Grass Widow is an American
indie rock
Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...
band from
San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
,
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
. Their music has been described as discordant and lo-fi,
and connected to the post-punk roots of the members of the band.
The band was formed in 2007 with members from the band Shitstorm.
All three members share vocal duties. Hannah Lew plays bass, Raven Mahon plays guitar and Lillian Maring plays the drums. The band mentions in interviews their intentionally collaborative creative process,
and their focus on sustainability in their music careers, opting to tour for only two weeks at a time to stay connected with friends and family.
Songs are created together in their San Francisco practice space and all contribute equally to the work of the band.
Members of the band are often asked about the fact that the band is all-women and about their feminism, and have responded with a quote from
Gina Birch
Georgina Mary Birch (born October 1955) is an English musician and filmmaker, best known as a founding member of post-punk rock band the Raincoats.
Born in Nottingham, Birch attended Nottingham Girls' High School and subsequently Hornsey Sc ...
: "And you ask me if I’m a Feminist? Why the hell would I not be?!"
They cite influences like
Neo Boys and
Kleenex
Kleenex is a brand name primarily known for their line of facial tissues. Often used informally as a genericized trademark for facial tissue, ''Kleenex'' is a registered trademark of Kimberly-Clark applied to products made in 78 countries. The ...
, they also note Roy Wood's The Move and
The Kinks
The Kinks were an English rock band formed in London in 1963 by brothers Ray Davies, Ray and Dave Davies, and Pete Quaife. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British ...
as a major source of inspiration.
The band dissolved circa 2013, members pursuing their respective projects.
Their namesake term , shared across
Germanic languages
The Germanic languages are a branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family spoken natively by a population of about 515 million people mainly in Europe, North America, Oceania, and Southern Africa. The most widely spoke ...
, is of various shared meanings tied to abandonment, but now often refers to a divorced and/or promiscuous woman, or a wife whose husband is away.
Discography
Studio albums
*''Grass Widow'' (2009, Make A Mess Records)
*''Past Time'' (2010,
Kill Rock Stars
Kill Rock Stars is an independent record label founded in February 1991 by Slim Moon and Tinuviel Sampson, and based in both Olympia, Washington, and Portland, Oregon. The label has released a variety of work in different genres, but it was orig ...
)
*''Internal Logic'' (2012, HLR label)
Other Releases
*''Grass Widow '' (2009,
Captured Tracks
Captured Tracks is an American independent record label based in Brooklyn, New York. The label was founded in 2008 by Mike Sniper.
About
Current flagship artists include: Craft Spells, DIIV and Wild Nothing.
Captured Tracks has reissued reco ...
)
*''Milo Minute'' 7" (2011, HLR label)
*''Disappearing Industries'' (2012, HLR label)
References
Reviews
* .
* .
* .
External links
* .
*
* .
* .
{{Authority control
Female musical trios
Indie rock musical groups from California
Musical groups from San Francisco
History of women in California