Whilst working at a café in Murfreesboro, thirty miles south of Nashville, nu-folk artist Sharon Van Etten started writing music as a means of communicating the things she could not say to the people she loved. Today she tells her truths to the entire world.
Penning brutally honest and deeply affecting lyrics, Brooklyn based singer/songwriter Sharon cites every genre of music as an influence to her rich trademark sound. Growing up in a musical household, Sharon discovered a passion for playing the guitar and after returning from university, her friend and fellow musician Kyp Malone (of TV On The Radio), encouraged her to take her song-writing abilities to the next level. Currently touring the world, playing shows in Tokyo, Krakow, Berlin and London, Sharon’s musical career took off after the release of her first single ‘Because I Was In Love’, in 2009. Speaking candidly about her relationships, hopes, dreams, great loves and losses, the rich imagery Sharon paints is based on the dangerous vulnerability we all experience when we go with our hearts and forget our heads. Describing herself as “socially anxious” and the structure of her songs as “simple”, there is no pretense to this artist. She is purely brilliant.
Proving a hit with award-winning folk artists The National and Bon Iver, both are big fans of the raven-haired songstress and each covered ‘Love More’ earlier this year. With her third album Tramp due for release this year, the sky is the limit for this delicate, homegrown songbird. i-D online flew by Sharon’s nest for a dawn chorus rendition of ‘For You.’
Text: Milly McMahon
Head here to see more from i-D online’s i-N Session series.
