Bio : 

 

Atmospheric folk. phD in breakup songs. Meditative Moodscapes. Anna May is an internationally acclaimed, award winning folk artist.

 

 

Alternative tragic Americana, invocations for peace & judgment reshaping with bleeding heart stream of consciousness poems. Anna May is an eclectic artist whose songs bear a placelessness that lends to their timeless nature. The deep exploration of heartbreak and trauma has been an ongoing quest throughout Anna's work. Her lyrics have been heavily textured by a lonesome whimsicality that finds itself most at home in the vastness of the American West or in landscapes of stark frontiers. Anna's music honors the nomadic spirit with memory, meditation & fresh interpretations of folk music and jazz influence. She honors a hope to enhance connection, humility, healing, and joy among people in the process of parting with typical genre rules.

 

One of Anna's primary artistic goals is to play with genre & create a sense of fluidity and expansion within the genre of folk, integrating thought provoking elements of jazz and experimental, allowing music to be a connective force for change and for good, combining the traditional with the avant garde.

 

With a penchant for bright dreams and small towns, folk ballads and cosmic, experimental dreamscapes, Anna’s music sails and soars with a genre defying fluidity that is entirely unique, with a vocal quality that touches something so deep and visceral. Her music is sadness, joy, love, insecurity, hopelessness and assuredness, all at once, mirroring the complexity of our human experience. Experiencing Anna’s songs is like conquering difficult hurdles and coming out on the other side with revitalized sense of hope, peace and renewal. She expertly mingles hope and despair, while crafting innovative songs that harness folk music in a jazz format.

 

 Anna's lyrical sensibility is steeped in wisdom, and layered with evocative musicality and metaphysical embroidery while eschewing the mainstream & parting with platitudes. Anna explores both estrangement and connection while taking cues from artists like Bob Dylan, Radiohead, Billie Holiday, Shawn Colvin, Neil Young, Jim Morrison, the Mamas and the Papas, Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez, Mazzy Star, kd Lang, Tom Waits, and many more. Anna has been compared to artists like Jeff Buckley & Aimee Mann, and seeks to tilt outside of the folk genre to achieve a multi dimensional soundscape.

 

 Anna is a dancer, music teacher, organist & poet, as well as a seemingly perpetually touring artist who loves to be fed inspiration by new destinations, creating music with emphasis on personal connection to place, & allowing for metaphysical elements to filter in, with the entirety of her work produced by Steve Rizzo at Stable Sound Studios. 

 

Anna's love for the organic nature of live performance cannot be matched, but she savors the quietude of her minimalist approach to recording. Her next full length album since 2022's Detach is currently in the works. Since September 2024, Anna has released five critically acclaimed singles, The Show, Elegy, The Cliff, Fireflies and Buffalo, and Atom Bomb. Anna's first, anticipated single release of 2026 will be Crying at Erewhon. 

 

Anna's most recent single Atom Bomb was premiered by Under the Radar Magazine, featured on Holler Country's Best of Country playlist and Ditty TV's New Music Playlist, and reviewed by Earmilk. Her previous release of Fireflies and Buffalo was featured by San Diego Reader and Music Connection Magazine.

 

Despite being a native of New England, Anna has existed in many places in her life that have all sharpened her artistic integrity. The various environments she has expanded into have greatly informed her songwriting perspective and have widened her lens. Her favorite places have been Colorado, New Orleans, Buenos Aires, Argentina, the Bay Area, Portland, Nashville, Los Angeles, and most recently, San Diego.

 

Anna's songs are tender, immersive, moodscapes & a deep dive into introspective, meditative states while exploring the fragile intersection of nature & humanity. Ethereal & whimsical, sensitive & heavy, Anna blends the musical influence of her classical,  & jazz rooted upbringing, into a wholly unique creative trajectory. From her childhood spent submerged in sonic textures, to teenage years discovering visionaries of authentic expression, like Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen, Anna has over time deepened the resonance, resolve and clarity of a voice that is distinctly her own and that craves truthful expression. She has as much an affinity for jazz and fifties pop as she does for folk & 90s alternative, all serving to enhance the understated and subtle power of her songs. Anna's mission is to provide a meditative, immersive, thought provoking experience for listeners, where the motivation is intentional listening with the goal to become more in touch with inner self, and deepest held desires, and for the purpose of practicing greater compassion and peace. She hopes for the experience of her music to be reflective and introspective for listeners; something both light and heavy. Songs are lengthier than average, to allow space for deep, transcendent experiences to happen.

