Kristin Hersh

Born in Atlanta in 1966 and raised in Newport, Rhode Island, Kristin Hersh made her mark as a teenager with Throwing Muses, a band formed in the early 1980s with Tanya Donelly. The group established itself on Boston’s independent scene and toured widely across the United States and Europe. Her songwriting is noted for irregular structures, pronounced shifts in dynamics, and a blend of alternative rock, post‑punk, folk and oblique pop. Hersh launched a solo career in 1994 with Hips and Makers, a spare acoustic record featuring Michael Stipe, and followed with Strange Angels (1998), Sky Motel (1999), The Grotto (2003), Learn to Sing Like a Star (2007), Crooked (2010), Wyatt at the Coyote Palace (2016), Possible Dust Clouds (2018) and Clear Pond Road (2023). Her music ranges from tense acoustic guitar to more electric forms without losing a very direct tension in vocal delivery and phrasing. She also developed the trio 50FootWave, a more confrontational, tightly focused aspect of her work, while maintaining activity with Throwing Muses. Over the years Kristin Hersh has collaborated with artists such as Andrew Bird, Howe Gelb and Vic Chesnutt, while maintaining a largely independent trajectory.