Esmé Patterson is an American gold-selling recording artist in the US and Canada, originally from

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

, and currently residing in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

. She is a founding former member of the

indie folk Indie folk is a music genre that arose in the 1990s among musicians from indie rock scenes influenced by folk music. Indie folk hybridizes the acoustic guitar melodies of traditional folk music with contemporary instrumentation. The genre has its ...

band

Paper Bird Paper Bird was a six-piece indie folk band based in Denver, Colorado. The band was composed of Carleigh Aikins (vocals), brother and sister Mark (drums) and Sarah Anderson (vocals, cornet, trumpet), Paul DeHaven (guitar), and Caleb Summeril (bass ...

and has released four full-length studio albums as a solo artist, the latest of which was released under her multi-album major label contract with Sony/

BMG BMG may refer to: Organizations * Music publishing companies: ** Bertelsmann Music Group, a 1987–2008 division of Bertelsmann that was purchased by Sony on October 1, 2008 *** Sony BMG, a 2004–2008 joint venture of Bertelsmann and Sony that wa ...

Media Group.

Career

Founding Paper Bird, Ballet Commission, & Beginning of Solo Career Patterson began her career in her hometown of

Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a home rule city that is the county seat and most populous municipality of Boulder County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, making it the 12th most populous city in Color ...

, co-founding Paper Bird, but exited the band after pursuing her own solo career, and the remaining six members disbanded the group soon thereafter. Patterson and Paper Bird were commissioned by Ballet Nouveau Colorado in 2010 to compose and perform the music for a ballet entitled "Carry On", which debuted in 2011 and found acclaim among Colorado audiences. "I would generally say it is joyful," Patterson told the

Colorado Daily The ''Colorado Daily'' is a newspaper published in Boulder, Colorado, by Prairie Mountain Publishing Co. LLC, a unit of MediaNews Group. The Daily is operated out of the offices of Boulder's ''Daily Camera'' newspaper. Originally the student news ...

of the ballet in 2011. "Carry On", an associated live album of the musical performances of the ballet, was mixed by Jeremy Averitt and released on 11 June, 2011. Averitt would later join the band backing Patterson's solo career as its bassist. In 2012, Patterson signed with Greater Than Collective, a Denver-based independent label funded by

Illegal Pete's Illegal Pete's is a Colorado-based group of quick-service, fast-casual "Mission Style" burrito restaurants that takes inspiration from burritos popularized in San Francisco in the 1960s and 1970s. History The first Illegal Pete's location was open ...

, and released her debut album entitled ''All Princes, I'', for which she received favorable critical reviews from ''

American Songwriter ''American Songwriter'' is a bimonthly magazine covering songwriting. Established in 1984, it features interviews, songwriting tips, news, reviews and lyric contest. The magazine is based in Nashville, Tennessee. History The ''American Songwri ...

'' and Colorado's ''

5280 Magazine ''5280'' is an American monthly magazine focused on Denver, Colorado and published by 5280 Publishing, Inc. The album was officially released on 20 October, 2012 with a corresponding release performance at L2 Arts & Culture Center in

, Colorado with Patterson backed by a thirteen-piece orchestral ensemble. ''Westword's'' Josiah Hesse described the album as "an authentic and infectious gift," but the grueling touring schedule of Paper Bird kept Patterson from performing her own solo tour on the album. She later told an interviewer that she was given an ultimatum by the members of Paper Bird to either quit pursuing her solo career or quit the band: “The band gave me an ultimatum: Quit doing your solo thing, or quit the band,” Patterson told '' The Denver Post's'' interviewer, Dylan Owens in 2016, “So I quit the band.” Paper Bird disbanded following Patterson's departure, and Patterson continued to tour, performing her own work. First of TED Talks Concerning Women in Popular Songs During a 2013 interview with ''

'' regarding an upcoming

TEDx TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "ideas worth spreading". TED was founded by Richard Sau ...

