Dana Falconberry is an American songwriter and musician originally from

Dearborn, Michigan Dearborn is a city in Wayne County in the U.S. state of Michigan. At the 2020 census, it had a population of 109,976. Dearborn is the seventh most-populated city in Michigan and is home to the largest Muslim population in the United States pe ...

later based in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

. She is known for her songwriting that focuses on themes of nature and wildlife. Since 2011, she has mostly played (both live and on record) backed by her five-piece band composed of Christopher Cox, Gina Dvorak, Karla Manzur, Matthew Shepherd, and Lindsey Verrill.

History

Originally interested in pursuing dance and choreography, Falconberry attended

Hendrix College Hendrix College is a private liberal arts college in Conway, Arkansas. Approximately 1,000 students are enrolled, mostly undergraduates. While affiliated with the United Methodist Church, the college offers a secular curriculum and has a stude ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

where she learned to play guitar and write songs. She moved to Austin in 2004 to turn her focus towards music. While in Austin, she fostered a career as a singer-songwriter, recording three albums, and touring the US, Portugal, Japan, the UK, and France. She also spent time as a singer in the folk band

Peter and the Wolf ''Peter and the Wolf'' ( rus, Петя и Bолк, r="Pétya i volk", p=ˈpʲetʲə i volk, links=no) Op. 67, a "symphonic fairy tale for children", is a musical composition written by Sergei Prokofiev in 1936. The narrator tells a children's s ...

. In 2011, Falconberry recruited her current band to record ''Leelanau'', a set of songs inspired by her childhood trips to the

Leelanau Peninsula The Leelanau Peninsula ( ) is a peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan that extends about from the western side of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan into Lake Michigan. Leelanau County encompasses the entire peninsula. It is often referred to as ...

. ''Leelanau'' was released on Oakland's Antenna Farm Records in 2012 and was followed by multiple tours of the US, including supporting shows with

Heartless Bastards Heartless Bastards are an American rock band formed in Cincinnati, Ohio in 2003. The band has released six albums. History Heartless Bastards originally started as a recording project of Erika Wennerstrom. She played most of the instruments and ...

and

Califone Califone is an experimental rock band from Chicago. The band is named after Califone International, an audio equipment manufacturer. Their work has been critically acclaimed. Roots & Crowns review AllMusic Califone has released an album and fea ...

. Falconberry and her band have played on festivals including ACL Fest,

SXSW Music Festival 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 conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...

, and

Noise Pop Festival Noise Pop Festival is an annual week-long music and arts festival that takes place throughout the San Francisco Bay Area produced by Noise Pop. From 1993 to 2020, and then resuming in 2022, Noise Pop Festival has provided exposure to some emer ...

. Jon Pareles of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' has described the live performance as "gentle yet intricate: a rusticated chamber music using banjo, cello, and staggered, contrapuntal vocal harmonies with the other women in her band, in songs full of wordless interludes that unfurled a skein of possibilities."

Discography

Albums

* ''Paper Sailboat'' (self-released - 2007) * ''Oh Skies Of Grey'' (00:02:59 Records - 2008) * ''Halletts'' (self-released - 2010) * ''Leelanau'' (Antenna Farm Records - 2012) * ''From the Forest Came'' ''the'' ''Fire'' (Modern Outsider - 2016)

EPs and singles

* ''Though I Didn't Call It Came'' (Crossbill Records - 2011) * ''Public Hi-Fi Sessions 02'' (Public Hi-Fi Records - 2014)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Falconberry, Dana Songwriters from Michigan Year of birth missing (living people) American women songwriters Living people 21st-century American women