Culture
Gladden House Sessions 2017: Big Thief
By: Maria Meece and Clarence Thomas
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2017 has been a pivotal year for Big Thief. Coming off the critical and fan acclaim of 2016’s Masterpiece (Saddle Creek) the Brooklyn-based band recently delivered another stunning album Capacity, (also on Saddle Creek) albeit it one that delved into more deeply into a nuanced and shadowy sound for the band.
Just a week before the release of Capacity, Big Thief performed as one of the main stage headliners on the first day of the Nelsonville Music Festival.
To open the fourth season of the Gladden House Sessions, Big Thief’s lead singer and songwriter Adrianne Lenker stopped by to perform an intimate and haunting solo set in the early evening of that Thursday. The intense and soft-spoken Lenker, armed only with an acoustic guitar, captivated the festival goers in attendance with a curated selection of songs.
Lenker opened with a gorgeous rendition of the title track from Capacity. Her second song was an unexpected treat; an unreleased, and hereto yet to be recorded, song that she has rarely performed. This new track was a delight to the many fans of Lenker’s enthralling approach to performance. Lenker closed the set with another track off of Capacity, the album opener “Pretty Things.”