Talk she was asked to present on the subject of a woman's experiences in music, Patterson confided that she was prompted by her own experiences to begin writing songs that told the other side of the story from the perspective of the objectified female characters in hit songs, of which she previewed a few in her

Talk at the Newman Center for the Performing Arts on 15 November 2013. The songs would later appear on her second full-length solo album ''Woman to Woman''. Co-Writing "Dearly Departed" and Gold Record Certifications Prior to signing with Dualtone Records, artist Shakey Graves (Alejandro Rose-Garcia) was a frequent opening act for Paper Bird on their US tours, and Patterson co-wrote three songs for his debut 2014 label release ''And the War Came'', one of which, "Dearly Departed", reached No. 5 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

Adult Alternative Airplay Adult Alternative Airplay (also known as Triple A or Triple A Airplay, and formerly Adult Alternative Songs and Triple A Songs) is a record chart currently published by ''Billboard'' that ranks the most popular songs on adult album alternative radi ...

chart, No. 49 on the ''

Hot Rock & Alternative Songs Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (formerly known as Rock Songs and Hot Rock Songs) is a record chart published by ''Billboard'' magazine. From its debut on June 20, 2009, through October 13, 2012, the chart ranked the airplay of songs across alternati ...

chart, and No. 49 on the ''Alternative 30'' of the ''

Canadian Rock Music Charts Canadian rock music charts (established June 11, 1995) publishes a weekly alternative rock music chart under the name ''Alternative 30.'' RPM charts On June 11, 1995, Canadian music magazine ''RPM'' began publishing a weekly alternative rock music ...

''. Patterson performed the song on Conan and

The Late Show with David Letterman The ''Late Show with David Letterman'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by David Letterman on CBS, the first iteration of the The Late Show (franchise), ''Late Show'' franchise. The show debuted on August 30, 1993, and was produced by ...

in late 2014 and early 2015, respectively. Her 2014 performance of the song broadcast from the

SXSW 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 ...

Pandora In Greek mythology, Pandora (Greek: , derived from , ''pān'', i.e. "all" and , ''dōron'', i.e. "gift", thus "the all-endowed", "all-gifted" or "all-giving") was the first human woman created by Hephaestus on the instructions of Zeus. As Hes ...

House garnered 9.5 million viewers. The song earned Patterson

RIAA Gold Certification The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

in the US and Music Canada Gold Certification in 2020 and 2021, respectively, and was nominated for ''Song of the Year'' at the 2015 Americana Music Awards held at Nashville's

Ryman Auditorium Ryman Auditorium (also known as Grand Ole Opry House and Union Gospel Tabernacle) is a 2,362-seat live-performance venue located at 116 Rep. John Lewis Way North, in Nashville, Tennessee. It is best known as the home of the ''Grand Ole Opry'' fr ...

, at which she gave a broadcast performance of the song. Release of ''Woman to Woman'' and Second TEDx Appearance In 2015, Patterson released her second full-length album titled ''Woman to Woman'', a collection of original response songs to " male-gaze" hits from the perspective of the female subject of each song, on the UK label Xtra Mile Recordings in the UK and US, gaining wide acclaim from the international critics for several music publications including ''

Vice Magazine ''Vice'' (stylized in all caps) is a Canadian-American magazine focused on lifestyle, arts, culture, and news/politics. Founded in 1994 in Montreal as an alternative punk magazine, the founders later launched the youth media company Vice Media, ...

'', ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', and '' Bust Magazine''. "The Glow" was premiered by ''

Spin Magazine ''Spin'' (stylized in all caps) is an American music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione, Jr. Now owned by Next Management Partners, the magazine is an online publication since it stopped issuing a print edition in 2012. Histor ...