 

Anna's quest through music is to harness the healing medicine of meditation, and to hope in the landscapes of oppression. Anna has opened for artists like Ariel Pink, Jolie Holland, Kacy Hill, Amythyst Kiah, The Arcadian Wild, People Museum, Jann Klose, Altan, Michigan Rattlers, Kyran Daniel, Jacob Jolliff, Gold Celeste, Vinyl Williams, & Stella Prince.

 

Anna's single Elegy was premiered by V13 Media and has been featured by Ones to Watch, Ditty TV, Americana UK, San Diego Reader, Prairie Public Radio, Grateful Web, Paul Dettman, KXFM Laguna Beach, Tinnitist, Out the Box Music, BFF.FM, Sisters in Song Podcast, Indie B & B Podcast. In 2024, Anna was a featured guest on NPR's Great American Folk Show, on WKU PBS Lost River Sessions. 

 

Her song, The Show was chosen as song of the day on KUTX in Austin in August 2024. In 2024, Anna was nominated for Best Americana Act at the New England Music Awards. In 2024, Anna was featured on the WDVX Blue Plate Special, on Radio Venice & at Breaking Sound Los Angeles, and has been a featured guest on the Dreamgaze Overtone show on KXFM with Louella Arrows and on KXLU Los Angeles' legendary Americana show, The Wildwood Flower Radio hour.

 

Anna's music has been featured in publications like Popdust, Earmilk,  Americana UK, Music Connection Magazine, NY Slice on WFUV, the Graham Coath podcast, The Alternate Root, Grateful Web, zo magazine, the Vagina Singalongs, V13 media, KDVS, Radio Brooklyn, the Folk Music Notebook, the Oor Country Show, UK Country Radio, Haiku Reviews, WMFU's Give the Drummer Radio, Face Culture, the Rua Room, Hudson Valley Rag Shop podcast on WVKR, Country Cutler, Portland Radio Project, Wildflowers and Weeds on Xray FM, Freeform Radio Portland, Lost Church Radio, WCNI, WCIB, Pawling Public Radio, Radio SoBro, WHIV New Orleans, WNC Original Music podcast, 92.5 The River, Gnarly Whale Sessions, KRAC in Montreal, KZUM in Nebraska, The Westerly Sun, Indie Boulevard Magazine, C Heads Magazine, Medium, Shout Out LA,  Music Crowns, Music Mecca, Voyage LA, New Noise Magazine, Vents Magazine, Fame Magazine, Skope Magazine, A & R Factory, The Curiosity Hour Podcast, the Something Rather Than Nothing Podcast, Thrive Global, Northern Public Radio, Louder Than War, Authority Magazine, Music Hunger, We Write About Music, Lost in the Nordics, Beach House Magazine, Doppio Magazine, Broken Color Blog, The New London Day,  The CT Post, Vox Wave Magazine, Music City Memo, The Sounds Won't Stop, Luther Locals, Music Matters podcast, She Makes Music UK, Nashville Indie, the old grey cat blog & others. Anna May was nominated for best Indie song of 2023 by Indie Boulevard Magazine. Anna was featured as track of the day in 2024 by The Other Side Reviews and by Radio Venice. Anna has showcased with Breaking Sound Los Angeles, We Found New Music, Monday Monday Hotel Cafe showcase. 

