Pieta Brown Stands Alone

Iowa Native Delivers Tales from the Tavern

When your self-titled debut album gets refined by someone the
caliber of Bo Ramsey, your next musical step will surely be
watched. So when you then step forward on a compilation album in
the company of Victoria Williams, Ani DiFranco, Shawn Colvin, and
Gillian Welch, it’s safe to assume you’re now standing on firm
ground. Release an emotive second album (I Never Told) and then
follow it up with one of the standout albums of 2005 (In the Cool),
and there can be no doubt that you have found your musical footing.
Not — mind you — that there was ever any question to the depth of
Pieta Brown’s emerging musical legacy. The eldest daughter of folk
icon Greg Brown — himself a regular and valued visitor to Santa
Barbara — Pieta has not just followed her father’s tradition of
finely crafted and evocative song-writing; she has defined her own
unique passage, and one that’s wandered diverse terrain. Having
shared her childhood between Iowa and Alabama, Pieta Brown honed
her craft on the streets of New York City and Tucson, Arizona. It
was in the bars and clubs of the latter that she journeyed the
breadth of the musical spectrum. “It’s been an interesting
journey,” Brown recently mused. “When I first started playing gigs,
it was down in Tucson and I mixed it up and played with everybody
down there. I played with Calexico, Naim Amor, and Tom Wallbanks.
But the deepest and strongest connection I have made musically is
with Bo Ramsey. When I first called him, I had no idea that there
would be such a musical chemistry and it really came to life in the
studio on the first record and we’ve been going ever since. He can
wear satin gloves and play really quietly or he can really pin you
to the wall.” Those fortunate enough to have already shared in one
of her performances will no doubt testify that Pieta Brown weaves
her musical magic according to the moment. Be it a theater in Iowa,
an outdoor festival in Tucson, or a tavern in Buellton, she gives
nothing short of her all. And no matter whom she might be working
with or where she might be playing, her eloquent and deeply
personal songs are packed with her heart and soul. She might very
well be the prodigy of one of the finest singer/songwriters in
America who’s found the perfect musical ally in Bo Ramsey. But as
her music ardently affirms, Pieta Brown clearly stands alone.