'' online and Patterson made an associated music video in which she portrays a version of the female main character Caroline from The Beach Boys' hit song "

Caroline, No "Caroline, No" is a song by American musician Brian Wilson that was released as his first solo record on March 7, 1966 and, two months later, reissued as the closing track on the Beach Boys' album ''Pet Sounds''. Written with Tony Asher, the lyr ...

". "Valentine" tells an alternate story from the perspective of the title female character in Elvis Costello's hit song " Alison", and was premiered online by ''

''. "Never Chase a Man" proffers the thoughts and feelings of Jolene, the female subject of Dolly Parton's hit song of the same name, and was premiered by

Austin, TX Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

Public Radio station

KUTX KUTX (98.9 FM) is a non-commercial radio station licensed to Leander, Texas and serving the greater Austin, Texas area with an Adult album alternative format. The station is owned by University of Texas at Austin with headquarters at the Belo Ce ...

. The album's popularity and theme gained the attention of

organizers, who tapped Patterson for another

TED Talk TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "ideas worth spreading". TED was founded by Richard Sau ...

, this time at

Ellie Caulkins Opera House The Ellie Caulkins Opera House is located in Denver, Colorado as part of the large Denver Performing Arts Complex. It seats 2,225. The Caulkins family pledged $7 million towards the enhancement of the lyric opera house and adjacent public spaces w ...

on the topic "Ideas Unbridled: Revisiting Her Side of the Story", discussing the need to recognize and respond to the problematic themes of hit songs that objectify and demean their main female characters. ''We Were Wild'' and NPR Tiny Desk Appearance Patterson released her third full-length album in 2016 entitled ''We Were Wild'', her first for

Fat Possum Records Fat Possum Records is an American independent record label based in Water Valley and Oxford, Mississippi. At first Fat Possum focused almost entirely on recording previously unknown Mississippi blues artists (typically from Oxford or Holly Sprin ...

, which caught the attention of ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' and ''

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 ...

'', who reviewed the album as a stark departure from her previous efforts yet recommended its selections within their published playlists. The album was recorded and mixed in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

after Patterson relocated there in 2015, and she performed its lead single "No River" and other selections on NPR's Tiny Desk Concerts of 10 February, 2017. In the same year, Patterson recorded a duet with UK recording artist

Frank Turner Francis Edward Turner (born 28 December 1981), is an English Punk rock, punk and Folk music, folk singer-songwriter from Meonstoke, Hampshire. He began his career as the vocalist of post-hardcore band Million Dead, then embarked upon a primar ...

, a fellow

Xtra Mile Xtra Mile Recordings are a British independent record label based in London, England. The label was founded in 2003 by Charlie Caplowe and they release an eclectic mix of genres with a focus on rock and folk. History The label first signed the ...

-signed artist, which appeared on his album ''Positive Songs for Negative People''. Also in 2016, Patterson worked with

Bloodshot Records Bloodshot Records is an independent record label based in Chicago, Illinois, which specializes in alternative country. History Bloodshot Records was founded in 1994 by Nan Warshaw, Rob Miller, and Eric Babcock, who knew each other from jobs ...

artist

William Elliott Whitmore William Elliott Whitmore (born May 11, 1978) is an American blues, country, folk singer and musician. He plays roots-folk music that is often inspired by his life on his family farm in the hills of southeastern Iowa. Early life and education W ...

, whom she had toured with in 2015, to create a record in which each played a song written by the other on each side of a split 7-inch double-sided single released by

in November, 2016 and acquired by

Rough Trade Records Rough Trade Records is an independent record label based in London, England. It was formed in 1976 by Geoff Travis who had opened a record store off Ladbroke Grove. Having successfully promoted and sold records by punk rock and early post-pun ...

as a limited edition printing. Entitled ''Play Each Other's Songs'', the A side features Whitmore covering Patterson's song "Elysium", and Patterson in turn covering Whitmore's "Not Feeling Any Pain" on the B side. The record garnered favorable reviews by critics and a video shot in downtown

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' ...

