Adrianne Lenker: Songwriter and Storyteller
Adrianne Lenker is a singer/songwriter whose lyrics are poetic and original, often painting a clear emotional image. She has written hundreds of songs as a solo artist, as well as for her band Big Thief. Lenker has this ability to create an intimacy within her songs that makes you feel like she is in the room with you telling a story.
In Rick Rubin’s book The Creative Act: A Way of Being he discusses a lot how every person has the capacity for creativity. Lenker is a primary example of this idea because she believes that every person has a voice worth hearing and that criticizing someone’s voice is like criticizing their physical body. She states, “Of course your voice is good. It’s yours. How could a natural voice be bad? Criticizing someone’s voice always appalls me because it’s like criticizing someone’s cheek.” Rubin and Lenker share this idea that creativity is not just for the people who devote their life to an art or to creating a new idea, but for every person. Rubin also discusses how humans should use nature as an inspiration for creativity because of how rich in beauty and ever changing it is. Adrianne Lenker is known to move around the country whenever she is writing new music to live in nature. She follows this idea that nature holds this higher force that drives creativity.
Another aspect of Lenker’s music making that is so creative is that it is original. She takes artistic risks and has managed to create new sounds that are not like the other music created today. In her solo music she often plays with just her acoustic guitar and manages to make every song sound like its own unique story. On her album “Songs” she has a song called Dragon Eyes where she uses a paint brush to strum her guitar creating this new sound to fit the idea she had. Another aspect that makes Lenker such a successful creative is that she is a collaborator. We discussed in class how social interaction and collaboration flourishes creativity and Lenker is a primary example. She works with all the musicians in Big Thief to create unique instrumentals for their songs. She also has an album with Buck Meek, a member of Big Thief, that is a collaborative masterpiece.
Links:
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/10/19/adrianne-lenkers-radical-honesty
Musicians really are amazing, aren't they? I love the idea of creativity not being one-track minded, and that allowing for every person's natural voice to shine through. Unnecessarily criticizing that means the world loses a potential expressive mind - which is something we should avoid. Additionally, looking to nature for inspiration seems amazing! I haven't listened to many artists who do that - I'll be sure to check Lenker's work soon. Thank you for this wonderful piece!
ReplyDeleteI think Rubin's discussion of using nature as an inspiration for creativity is also interesting when considering his discussions regarding the importance of intuition and experimentation as well. This is particularly interesting when considering nature, since intuition and experimentation are also important to integrate into one's search for inspiration in nature and otherwise.
ReplyDeleteI am such a big fan of Adrianne Lenker, and her creative process is so inspiring to me. I love that she sees creativity as something that is within all of us! Her creative process of traveling and exploring different parts of the country to unlock new ideas and find inspiration is something I think is truly shown throughout so many of her songs. She is able to connect with nature, and through nature understand more about herself and human emotion, and she conveys this beautifully in her music. I also had no idea that in the song "Dragon Eyes" she uses a paint brush to strum her guitar to get the sound she desires. Truly such an amazing, creative artist!
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