Anaïs Mitchell (; born March 26, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and playwright. Mitchell has released eight studio albums, including ''

Hadestown ''Hadestown'' is a musical with music, lyrics, and a book by Anaïs Mitchell. It tells a version of the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. Eurydice, a young girl looking for something to eat, goes to work in a hellish industrial vers ...

'' (2010), '' Young Man in America'' (2012),Anais Mitchell: 'I like to cry'
March 8, 2012. Retrieved January 8, 2013. ''

Child Ballads The Child Ballads are 305 traditional ballads from England and Scotland, and their American variants, anthologized by Francis James Child during the second half of the 19th century. Their lyrics and Child's studies of them were published as ...

'' (2013), and ''

Anaïs Mitchell Anaïs Mitchell (; born March 26, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and playwright. Mitchell has released eight studio albums, including ''Hadestown (album), Hadestown'' (2010), ''Young Man in America'' (2012),stage musical Musical theatre is a form of theatre, theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, ...

(together with director Rachel Chavkin), which received its US debut at

New York Theatre Workshop __NOTOC__ New York Theatre Workshop (NYTW) is an Off-Broadway theater noted for its productions of new works. Located at 79 East 4th Street between Second Avenue and Bowery in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, it h ...

in summer 2016, and its Canadian debut at the

Citadel Theatre The Citadel Theatre is the major venue for theatre arts in the city of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, located in the city's downtown core on Churchill Square. It is the third largest regional theatre in Canada. History It began in a former Salvati ...

, Edmonton the following year. The show opened at London's National Theatre in November 2018 and then on Broadway on April 17, 2019, at the

Walter Kerr Theatre The Walter Kerr Theatre, previously the Ritz Theatre, is a Broadway theater at 219 West 48th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York, U.S. The theater was designed by Herbert J. Krapp and was constructe ...

. The Broadway production of ''Hadestown'' won eight

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

s in 2019 including the

Tony Award for Best Musical The Tony Award for Best Musical is given annually to the best new Broadway musical, as determined by Tony Award voters. The award is one of the ceremony's longest-standing awards, having been presented each year since 1949. The award goes to the ...

. Mitchell received the

Tony Award for Best Original Score The Tony Award for Best Original Score is the Tony Award given to the composers and lyricists of the best original score written for a musical or play in that year. The score consists of music and/or lyrics. To be eligible, a score must be written ...

; she was also nominated for Best Book of a Musical. The Broadway cast album of the show took home the

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

for Best Musical Theater Album in 2020. Mitchell's first book, ''Working on a Song: The Lyrics of Hadestown'', was published by Plume Books on October 6, 2020. Mitchell was included in ''Time''s 100 Most Influential People of 2020. Mitchell is a member of the band Bonny Light Horseman, whose self-titled debut was released in 2020. The band's second album, "Golden Rolling Holy", was released in 2022, followed by "Keep Me on Your Mind/See You Free" in 2024.

Early life

Mitchell's father, a novelist and college professor, named her after author

Anaïs Nin Angela Anaïs Juana Antolina Rosa Edelmira Nin y Culmell ( ; ; February 21, 1903 – January 14, 1977) was a French-born American diarist, essayist, novelist, and writer of short stories and erotica. Born to Cuban parents in France, Nin was the d ...

. She grew up on Treleven farm in

Addison County, Vermont Addison County is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Vermont. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 37,363. Its shire town (county seat) is the town of Middlebury (town), Vermont, Middle ...

and graduated from Mount Abraham Union High School. She was raised

Quaker Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestant Christian set of denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally, others referred to them as Quakers ...

. Her mother was Deputy Secretary of Vermont's Agency of Human Services. After traveling to the Middle East, Europe and Latin America as a child, she attended

Middlebury College Middlebury College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vermont, United States. Founded in 1800 by Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalists, Middlebury w ...

, where she majored in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

and graduated in 2004.

Career

Having begun writing her first songs at the age of 17, around 1998, Mitchell won the New Folk award in 2003, when she was 22, at the

Kerrville Folk Festival The Kerrville Folk Festival is a music festival with camping, held for nearly three weeks each year, in late spring/early summer, at Quiet Valley Ranch near Kerrville, Texas. The festival draws around 30,000 people. It aims to present establish ...

. Her album '' Hymns for the Exiled'' was released on Chicago's Waterbug Records label in 2004. This recording attracted the attention of singer-songwriter

Ani DiFranco Angela Maria "Ani" DiFranco (; born September 23, 1970) is an American-Canadian singer-songwriter. She has released more than 20 albums. DiFranco's music has been classified as folk rock and alternative rock, although it has additional influenc ...

, who signed her to the Righteous Babe Records label. In 2006, Mitchell debuted a draft of her "folk opera" ''Hadestown'', which she wrote in collaboration with arranger Michael Chorney and director Ben T. Matchstick. A revised version of ''Hadestown'' was staged in 2007. Her third album, ''

The Brightness ''The Brightness'' is the third studio album by American folksinger Anaïs Mitchell, released February 13, 2007, on Righteous Babe Records. It was recorded at The Bristmill in Bristol, Vermont and produced by Michael Chorney. In December 20 ...

,'' was released that same year on Righteous Babe Records. Her album ''

,'' produced by Todd Sickafoose, was released in spring 2010 to favorable reviews. Described as "the story of Orpheus and Eurydice set in post-apocalyptic Depression-era America, the album includes guest appearances by

, Greg Brown,

Justin Vernon Justin DeYarmond Edison Vernon (born April 30, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist. He is best-known as the primary songwriter and Lead vocalist, frontman of indie folk band Bon Iver. He is also a member o ...

