St. Vincent

I hadn't heard of St. Vincent until I saw The National a few months back and she opened for them. Boy am I happy she did. She is a spectacular indie songstress (yes, that is a word). If you hadn't guessed, St. Vincent is her the moniker she uses on stage. Her real name is Annie Clark.

She has toured/opened for quite a few excellent acts and she has played on tour with The Polyphonic Spree and Sufjan Stevens. She actually got her start when she was touring with Sufjan in Europe and decided to release an EP called Paris is Burning. As for her role with The Polyphonic Spree, she was with them for their most recent album Fragile Army and she toured as a member of the group for their Fragile Army tour. I believe this would include their performance at Lollapalooza this year.

Although she did have guest artists play with her on her recently released debut LP, she plays everything by herself live. She does this through a looping system much like Andrew Bird (although he has began to use 2-3 other people on tour). This in it's self is the mark of an excellent music artist as it requires masterful timing and the ability to play multiple instruments. Speaking of her recent (July 2007) debut LP, entitled Marry Me, it received top notch revues essentially across the board. I have posted the video for the single, Jesus Spends, I Save, below. This is the song that St.Vincent played that hooked me. If you like her, she's playing a show coming up in Chicago (refer to sidebar for more info). I know I'll be there.