Anna Coogan is an American singer, guitarist and songwriter.

Biography

After studying opera at the

Mozarteum University of Salzburg Mozarteum University Salzburg (German: ''Universität Mozarteum Salzburg'') is one of three affiliated but separate (it is actually a state university) entities under the “Mozarteum” moniker in Salzburg municipality; the International Mo ...

for a year, Coogan went to

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

to work as a

limnologist Limnology ( ; from Greek λίμνη, ''limne'', "lake" and λόγος, ''logos'', "knowledge") is the study of inland aquatic ecosystems. The study of limnology includes aspects of the biological, chemical, physical, and geological characterist ...

. In 2012 she moved to

Ithaca, New York Ithaca is a city in the Finger Lakes region of New York, United States. Situated on the southern shore of Cayuga Lake, Ithaca is the seat of Tompkins County and the largest community in the Ithaca metropolitan statistical area. It is named ...

, where she is a visiting lecturer in music at

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

. In 2020 she moved to

The Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Recordings

Anna Coogan started her musical career in Seattle, and formed the band North 19 in 2004 with Travis Beard and Kevin Burkett. She developed her "bittersweet Americana" style in this band, which released two albums and was reviewed in '' No Depression''.

JD Foster JD Foster is an American record producer, bassist, multi-instrumentalist, composer and songwriter. He is known for working with country and Americana performers including Dwight Yoakam and Patty Griffin. Producer, performer and recording art ...

produced her first solo album, ''The Nocturnal Among Us'', released in 2010. The songs on her next album, ''The Wasted Ocean'', were inspired by haunting tales of shipwrecks and isolation. Musicians contributing to the 2011 album (produced by Evan Brubacker) include singer Edie Cary, violist

Eyvind Kang Eyvindur Y. Kang (born 23 June 1971) is an American composer and multi-instrumentalist. His primary instrument is viola, but has also performed on violin, tuba, keyboards and others. In addition to his solo work, Kang has worked extensively wit ...

and electric guitarist Daniele Fiaschi. Coogan and Fiaschi released ''The Nowhere, Rome Sessions'' in 2012. Coogan renewed her collaboration with JD Foster in 2013 and co-wrote a collection of new songs with the producer and multi-instrumentalist for their album ''The Birth of the Stars'', recorded in October 2014 at Electric Wilburland studio in

Newfield, New York Newfield is a town in Tompkins County, New York, United States. The population was 5,184 at the 2020 census. The town's name is derived from the many unoccupied tracts of land that were once in the town. The Town of Newfield is in the southwest p ...

. Her next album, ''The Lonely Cry Of Space & Time,'' was released in early 2017 and subsequently issued on vinyl. Coogan contributed vocals to three Johnny Dowd albums, ''That's Your Wife on the Back of My Horse'' (2015), ''Execute American Folklore'' (2016) and ''Twinkle, Twinkle'' (2018).

Touring

Coogan tours regularly in the United States and Europe, including venues in Great Britain, the Netherlands and Germany with Daniele Fiaschi; and performs at international festivals such as the Blue Ball Festival in Luzern, The Maverick Festival in Suffolk, United Kingdom; the

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

Americana Festival and

Celtic Connections The Celtic Connections festival started in 1994 in Glasgow, Scotland, and has since been held every January. Featuring over 300 concerts, ceilidhs, talks, free events, late night sessions and workshops, the festival focuses on the roots of tra ...

. She has also performed on

Daytrotter Daytrotter is a recording studio, music venue and subscription-based music discovery website located in Atlanta, United States. It hosts recording sessions with indie music acts. The original studio in Rock Island, Illinois, was founded in 2006 ...

and on major European radio stations including BBC 2 and WDR,

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

. A 2012 European tour was joined by Seattle-based songwriter Joy Mills. In 2014, Coogan formed a trio with

and drummer Brian Wilson, aka Willie B., (whose credits include playing with Johnny Dowd and

Neko Case Neko Richelle Case (; born September 8, 1970) is an American singer-songwriter and member of the Canadian indie rock group the New Pornographers. Case has a powerful, untrained contralto voice, which has been described by contemporaries and cr ...

), for a tour of the Netherlands and Germany. Coogan and Willie B. toured Europe again in 2015 and 2017. She toured the U.K. in January 2018 and performed as a member of the Johnny Dowd Band on a European tour in February 2018.

Film scores

In 2015, Coogan wrote a score for Jean Epstein and

Luis Buñuel Luis Buñuel Portolés (; 22 February 1900 – 29 July 1983) was a Spanish-Mexican filmmaker who worked in France, Mexico, and Spain. He has been widely considered by many film critics, historians, and directors to be one of the greatest and ...

's silent horror film ''

The Fall of the House of Usher "The Fall of the House of Usher" is a short story by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in 1839 in ''Burton's Gentleman's Magazine'', then included in the collection ''Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque'' in 1840. The short story ...

'' to perform with Tzar (Willie B. and Michael Stark) at the Ithaca Fantastik Film Festival (IFFF). In March 2016, Coogan and Tzar performed an original score for the 1924 Soviet film '' Aelita, Queen of Mars'' at Cornell Cinema. Coogan wrote and performed a solo electric guitar score for

Jean Cocteau Jean Maurice Eugène Clément Cocteau (, , ; 5 July 1889 – 11 October 1963) was a French poet, playwright, novelist, designer, filmmaker, visual artist and critic. He was one of the foremost creatives of the s ...

's ''

The Blood of a Poet ''The Blood of a Poet'' (french: Le sang d'un poète) (1930) is an avant-garde film directed by Jean Cocteau, financed by Charles de Noailles and starring Enrique Riveros, a Chilean actor who had a successful career in European films. Photograp ...

'' for the 2017 IFFF, for a screening Nov. 10 at Cinemapolis in Ithaca. She accompanied the Cocteau film with performances of the score on a tour of the United Kingdom in January 2018. Coogan wrote and performs a silent score for an episode of the detective serie Beatrice Fairfax from 1916 (A name fore the baby OR The Curse of Eve).

Critics

"Her voice is sweet and engaging but has enough salt in it to bring out some of the melancholy and brooding beauty of her lyrics." – The Telegraph (UK) "She sings about science and outerspace, environmental issues, family and love. While most artists would fall flat on their face when they tried to cover that much ground Coogan never loses focus. She is a poet, a singer and an ace guitarist, alternating between Chris Isaac and Ry Cooder, rowdy garage rock, mainstream pop, vocal pyrotechnics, and intricate soundscapes." – Here Comes The Flood (NL)

Discography

* ''Cowboys Lullaby,'' 2004 * ''Glory'' (with North 19), Tarnished Records, 2004 * ''Sleepwalker'' (with North 19), 2007 * ''The Nocturnal Among Us'', 2010 * ''The Wasted Ocean'', 2012 * ''The Nowhere, Rome Sessions'' (with Daniele Fiaschi), 2012 * ''Live at Little Rabbit Barn'' (with Daniele Fiaschi), 2013 * ''The Birth of the Stars'' (with

), Elevate, 2014 * ''Live at the Triple Door'' (with Willie B.), 2015 * ''The Lonely Cry Of Space & Time'' (with Willie B.), 2017

References

External links

*
List of albums
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coogan, Anna American women singer-songwriters American women guitarists Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American women