 

Anna has performed at the Art of Elan series at San Diego Central Library, wildflower music & arts festival, treefort music festival, boston arts festival, Sawdust Arts Festival, water lantern festival, Earlville Opera House, trout lake hall, abbey arts in seattle, Whistle Stop Bar in San Diego, Globe Hall in Denver, Sheridan Opera House in Telluride, Club Passim in Boston, Hotel Cafe in Los Angeles, Coach House Concert Hall, Salesforce Tower in San Francisco, Brick and Mortar Music Hall in San Francisco, Volcanic Theater Pub in Bend, Broadway Comedy Club in Manhattan, the Mint in Los Angeles, Trip in Santa Monica, Spiderhouse Ballroom in Austin, Camden Opera House in Maine, Rockwood Music Hall in New York City, Wall Street Theater in CT, Crying Wolf in Nashville, High Dive in Seattle, Tennessee Brew Works in Nashville, Davis Public Library, The Underdog in Nashville, The Cobra in Nashville, Franklin's Main Street Festival, Larimer Lounge in Denver, PNC Live Studio, Camden Public Library, Duxbury Free Library, Snow Library of Cape Cod, Burlington City Arts, the Arts Cafe Mystic, the Folk Project, Cape Cod National Seashore, The Whiskey Room, The Space Ballroom, Folktale Winery, Wadsworth Mansion, Al's Den in Portland, 333 lounge in Brooklyn, Alberta Street Pub in Portland, Florence Griswold Museum in Connecticut, Brooklyn Music Kitchen, Club Car Bar,  City Winery Boston, and many more. Anna was a performer at the 2025 Wildflower! Arts and Music Festival in Richardson, Texas, at the 2025 Whole Earth Festival in Davis, California. She has also performed at We Found New Music Showcase at Hotel Ziggy in West Hollywood, Kilowatt in San Francisco Stella Prince's female folk showcase at Hotel Cafe in Los Angeles and most recently, the House of Blues San Diego, opening for Ariel Pink. 

In 2026, Anna has been a guest on the Wildwood Flower Radio Hour on KXLU Los Angeles, showcased at Bar Lubtisch in West Hollywood, and opened for Jolie Holland with Ricky Berger at the iconic Folk Arts Rare Records in San Diego. On the horizon, Anna May will be presented by legendary Berkeley venue, The Freight, will perform at the historic Golden Gate Park Bandshell, and will make her television debut as a featured guest on Live in the Bay on KRON in San Francisco. Anna May will join Stella Prince's showcase once again as an opener at Harvard and Stone in Hollywood later this month, and later in the year will perform at the Davis Music Festival, Gasa Gasa in New Orleans, Carlsbad City Library, and Encinitas Public Library. Anna's music is distributed by 22 twenty Club and is promoted by Soundsplore. Anna is a member of BMI & of the Americana Music Association.

 

Selected Press :

 "With just her sweetly melodic voice and acoustic guitar, May draws us in, captivating us with a hypnotic tune and heartfelt words .. emotive lyricism .. her thoughtful lyrics and tuneful vocals make her an artist to look out for. Absorbing stuff" - Andrew Frolish, Americana UK

"Anna May is making waves as an alternative, tragic Americana artist, carving out a space with her exploration of heartbreak, trauma, and lonely whimsy. "The Cliff” is early turn-of-the-century pop meets 50s doo-wop, with a spark of Elliot Smith and Nick Drake woven throughout. The song starts up with acoustic folk guitar, before Anna May’s warm, silky, Paula Cole-esque vocals move effortlessly through harmonies and some truly lovely tonal acrobatics" - Leo Edworthy, Earmilk

“The sparse instrumentation and song structure combine to a hypnotic effect with an unremitting focus put on May's crystalline vocal tone” - Caleb Campbell, Under the Radar Magazine 

“Anna May has an enormous future. She's just one happy accident away from making a huge breakthrough" - Paul Dettmann, music critic 

"Effortless quality .. Anna May has the confidence to just strum and sing and I could listen to her all day long .. she barely touches the guitar strings. Her mouth barely opens. But what a sound! .. She's very, very good .. Pink Floyd or early Genesis length. Wonderful ten-minuters that lightly caress your ears. .. Sometimes she reminds me of Enya or Clannad. Perhaps Tori Amos .. I have come to think of her as Mary Oliver with a guitar" - Paul Dettmann, music critic 

 "Listening to her is an experience in itself. May’s voice lulls you in like a siren; smooth like butter as it creeps its way into your arteries, entwining your veins in silk and locking you in its embrace. With nothing but a lively ukulele or a haunting electric guitar to accompany her, May manages to capture the human experience in all its glory: freedom, growth, rebirth, unity, reflection, and peace" - Music Mecca

