Becky Stark is an American artist, singer, songwriter and entertainer from

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. She is the voice of the band

Lavender Diamond Lavender Diamond is an American, Los Angeles-based band, fronted by singer Becky Stark. History While living in Providence, Rhode Island, Stark began performing as Lavender Diamond in a play that she and puppeteer Xander Marro wrote, created a ...

Music

Stark participated in the new folk movement and the LA underground punk/noise scene. She has performed extensively as a solo artist and leader of the Lavender Diamond band. She appeared in the November 2007 '' Vanity Fair'' "Folk Music Heroes" portfolio by

Annie Leibovitz Anna-Lou Leibovitz ( ; born October 2, 1949) is an American portrait photographer best known for her engaging portraits, particularly of celebrities, which often feature subjects in intimate settings and poses. Leibovitz's Polaroid photo of Jo ...

on the page between

Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan "Joni" Mitchell ( Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian-American musician, producer, and painter. Among the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitchell became known for her sta ...

and

Judy Collins Judith Marjorie Collins (born May 1, 1939) is an American singer-songwriter and musician with a career spanning seven decades. An Academy Award-nominated documentary director and a Grammy Award-winning recording artist, she is known for her ec ...

. In addition to her work with Lavender Diamond she sings with

The Living Sisters The Living Sisters is a female folk group consisting of Alex Lilly, Inara George, Becky Stark and Eleni Mandell Eleni Mandell is an American singer-songwriter. Since 2000, she has published albums through Zedtone Records in Toronto, Ontario, w ...

, a folk trio with

Eleni Mandell Eleni Mandell is an American singer-songwriter. Since 2000, she has published albums through Zedtone Records in Toronto, Ontario, which in 2012 began licensing her releases to Yep Roc in the United States, and Make My Day in Europe. She is also ...

and

Inara George Inara Maryland George (born July 4, 1974) is an American singer-songwriter and musician, one half of The Bird and the Bee, a member of the band Merrick, with Bryony Atkinson, and a member of the trio The Living Sisters, with Eleni Mandell and ...

from the Bird and the Bee. The 2007 Lavender Diamond album ''Imagine Our Love'' was released on Matador and Rough Trade Records. A film to accompany the album is currently in production in

IMAX IMAX is a proprietary system of high-resolution cameras, film formats, film projectors, and theaters known for having very large screens with a tall aspect ratio (approximately either 1.43:1 or 1.90:1) and steep stadium seating. Graeme F ...

format. Becky Stark appeared with Lavender Diamond performing "You" in the movie ''

One Day Like Rain ''One Day Like Rain'' is a 2007 American science fiction drama film written and directed by Paul Todisco and starring Samantha Figura, Marina Resa and Jesse Eisenberg. Cast *Samantha Figura as Gina *Marina Resa as Jennifer *Jesse Eisenberg as M ...

''. In 2008 she wrote the "Songs of the Believers" for the film ''

City of Ember ''City of Ember'' is a 2008 American science fantasy adventure film based on the 2003 novel ''The City of Ember'' by Jeanne DuPrau. Directed by Gil Kenan in his live-action directorial debut, the film stars Saoirse Ronan, Harry Treadaway, Bill ...

'' starring

Bill Murray William James Murray (born September 21, 1950) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his deadpan delivery. He rose to fame on ''The National Lampoon Radio Hour'' (1973–1974) before becoming a national presence on ''Saturday Nigh ...

, directed by

Gil Kenan Gil Kenan (October 16, 1976) is a British–American film director, film producer, screenwriter, and animator. Early life Kenan was born in London to a Jewish family. When Kenan was three, his family Aliyah, immigrated to Tel Aviv, Israel. He ha ...

and produced by

Tom Hanks Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...

. The film is a post-apocalyptic action-adventure story for children. In the film Becky plays the Songmaster. She also stars in an upcoming short film version of a short story from

Miranda July Miranda July (born Miranda Jennifer Grossinger; February 15, 1974) is an American film director, screenwriter, singer, actress and author. Her body of work includes film, fiction, monologue, digital presentations and live performance art. She w ...

's book ''No one Belongs Here More Than You''. Based on the story "Birthmark", the short is called "White Light". Kim Gordon and Liz Goldwyn also star in the film directed by Alia Raza. Stark appeared onstage as the musical guest in ''

The Daily Show ''The Daily Show'' is an American late-night talk and satirical news television program. It airs each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central with release shortly after on Paramount+. ''The Daily Show'' draws its comedy and satire form from ...

'' creator

Ben Karlin Ben Karlin (born c. 1971) is an American television producer and writer. He has won eight Emmy awards, and is best known for his work in ''The Daily Show with Jon Stewart'' and ''The Colbert Report''. He is one of three co-creators of ''The Colbe ...

's new variety show, singing with

Zooey Deschanel Zooey Claire Deschanel (; born January 17, 1980) is an American actress, singer, and songwriter. She made her film debut in '' Mumford'' (1999) and had a supporting role in Cameron Crowe's film ''Almost Famous'' (2000). Deschanel is known for he ...

and accompanied by

OK Go OK Go is an American rock band originally from Chicago, Illinois, now based in Los Angeles, California. The band is composed of Damian Kulash (lead vocals, guitar), Tim Nordwind (bass guitar and vocals), Dan Konopka (drums and percussion), and ...

. In 2009 she wrote, directed and appeared in the web series Califunya! She is co-author of the Peace Comics with cartoonist Ron Rege, Jr., the drummer in Lavender Diamond. She and Ron Rege have a band together, The Mystical Unionists. She appears as a character/vocalist on the Decemberists' 2009 concept album ''

The Hazards of Love ''The Hazards of Love'' is the fifth album by the American indie rock band The Decemberists, released through Capitol Records and Rough Trade in 2009. The album was inspired by an Anne Briggs EP titled '' The Hazards of Love''. According to the ...

''. She appeared with her band at the 2009

South by Southwest South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in m ...

festival. She sings as the character Margaret and sings on the tracks "Won't Want for Love (Margaret in the Taiga)","Isn't It a Lovely Night?", "The Abduction of Margaret", and "The Hazards of Love 4 (The Drowned)."

References

External links

Article on Becky Stark in ''The New York Times''

Stark interviewed for cover article in ''Arthur'' magazine

Becky Stark and Miranda July interview each other for ''Anthem'' magazine

''New Yorker'' article
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stark, Becky 1976 births Living people American folk singers American women rock singers Brown University alumni Singers from Los Angeles Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School alumni The Decemberists 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American singers The Living Sisters members