Erin McKeown

Description: Contemporary folk-rock singer/songwriter (has also dabbled in rock, pop, electronic, swing, and other styles of music)

Comparisons: Erin McKeown has a voice that lingers between Dar Williams and Bessie Smith, plays guitar like Cat Stevens or Jeff Lang, and writes songs with such biting cleverness and whit that fans of Ani Difranco and Greg Brown would be pleased with an Erin McKeown record.

Starter CDs: Monday Morning Cold (TVP, 1998). Distillation (TVP, 2000). Grand (Nettwerk, 2003). Sing You Sinners (Due Jan 9, 2007, on Nettwerk Records).

Trivia Fact About Erin McKeown: Erin McKeown holds a degree from Brown University in ethnomusicology.

Erin McKeown Biography: Erin McKeown was born in Boston, MA, in October, 1977. After high school, she attended Brown University, where she earned a degree in ethnomusicology and spent here evenings performing in local bars and coffeehouses.

After making the semi-finals for the Songwriters' Association of Washington, DC, Mid-Atlantic Song Contest, she released her debut album, Monday Morning Cold on her own TVP label in 1995. This introduced her as a strong multi-instrumentalist and folk-rock singer/songwriter.

In addition to releasing her debut on her own label, McKeown spent a time performing around the American Northeast with other young singer/songwriters Beth Amsel, Jess Klein, and Rose Polenzani as the collaborative group Voices on the Verge. Since then, she has slowly gained notoriety among Americana enthusiasts, though managing to skirt national recognition on a large scale. Her 2000 independent release Distillation was universally well-received and won her opening slots for many of her peers, including Ani Difranco, the Indigo Girls, Dar Williams, and others.

She has appeared regularly at festivals around the world, including Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, Boston Folk Festival and Newport Music Festival, and continues to tour on a rigorous schedule.

McKeown’s latest album, Sing You Sinners (due Jan. 9, 2007), is a tribute to classic jazz and swing numbers, and marks somewhat of a departure for the artist, though not entirely. In fact, McKeown has often veered from the strictest interpretation of American folk songs, playing pop, rock, electronic, and other forms of music.