New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Anna Tivel has shared the title track from her upcoming record, coming out on Portland's Fluff & Gravy Records, at Billboard. Speaking to the genesis of "The Question" Tivel told Billboard "it's about being in New York and looking up into a window and seeing a man putting on makeup and a wig. There's a lot of people I know and friends of friends who are transgender, transitioning or just struggling, and having the president sort of waffling backwards on any progress that's been made with that. I started writing this (song) as a poem that night and put it to chords later back at home."
Tivel announced her new album, The Question, last year with "Fenceline". A compellingly evocative story about border crossings, trying to capture a small piece of the incalculably complex issues around immigration, the humanity, or loss of, of fleeing or seeking. Rolling Stone called "Fenceline" a song you need to know today saying it's "a haunting ballad that tells a cinematic story about a crossing between two lands", while NPR featured the song saying Tivel is "adept at writing arresting but sparse songs, anchored by vivid storytelling lyrics that showcase her uncanny ability to paint landscapes with words."
Anna Tivel's 2017 release, Small Believer, was critically lauded landing multiple spots on year-end lists and beloved by NPR
Music specifically. Tivel's poetic songwriting, weaving stories so intricate that they envelope you fully in their worlds that are as much rooted in reality as they are works of fiction, her ability to transpose specific experiences of those she meets, sometimes who she encounters only for a brief moment, into songs that become ubiquitously relatable through Tivel's ability to dig into emotional depths is astounding.
Somewhere deep in the middle of a good story, a simple and powerful thing happens. You begin to feel seen. The characters have been slowly undressed, layer upon layer of hope and human flaw, their struggles revealed. They remind you of your family, of a briefly encountered stranger, of yourself. Anna Tivel reaches for that thread of understanding with her music, that moment of recognition, of shared experience. There are hundreds of thousands of miles on her touring odometer and each town is a tangled web of heartache and small reasons to believe. She gravitates toward the quiet stories of ordinary life.
Anna Tivel's new album, The Question, will be out April 19th on Fluff and Gravy Records.
Anna Tivel Tour Dates
1/11 - Side Street EspressoAnchorage, AK*
1/12 - Alaska Centre for Performing Arts- Discovery Theatre Anchorage, AK*
1/13 -
Vagabond Blues, Palmer, AK*
1/18 - HQ, La Grande, OR
1/19 - Billsville WestWalla Walla, WA
1/20 - 1/26 - Al's Den Winter Residency, Portland, OR
1/27 - Wildwood Hotel, Willamina, OR
1/28 - Governor's Cup, Salem, OR
5/2 - OMSI Planetarium, Portland, OR
* with Josh Ritter
