| Adrianne Lenker | |
| Landscape: | yes |
| Birth Name: | Adrianne Elizabeth Lenker |
| Birth Date: | 9 July 1991 |
| Birth Place: | Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S. |
| Origin: | Plymouth, Minnesota, U.S. |
| Genre: | Indie folk |
| Instrument: | Vocals, guitar |
| Years Active: | 2006–present |
| Current Member Of: | Big Thief |
Adrianne Elizabeth Lenker (born July 9, 1991) is an American musician. She is the lead vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter of the band Big Thief, as well as an established solo artist.
Lenker was born in Indianapolis and was raised in a Christian cult until the age of four,[1] [2] but primarily grew up in Minnesota.
When Lenker was 5 years old, she was hospitalized when a railroad spike fell from a treehouse roof, lodging itself into her skull, nearly killing her.[3] [4] She recounts the incident in the song "Mythological Beauty" from Big Thief's second album Capacity.[5]
Her parents rented homes in Coon Rapids, Nisswa, and Bloomington, Minnesota, before settling down in Plymouth, Minnesota, where she lived for 10 years, excluding a brief time spent in Santa Cruz, California. She spent a summer traveling throughout the Midwest and living out of a Ford cargo van.[6] Lenker was homeschooled. Her parents divorced when she was 12, and she began experimenting with substances in her mid-teens.[7]
Lenker's parents eventually ceased their involvement in cult activity, after which Lenker became interested in music and songwriting.[8] She taught herself to play guitar by writing her own music; she wrote her first song at the age of eight, and recorded her first album at age 13.[9] She also studied martial arts extensively, and was state karate champion three years in a row.[10] [11]
At some point, Lenker eventually enrolled in public school, but was not successful. She recounts that she would intentionally show up late for school in order to get lunch detention to avoid social alienation in the lunchroom.[12]
She moved to Santa Cruz for a year and a half, living with a family friend and working at a local McDonalds. She dropped out of Santa Cruz High School halfway into her sophomore year (by a differing account, she never attended high school) and moved back to Plymouth. She earned her GED at the age of 16.[13] She attended the Berklee College of Music on a scholarship provided by Susan Tedeschi of the Tedeschi Trucks Band, and started her first band.[14] [15]
On February 28, 2006, when Lenker was 14, she released her first solo album, Stages of the Sun.[16] On January 9, 2014, Lenker released her second solo album, Hours Were the Birds.[17]
On May 1, 2014, Lenker, together with future bandmate Buck Meek, released the LP records a-sides and b-sides.[18] In 2015, Lenker and Meek, alongside Max Oleartchik and James Krivchenia, formed the band Big Thief. Their first album, Masterpiece, was released in May 2016 to rave reviews.[19] The band has since released four more albums, and has been touring every year since their formation.[20]
Lenker released her third solo album, Abysskiss, on October 5, 2018.[21] [22] The album consisted of songs Lenker wrote while touring with Big Thief, and two of the songs received full arrangements, which were rereleased on the band's album U.F.O.F. a few months later.[23]
While in isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic, Lenker wrote and recorded two albums, Songs and Instrumentals, which were released on October 23, 2020.[24] The albums focused on less production and a more acoustic sound with traditional folk songwriting and improvisation. Both albums were recorded without any digital processes, utilizing an analog-analog-analog (AAA) recording method.[25]
In January 2024, Lenker partnered with School of Song to teach a four-week course on songwriting, which focused on ways to expand creativity through different guitar techniques and lyrical focuses.[26] In the same month, Lenker also announced her sixth studio album, Bright Future, which was released on March 22, 2024.[27]
On March 11, 2024, Lenker released an EP, I Won't Let Go of Your Hand, exclusively on Bandcamp with proceeds going to the Palestine Children's Relief Fund.[28]
Lenker's lyrics have been described by NPR as "unequivocal", "instinctive" and "deeply personal". Many of Lenker's song titles are names of people, though some are actually written about herself. She explained, "Sometimes I need a name for themes in my songs, but oftentimes they're just about me or directed to myself".[29]
Lenker elaborated on her mindset and approach to songwriting in an interview, where she likened her process to a "collaboration with the universe or a higher power". She said:
Lenker met the future Big Thief co-founder Buck Meek at a concert when she lived in Boston. She then re-encountered him at Mr. Kiwi, a small grocery store in Bushwick, Brooklyn, the day she moved to New York.[30] [19] [31] The pair began to play together, and married when Lenker was 24. They divorced in 2018, remaining in Big Thief as "deep friends". She later spoke of continuing to work with Meek in the band following the divorce:
In 2019, Lenker was in a relationship with the artist Indigo Sparke, and the two separated sometime in 2020.[32] [33]
While Lenker is comfortable with the label "queer", she has expressed a desire not to define her sexual orientation beyond that. Her lyrics often contain discussions of gender and the gender binary. In an interview with The Brag, Lenker said of those lyrics, "I feel within myself a constant dialogue between my masculinity, my femininity and the part of me that is neither of those things. I'm just trying to talk about it because I feel like I'm something that is very ambiguous."[34]
Lenker enjoys visiting breakfast diners and swimming holes while out on tour.[35]
| Artist: | Adrianne Lenker |
| Studio: | 5 |
| Ep: | 3 |
| Compilation: | 1 |
| Live: | 1 |
| Singles: | 1 |
| Title | Details | Peak chart positions | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Folk [36] | US Heat [37] | US Indie [38] | US Sales [39] | AUS [40] | NZ [41] | |||
| Stages of the Sun |
| — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Hours Were the Birds |
| — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Abysskiss |
| — | 10 | 39 | — | — | — | |
| Songs |
| 12 | 11 | — | 43 | — | — | |
| Instrumentals | ||||||||
| Bright Future |
| 18 | 5 | 40 | 28 | 53 | 28 | |
| Title | Details | |
|---|---|---|
| a-sides |
| |
| b-sides |
| |
| I Won't Let Go of Your Hand |
|
| Title | Year | Album |
|---|---|---|
| "Cradle" | 2018 | Abysskiss |
| "Symbol" | ||
| "From" | ||
| "Anything" | 2020 | Songs |
| "Dragon Eyes" | ||
| "Ruined" | 2023 | Bright Future |
| "Sadness as a Gift" | 2024 | |
| "Fool" | ||
| "Free Treasure" | ||
| "Once a Bunch" |
| Title | Year | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Carousel" | 2022 | Everything | |
| "Dresser Hill" | 2023 | In Embudo |