featuring Patterson dancing to "Not Feeling Any Pain". BMG Contract, ''There Will Come Soft Rains'', and COVID19 Tour Cancellation Patterson released her most recent record on March 6, 2020 titled ''There Will Come Soft Rains'', after an apocalypse-themed

Ray Bradbury Ray Douglas Bradbury (; August 22, 1920June 5, 2012) was an American author and screenwriter. One of the most celebrated 20th-century American writers, he worked in a variety of modes, including fantasy, science fiction, horror, mystery, and r ...

work of the same name., her first on the

label with which she signed a multi-album contract. Coincidentally, this apocalypse-referencing album saw its March 6, 2020 release coincide with the first Covid19 quarantine lockdowns throughout Patterson's home state of

that same week. Patterson subsequently decided to cancel the scheduled release tour for the album, including her much-anticipated South by Southwest (SXSW) appearance, citing safety concerns for her band members and audiences alike during the COVID-19 Global Pandemic. The album was favorably reviewed in ''Paste Magazine'', who called it a "study in swagger and contrast" and noted its sudden pop sensibilities as yet another departure for Patterson from her previous work. Tour with Os Mutantes' U.S. Return & Upcoming Album Hints In 2022 and 2023, Patterson supported the influential group of the late 1960s

Tropicália Tropicália (), also known as Tropicalismo (), was a Brazilian artistic movement that arose in the late 1960s. It was characterized by the amalgamation of Brazilian genres—notably the union of the pop culture, popular and the avant-garde, as ...

Brazilian art movement

Os Mutantes Os Mutantes (meaning '' the mutants''; ) are an influential Brazilian rock band that were linked with the Tropicália movement, a dissident musical movement during the Brazilian dictatorship of the late 1960s. The band is considered to be one of ...

during their first tour of the United States since 2006. She told the audience during her opening set on 1 March 2023 at the

Third Man Records Third Man Records is an eclectic, vinyl-focused independent record label founded and owned by Jack White, Ben Blackwell and Ben Swank. The company operates out of three locations—Nashville, Tennessee, Detroit, Michigan, and Soho, London—with ...

Blue Room in

that she had recorded an album on her farm in Tennessee, and began the set by performing one of the songs she had written for it. Records indicate that the publishing rights of her catalog continue to be administered by

BMG Rights Management BMG Rights Management GmbH (also known simply as BMG) is an international music company based in Berlin, Germany. It combines the activities of a music publisher and a record label. BMG was founded in October 2008 after Bertelsmann sold its ...

as of July, 2023. Patterson's official

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account uploaded a photograph on July 30, 2023 captioned as the cover photo of her upcoming album entitled ''Notes from Nowhere'', though no release date was given nor announcement made, and mentions that her husband helped stage the stunt photography. The

Nashville Scene ''Nashville Scene'' is an alternative newsweekly in Nashville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1989, became a part of Village Voice Media in 1999, and later joined the ranks of sixteen other publications after a merger of Village Voice Media with ...

premiered the video for 'Coming Down', the second of two pre-release singles from her forthcoming album ''Notes from Nowhere'' on 7 September, 2023, and identified the release date of the album to coincide with a release party at

East Nashville East Nashville is an area east of downtown Nashville in Tennessee across the Cumberland River. The area is mostly residential and mixed-use areas with businesses lining the main boulevards. The main thoroughfares are Gallatin Ave (also known as Ga ...

's The 5 Spot live music venue on 10 October, 2023 with support from Ziona Riley and Abby Johnson. In reviewing the video premiere, Stephen Trageser, Music Editor for the

, described the single as "a quiet meditation on living in the moment."

Discography

Studio albums *''All Princes, I'' (2012) *''Woman to Woman'' (2015) *''We Were Wild'' (2016) *''There Will Come Soft Rains'' (2020)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Patterson, Esmé Living people American women singer-songwriters Singers from Denver Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American women Singer-songwriters from Colorado