Bombara mines emotional
depths, naivety and personal shortcomings” and Glide called her “easily
engaging… penetrating… insightful." She’s already headlined Whitaker
Music Festival (MO) (to over 10,000 in the audience), Brooklyn Americana
Festival, Tucson Folk Festival, and Mile of Music festival (WI) and
will have an official showcase at the 2017 Folk Alliance Int’l
conference in February.
She has a companion for her frequent tours: husband, guitarist, and
producer Kit Harmon, a topic she writes about in the Phil Spector-esque
song “Sweet Time.” She tackles other topics as well on ‘Map & No
Direction’: the pensive “Lonely Few” was written in response to racial
divide in her hometown and violence against black civilians by police
and subsequent protests.
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