Nina Nastasia (US)

Picking over themes of love, longing and loss, childhood, dreams and human dramas, her beautifully concise, hook-laden songwriting and the spare arrangements of her band have a certain gritty, rustic charm and intensity. Simultaneously tough and fragile, her songs crackle and smolder with an intimate emotional honesty and a dark undertow.

Now resident in New York City, Nina Nastasia was born and raised in Hollywood, CA. Having moved to New York on a whim, Nina has gradually carved out a career as a singer-songwriter there since the early nineties. In October ‘99, Nina recorded the album "Dogs", which would finally document this well-seeded life in music. That debut album came to exemplify her style - the delicate string arrangements; the restrained, understated beauty of her live band; the deceptive simplicity of her voice and poignant, life-wise lyrics. The recording necessitated that Nina and partner Kennan Gudjonsson establish their own vehicle for its advance, and the following year, "Dogs" was released on micro-indie label Socialist Records.

Veteran BBC DJ John Peel got hold of a copy of "Dogs" and became similarly enamored with it. In an interview with Harper's and Queen, he called it "astonishing" and in Mojo said: "[Nina's] songs are very direct without being posy or too clever. There's an attractive air of melancholy without self-pity." He gave the then-unavailable record constant plays on his Radio 1 show, helping to garner an international demand for "Dogs". In April 2002, Nina released her well-received sophomore LP, 'The Blackened Air' on Chicago indie label Touch and Go and began an extensive international touring career.

In September 2006, Nina Nastasia released "On Leaving" (again recorded by Steve Albini), her first recording for FatCat. The move from Touch and Go implies "nothing scandalous," says Nina, "just moving, the way you move sometimes. This is a good move all around." Nina's long-standing peer relationship with engineer Steve Albini and musical organizer Kennan Gudjonsson continued, and "On Leaving" was realised as well by veteran members of Nina's band, Dylan Willemsa (viola), Jay Bellerose (drums), Steven Beck (piano) and Jim White (drums).

The following year (2007) saw the release of a second album for FatCat, arriving in the form of a collaborative album with Jim White, a perennial member of Nina’s backing band and the peerless drummer of beloved Australian instrumental trio, Dirty Three. Stripped back to just a two-piece (drums, guitar, vocal), "You Follow Me" is a fantastically focused record - a taut, raw document of two incredible musicians in deep dialogue, exploring the boundaries of songform to find a rare and striking complement. An incredibly instinctive and distinctive drummer, Jim White has become a guest musician of choice for acts such as Will Oldham / Bonnie Prince Billy, The Boxhead Ensemble, Smog, Nick Cave, PJ Harvey and countless others, yet this was the first record to bear his own name. Following the release, the pair embarked on tours of Europe, USA and Australia.