Bon Iver Bon Iver ( ) is an American indie folk band founded in 2006 by singer-songwriter Justin Vernon in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Vernon had originally formed Bon Iver as a solo project, but it eventually became a band consisting of Vernon (vocals, guit ...

, Ben Knox Miller of The Low Anthem, and The Haden Triplets (

Petra Petra (; "Rock"), originally known to its inhabitants as Raqmu (Nabataean Aramaic, Nabataean: or , *''Raqēmō''), is an ancient city and archaeological site in southern Jordan. Famous for its rock-cut architecture and water conduit systems, P ...

Rachel Rachel () was a Bible, Biblical figure, the favorite of Jacob's two wives, and the mother of Joseph (Genesis), Joseph and Benjamin, two of the twelve progenitors of the tribes of Israel. Rachel's father was Laban (Bible), Laban. Her older siste ...

, and Tanya Haden). Mitchell continued quietly working on a stage version of ''Hadestown'' while also writing and recording new material. In early 2012, she released '' Young Man in America'' on Wilderland Records. Mitchell opened the

North American North America is a continent in the Northern and Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Caribbean Sea, and to the sou ...

leg of

's autumn 2012 tour, which included two sold-out shows at

Radio City Music Hall Radio City Music Hall (also known as Radio City) is an entertainment venue and Theater (structure), theater at 1260 Sixth Avenue (Manhattan), Avenue of the Americas, within Rockefeller Center, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York C ...

. The album was largely praised by critics as "genre-defying" and her "second consecutive masterpiece." In late 2012, Mitchell completed recording seven songs from the collection of

, compiled by

Francis James Child Francis James Child (February 1, 1825 – September 11, 1896) was an American scholar, educator, and folklorist, best known today for his collection of English and Scottish ballads now known as the Child Ballads. Child was Boylston professor ...

, with fellow musician Jefferson Hamer. The

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

, produced by Gary Paczosa, was released in February 2013,New album, Child Ballads, out early 2013
December 11, 2012. Retrieved January 8, 2013. winning a BBC Radio 2 Folk Award for Best Traditional Song. This was followed in 2014 by '' xoa,'' for which Mitchell re-recorded a number of her older songs using only guitar and vocals. This stripped back album included some songs from ''

'' which were recorded for the first time in Mitchell's own voice, as well as three brand new songs. In summer 2016, the newly expanded theatrical version of ''

'' opened at

with Vogue magazine predicting that "''Hadestown'' will be your next musical theatre obsession". The following year, it received its Canadian premiere at The Citadel Theatre, Edmonton, and in April 2018, London's National Theatre announced that it would present a three-month run during the winter ahead of the show's Broadway transfer. ''Hadestown'' opened on Broadway at the

on April 17, 2019. In 2019, Mitchell was appearing as part of a three-piece "supergroup" called Bonny Light Horseman, consisting of herself, Eric D. Johnson of Fruit Bats and guitarist Josh Kaufman. The group's self-titled debut album was released on January 24, 2020. In June 2021, American supergroup

Big Red Machine The Big Red Machine is a nickname for the Cincinnati Reds baseball team that dominated the National League from 1970 to 1979 and is widely recognized as being among the best in baseball history. The team won six National League West Division t ...

announced their second studio album, '' How Long Do You Think It's Gonna Last?'', which features Mitchell's guest vocals in three of its tracks: "Latter Days", "Phoenix", and "New Auburn".

Personal life

While at Middlebury College, Mitchell met Noah Hahn, whom she married in 2006. They have two daughters, Ramona and Rosetta.

Reception

Mitchell has received favorable reviews on her musical style, sound and performance. An article in ''

Acoustic Guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked, its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

'' magazine calls Mitchell "fearlessly emotive" and compares her to

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian songwriter, singer, poet, and novelist. Themes commonly explored throughout his work include faith and mortality, isolation and depression, betrayal and redemption, soc ...

, and

Gillian Welch Gillian Howard Welch (; born October 2, 1967) is an American singer-songwriter. She performs with her musical partner, guitarist David Rawlings. Their sparse and dark musical style, which combines elements of Appalachian music, bluegrass, coun ...

. The UK's ''Independent'' newspaper called her "the most engaging, and in some ways, most original artist currently working in the field of new American folk music" ''The New York Times'' noted that "Ms Mitchell's songs address contemporary angst with uncanny vision" and called her "a formidable songwriting talent".

Discography

Studio albums

EPs

Cast albums

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

Other appearances

Audiobooks

*''Working on a Song: The Lyrics of Hadestown'' (October 6, 2020; Penguin Audio)

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Official websiteGuardian
Feature
Vogue
Interview
NPR All Songs Considered
Interview

Feature {{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Anais Living people 1981 births 21st-century American guitarists 21st-century American women guitarists 21st-century American women singers American dramatists and playwrights American women singer-songwriters American folk singers American folk guitarists American musical theatre composers American musical theatre librettists American musical theatre lyricists American people of British descent American women dramatists and playwrights Broadway composers and lyricists American feminist musicians Grammy Award winners Guitarists from Vermont Middlebury College alumni People from Addison County, Vermont People from Montpelier, Vermont Righteous Babe Records artists Singers from Vermont Songwriters from Vermont Waterbug Records artists 21st-century American women composers 21st-century American singer-songwriters Tony Award winners Bonny Light Horseman (band) members