Kristin Andreassen is a songwriter and percussive dancer who merges those skills in performances and recordings that are both inventive and deeply rooted in American traditional music. 2015 saw the release of her first studio albumGondolier, with tours supporting Black Prairie, Dawn Landes, Aoife O’Donovan, Mipso and Noam Pikelny. Her debut record Kiss Me Hello included the award-winning “Crayola Doesn't Make a Color for Your Eyes” which went to #1 on kids' radio and has been covered by dozens of artists ranging from Tyne Daly to high school marching bands. 

While she's best known for her smart and emotive original lyrics, Kristin got her start in traditional music – she played guitar and fiddle with the groundbreaking stringband Uncle Earl (w/ Abigail Washburn, Rayna Gellert & KC Groves) and danced with the Appalachian clogging ensemble Footworks. She first turned her attention to songwriting with the "folk noir" vocal trio Sometymes Why (w/ Aoife O'Donovan & Ruth Ungar) where her bandmates lovingly dubbed her "the mistress of metaphor". Kristin has a knack for writing songs that explore the darkest corners of the human experience with a gently deceptive simplicity that rewards close listening.

An explorer at heart, Kristin has made her way to Nashville via New York City, Maryland, the Canadian arctic, Cape Breton Island, Montreal and her native Portland, Oregon (in reverse order). When called upon to do so, Kristin calls a great square dance.

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Kristin has been honored to hear her songs performed and recorded by respected peers including the Elephant Revival Project, Julian Lage & Chris Eldridge, Michaela Anne, Joy Kills Sorrow, The Sweetback Sisters, Laura Cortese, Lissa Schneckenburger and Flynn Cohen as well as the legendary Tyne Daly and Peter Stampfel. Her music has been featured on Showtime's The Affair, ABC's Nashville & Private Practice, NPR's A Prairie Home Companion, the film Cedar Rapids and NPR's Mountain Stage (where her live performance was selected as one of the Top 10 of 2015).   

In 2011 Kristin founded Miles of Music Camp, an artist retreat for musicians interested in cultivating the fertile ground between songwriting and traditional music. Together with her co-director Laura Cortese, she continues to program annual Miles of Music events in Brooklyn, Boston and New Hampshire.

RECENT PRESS:

"More than powerful... haunting imagery and thought-provoking lyrics."
– Folk Alley

“Beautiful and intricate, showcasing her immense understanding of how a folk song should be arranged.”
– Diffuser