Adrianne Elizabeth Lenker (born July 9, 1991) is an American musician, best known as the lead vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter of

Big Thief Big Thief is an American indie rock band with folk roots based in Brooklyn, New York. Its members are Adrianne Lenker (guitar, vocals), Buck Meek (guitar, backing vocals), Max Oleartchik (bass), and James Krivchenia (drums). The band's debu ...

Early life

Lenker was born in Indianapolis and was raised in a Christian

cult In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. Thi ...

until the age of six, but she primarily grew up in Minnesota. Her parents rented homes in Coon Rapids, Nisswa, and Bloomington, Minnesota, before settling down in

Plymouth, Minnesota Plymouth is a city in Hennepin County in the U.S. state of Minnesota. A suburb in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area, the city is about west of downtown Minneapolis.The population was 81,026 at the 2020 census, making it Minnesota' ...

, where she lived for 10 years. She spent a summer traveling throughout the midwest and living out of a blue Ford cargo van. Lenker wrote her first song at the age of eight, and recorded her first album at age 13. Her other interests included studying

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; and the preser ...

, and she was the state karate champion three years in a row. She did not attend high school and instead received her GED at the age of 16. She attended the

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cours ...

on a scholarship provided by

Susan Tedeschi Susan Tedeschi (; born November 9, 1970) is an American singer and guitarist. A multiple Grammy Award nominee, she is a member of the Tedeschi Trucks Band, a conglomeration of her band, her husband Derek Trucks’ and other musicians. Early l ...

of the

Tedeschi Trucks Band The Tedeschi Trucks Band () is an American blues and blues rock group based in Jacksonville, Florida. Formed in 2010, the band is led by married couple Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks. Their debut album, '' Revelator'' (2011), won the 2012 Gra ...

Career

Big Thief at the Lexington - 32694587412

On February 28, 2006, when Lenker was 14, she released her first solo album, titled ''Stages of the Sun''. On January 9, 2014, Lenker released her second solo album, ''Hours Were the Birds''. On May 1, 2014, Lenker, together with future bandmate

Buck Meek Buck Meek (born Alexander Buckley Meek, July 10, 1987) is an American musician from Wimberley, Texas, best known as the guitarist and backing vocalist of Big Thief. Early life Meek was raised in Texas and was introduced to the guitar at a you ...

, released the LP records ''a-sides'' and ''b-sides''. In 2015, Lenker and Meek, alongside Max Oleartchik and

James Krivchenia Big Thief is an American indie rock band with folk roots based in Brooklyn, New York. Its members are Adrianne Lenker (guitar, vocals), Buck Meek (guitar, backing vocals), Max Oleartchik (bass), and James Krivchenia (drums). The band's debu ...

, formed the band

, whose first album was released in 2016. Lenker released her third solo album, ''

Abysskiss ''Abysskiss'' (stylized in all lowercase) is the third solo studio album by Adrianne Lenker, released through Saddle Creek Records on October 5, 2018. The album was recorded at Panoramic Studio in West Marin, California with Luke Temple and Gab ...

'', on October 5, 2018. On October 23, 2020, Lenker released her two most recent albums, ''Songs'' and ''Instrumentals''''.''

Personal life

Lenker met future Big Thief co-founder

at a concert when she lived in Boston, and then she encountered him again in a bodega the day she moved to New York. The pair began to play together, and married when Lenker was 24. They divorced in 2018, remaining in Big Thief as "deep friends". In 2019, Lenker was in a relationship with the artist Indigo Sparke, and the two separated sometime in 2020. While Lenker is comfortable with the label " queer", she has expressed a desire not to define her sexual orientation beyond that. Her lyrics often contain discussions of gender and the

gender binary The gender binary (also known as gender binarism) is the classification of gender into two distinct, opposite forms of masculine and feminine, whether by social system, cultural belief, or both simultaneously. Most cultures use a gender binary ...

. In an interview with ''The Brag'', Lenker said of those lyrics, "I feel within myself a constant dialogue between my masculinity, my femininity and the part of me that is neither of those things. I'm just trying to talk about it because I feel like I'm something that is very ambiguous."

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

Compilation albums

Extended plays

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Interview with Adrianne Lenker in 2019
at FaceCulture, via

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lenker, Adrianne Musicians from Indianapolis Living people American women singer-songwriters 4AD artists Saddle Creek Records artists Berklee College of Music alumni American LGBT musicians Queer women 1991 births Big Thief members Singer-songwriters from Indiana