"Literary songwriter Anna May" - Tom Brosseau, Host of The Great American Folk Show on NPR, Prairie Public Radio 

“May's music can be described as whimsical tragic Americana. Folk and jazz meet '90s alternative.            A Janis and Alanis lovechild.” - Jake Petersen, San Diego Reader 

“elegy explores metaphorical and melodic nuances .. her songs are rooted in the traditions of Americana music with many poetic sensibilities but she has a specific soft touch when it comes to her songwriting with the authenticity and humanity clearly shining through everything she composes. Her songs are tender, immersive, introspective, and meditative .. with heartbreak and trauma ongoing themes throughout her songwriting career .. we all experience joy and pain. It's within that space where Anna May really excels as a poet and a songwriter" - Aaron Willschick, V13 Media 

“this rising singer-guitarist-songwriter specializes in what she calls alternative tragic Americana, an unyielding take on the classic Western sound through intimate intersections of jazz and folk .. rest assured, once you fire up “The Show”, you'll be fully engaged in the jam. Because not only does it showcase Anna May's endurance, innovation, and country- adjacent charm on both vocals and six - string, but also the poetic, stream-of-consciousness and scene-setting lyrics that makes old school blues so timeless .. intriguing front to back" - Jack Anderson, KUTX  Austin

“.. Anna May's smoky vocals, creating an atmosphere and style reminiscent of Elliott Smith's self titled second album” - Leo Edworthy, Earmilk

“Sensory centric artist" - Kiley Stokes, BFF.fm

“Gothic folk artist” - Bob Holmes, Across the Horizon podcast (formerly Ambient Country) 

“May forces listeners to pay attention immediately. Such a long song often suffers from an enormous ego and lack of editing, but it is not here. May jumps headlong into the story and never lets go ..simultaneously calming and anxious, I want to know more about this world she creates with her lyrics .. there are too many songs about being a musician, living on the road and navigating expectations. But ”The Show" takes a different approach, using high-price words to create hypocritical descriptions of people-which fits perfectly for a song about pretending to be someone or something we might not be anywhere but on stage. Listen to the song through a few times. It's really smart" - Country Cutler 

“Anna May dives deep into a wellspring of romantic grief in her starkly beautiful and deeply personal new single Elegy ..gently woven from hushed acoustic guitar strumming, angelic crooning and cinematic / poetic lyrics, the candlelit ballad takes us along ..     the vocally rich folk ballad falls squarely within the bounds of her self - coined genre, alternative tragic Americana” - Darryl Sterdan, Tinnitist 

“the multi talented Anna May, as an artist whose unique journey is as diverse and enchanting as her music .. Anna has painted a vivid canvas of life, underpinned by a steadfast intention to cultivate an open, positive environment for those around her. Her journey, both unconventional and inspiring, resonates in the music she crafts and the wisdom she imparts” - C Heads Magazine

 

“Experiencing Detach with its whispery acoustic guitar and May's yearning melodies, is the aural equivalent of having a job tracking clouds across a springtime skies from beside a high country brook where there's always a bottle of nice Chard icing in a bucket nearby” - Rick Koster, The Day 

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Fromstardustmemoryact@gmail.com>
Date: Tuesday, January 6, 2026
Subject: Updated Recent notable performances
 Notable Performances and Festivals :

 

December 2025 : Opened for Ariel Pink at House of Blues, San Diego 

 

March 2025 : Opened for Altan at Coach House Concert Hall in San Juan Capistrano, CA

 

January 2026 : Opened for Jolie Holland with Ricky Berger at Folk Arts Rare Records in San Diego, CA

 

May 2019 & 2025 : Performer at Wildflower! Arts and Music Festival, Richardson, TX 

 

September 2023 : opened for Amythyst Kiah at The Space in Hamden, CT 

 

May 2025 : Featured Performer at the Art of Elan Music Series at San Diego Central Library, San Diego, CA 

 

July 2025 : Opened for Gold Celeste and Vinyl Williams by Casbah Presents at Whistle Stop Bar in San Diego, CA

