Sharon Van Etten was born in Clinton, New Jersey.[8] Later, she moved to Tennessee to attend Middle Tennessee State University and studied recording, but dropped out of college after a year. Van Etten ended up working at the Red Rose, a coffee and record shop and music venue in Murfreesboro, for about five years. In 2004, she moved back to New Jersey, where she worked at Perryville Wine and Spirits. Van Etten moved to New York in 2005.
Career
Van Etten self-released handmade CDs until 2009, when her debut studio recording was released.[9][10] Before her studio debut, she worked at Astor Wines and as a publicist at Ba Da Bing Records.[11]
Because I Was in Love
Van Etten's debut, Because I Was in Love, was released on May 26, 2009, on Language of Stone, and was manufactured and distributed by Drag City. Because I Was in Love was produced by Greg Weeks at Hexham Head studio in Philadelphia.[9]
epic
On September 21, 2010, Van Etten released her second album, epic, on Ba Da Bing Records. With no set band at the time, Van Etten called on friends Jeffrey Kish, Dave Hartley, Jessica Larrabee, and Andy LaPlant of She Keeps Bees, Cat Martino, Meg Baird, Jim Callan, and Brian Christinzio. The album was produced by Brian McTear at Miner Street Recordings in Philadelphia. NPR described it as possessing "a fuller sound compared to the super-spare arrangements on her first two self-produced albums, but epic still feels incredibly intimate, with lots of room to breathe and unfold."[12]
In 2015, the EP I Don't Want to Let You Down was released on Jagjaguwar. It is composed of the songs that did not make it onto Are We There.
Musical style
Van Etten's music is characterized by a heavy use of harmonies.[2] Van Etten's songs were described by the music website Pitchfork Media as having "echoes of folk tradition."[9]NPR Music asserts: "Her songs are heartfelt without being overly earnest; her poetry is plainspoken but not overt, and her elegant voice is wrapped in enough rasp and sorrow to keep from sounding too pure or confident."[12]
As an actor
Van Etten appeared in five episodes of season 1 of the Netflix drama The OA as Rachel, a fellow abductee along with Prairie in Dr. Percy's basement lab/terrarium. Rachel and the other captives are subjected to after-life experiments while conspiring over a period of years to possibly escape, and at one point, Rachel sings a song of remembrance. Van Etten also appeared in episode six of the 2017 Twin Peaks series on Showtime.[17]
2007: "Much More Than That" / "Over Your Shoulder" by Sharon Van Etten (7") - Abaton Book Company, Lost Lathe Series (limited edition: 30 hand-numbered copies)[18]
September 10, 2010: "I'm Giving Up on You" / "You Didn't Really Do That" by Sharon Van Etten (7") - Polyvinyl Record Company – PRC-206 (limited edition: 500 copies on black vinyl)[19]
August 2013: Van Etten designed a limited edition charity T-shirt which was being sold through the Yellow Bird Project to raise money for Women In Need (WIN), a charity that provides safe housing for homeless women and their children in New York City[33]
January 20, 2014: Writing and performing in the film Song One starring Anne Hathaway
December 2016: Featured as Rachel in The OA, which debuted on Netflix on December 16, 2016
2017: "Tarifa" was performed during the credit sequence of part six of Twin Peaks
2017: The song "Best I Can" from the film Dina (film)Dina, written and performed by Michael Cera featuring Van Etten, was unsuccessfully nominated for Best Song In A Documentary at the 2017 Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards.[39]