 

January 2026 : Wildwood Flower Radio Hour Featured Artist on KXLU, Los Angeles, CA

 

April 2025 : Opened for the Michigan Rattlers at The Space in Hamden, CT

 

April 2025 : Opened for Jacob Jolliff Band at Camden Opera House in Camden, Maine 

 

City Winery Boston, opening for Kyran Daniel, April 2025 

 

August 2025 : Courtyard performance at Earlville Opera House in Earlville, NY

 

May 2025 : Featured Artist at We Found New Music Showcase, Hotel Ziggy, Los Angeles, CA

 

May 2025 : Performer at Whole Earth Festival, Davis, CA

 

March 2025 : Featured Artist at Monday Monday at Hotel Cafe, Los Angeles, CA

 

March 2025 : Featured Guest on Dreamgaze Overtone with Louella Arrows on KXFM Laguna Beach, CA

 

March 2025 : Anna May at Club Car Bar, by Good Medicine Presents, Templeton, CA

 

January 2025 & 2026 : Featured Performer at Davis Public Library in Davis, CA

 

December 2025 : Co bill with King Dream and Andrew Byars at Kilowatt, San Francisco

 

August 2025 : Sawdust Arts Festival, Laguna Beach, CA with Stella Prince

 

September 2025 : Our Piece of Sky House Concerts in Santa Clarita, CA, opening for Stella Prince

 

September 2025 : Featured Artist at Stella Prince and Friends Female Artist showcase in Hollywood, Los Angeles, CA 

 

July 2024 : Featured Guest Artist on PNC Live Sessions in Portland, Oregon

 

July 2024 : Opened for Kacy Hill at Larimer Lounge in Denver, Colorado 

 

August 2025 : Opened for The Arcadian Wild at Volcanic Theater Pub in Bend, Oregon

 

August 2025 : Opened for The Arcadian Wild at Brick and Mortar Music Hall, San Francisco, California

 

September 2024 : Featured Artist on Lost River Sessions on WKU PBS, Bowling Green, Kentucky

 

December 2024 : Featured Guest Artist on WDVX Blue Plate Special in Knoxville, TN

 

February 2025 : Featured Performer at Snow Library in Orleans, MA

 

December 2024 : Performer at The Underdog with Tanner Lee Grey and Ele Ivory in Nashville, TN

 

April 2024 : Performer at Franklin's Main Street Festival, Franklin, Tennessee

 

September 2024 : Streaming Tuesdays with The Folk Project in New Jersey

 

March 2023 : Performer at Treefort Music Festival, Boisie, Idaho

 

September 2023 : Opening for People Museum at Spiderhouse Ballroom, Austin, TX

 

September 2022 : Featured Artist at Conor Byrne Pub, Seattle, WA 

 

March 2023 : Co bill with Alexa Wildish and The Cody Sisters at Globe Hall in Denver, Colorado 

 

Alberta Street Pub with Jay Ringer, Portland Oregon, January 2023 

 

mcMenamins Al's Den, Portland, Oregon in January 2024 

 

Salt Pond Amphitheater, Cape Cod National Seashore Performance in Orleans, MA, multiple years 

 

Sheridan Opera House Courtyard, Telluride, Colorado, June 2021

 

 

Boston Arts Festival, Boston, MA, April 2019

 

Water Lantern Festival, Portland, Oregon, June 2023 

 

Water Lantern Festival, Sacramento, California, 2023 

 

Water Lantern Festival, Jersey City, New Jersey, September 2024 

 

Conserfest, Block Island, Rhode Island, June 2025 

 

Upcoming Notable Shows : 

 

February 2026 : Featured Artist at Stella Prince and Friends Showcase at Harvard and Stone, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California

 

March 2026 : Community Performance at The Freight in Berkeley, California 

 

March 2026 : Golden Gate Park Bandshell, San Francisco, CA

 

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From<stardustmemoryact@gmail.com>
Date: Tuesday, January 6, 2026
Subject: Updated Recent notable performances
To: Anna May <Stardustmemoryact@gmail.com>



Past Notable shows :