| Waxahatchee | |
| Origin: | Birmingham, Alabama, United States |
| Years Active: | 2010–present |
| Spinoff Of: | P.S. Eliot |
| Spinoffs: | Plains |
| Current Members: | Katie Crutchfield |
Waxahatchee is an American indie music project, formed in 2010 by American singer-songwriter Kathryn Crutchfield[1] (born January 4, 1989), known professionally as Katie Crutchfield, following the breakup of her previous band P.S. Eliot. The band is named after Waxahatchee Creek, in Alabama, where Crutchfield grew up.[2] Originally an acoustic solo project, her recordings now tend to involve a full backing band. As Waxahatchee, she has released six solo studio albums to date: American Weekend (2012), Cerulean Salt (2013), Ivy Tripp (2015), Out in the Storm (2017), Saint Cloud (2020) and Tigers Blood (2024). Away from Waxahatchee, Crutchfield was also a member of alternative country duo Plains alongside Jess Williamson.
While a member of P.S. Eliot, a band formed with her twin sister Allison, Crutchfield released her first music as Waxahatchee as a cassette. Her bedroom-recorded debut album, American Weekend, was recorded in 2011 and released on Don Giovanni Records in 2012.[3] [4] [5] Crutchfield wrote and recorded the album in one week at her family home in Birmingham, Alabama. Her lyrics focused on personal relationships, devastation and longing.[6]
The album garnered positive reviews and was named a top album of 2012 by Dusted magazine.[7] "Be Good" was a song of the day on National Public Radio,[8] and listed as one of the best 50 songs of 2012.[9] "Catfish" was featured on an episode of the podcast Welcome to Night Vale.
Waxahatchee's second album, Cerulean Salt, was released on March 2013 through Don Giovanni Records in the United States, and four months later on Wichita Recordings in the U.K.[10] [11] The critically acclaimed album reached #1 on the Official Record Store Chart in July 2013 and scored 8.4 on Pitchfork.[12] [13] Waxahatchee supported Tegan And Sara on their U.K. tour, before playing a headline U.K. tour in October that same year.[11] [14]
In 2015 Crutchfield signed to Merge Records, which released her third album, Ivy Tripp, in April of that year.[15] Waxahatchee toured non-stop for the rest of 2015, including tours with Kurt Vile and the Violators and Sleater Kinney.
In 2017, Waxahatchee toured with The New Pornographers, and also embarked on a headlining tour around the United States.[16] In the autumn months the band toured parts of Europe, including several festival dates. Waxahatchee's fourth album, Out in the Storm, was released on July 14, 2017 on Merge Records. It moves away from the lo-fi sound of previous albums, partly due to the guidance of co-producer John Agnello. It was recorded in the Miner Street Recordings studio with her former touring band.[17] Sam Sodomsky of Pitchfork wrote of "Katie Crutchfield’s sharp, gorgeous songwriting", "immersive" band sound and "songs that play like fiery exorcisms" in a review of the album.[18] Waxahatchee opened Jawbreaker's first Los Angeles shows in 22 years at the Hollywood Palladium on March 10, 2018 and in New York City at Brooklyn Steel on February 27, 2018.[19]
In January 2020, Waxahatchee announced her fifth album, Saint Cloud, and released a single called "Fire". The album was recorded in 2019 at Sonic Ranch in Texas and at Long Pond in Stuyvesant, New York with producer Brad Cook. The album features Detroit-based band Bonny Doon. On February 18, Waxahatchee released the single "Lilacs" and on March 16, she released the single "Can't Do Much."[20] [21] In a comprehensive interview with Will Gottsegen at Billboard, she spoke about her musical influences and recent sobriety.[22] The record made it at No. 7 on Billboard's Emerging Artists chart of April 2020, No. 1 on Heatseekers Albums, No. 2 on Americana/Folk Albums and No. 6 on Alternative Albums with 7,000 units. At the same time, the single "Lilacs" ranked at No. 36 on the Adult Alternative Songs airplay chart.[23]
In the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Crutchfield performed a series of live concert streams comprising all the songs from one of her studio albums. She announced the series as a deep dive into her backlist in an attempt to reach out to her fans and also to generate some income after the pandemic caused suspension of all touring.[24]
In 2021, Waxahatchee performed at the Newport Folk Festival as well the Mempho Music Festival in the Radians Amphitheater of Memphis, Tennessee.[25] Her album Saint Cloud won the Libera Awards 2021 as Best Country Record.[26]
In July 2022, Crutchfield announced Plains, a collaboration project with singer-songwriter Jess Williamson. Their debut album, I Walked with You a Ways, was released in October 2022.[27]
In December 2023, Waxahatchee made a guest appearance on the song "Pretty Paper" on the Philly Specials album A Philly Special Christmas Special. The following month, she announced that the sixth Waxahatchee album Tigers Blood would be released in March 2024. To coincide with the announcement, the album's lead single "Right Back to It" was released. It features harmonies from MJ Lenderman. Waxahatchee will tour in support of the album later in 2024, traveling on a tour bus and playing 2,500-capacity theaters, having declined opportunities to play larger venues.[28]
Katie Crutchfield’s twin sister Allison is also a musician, performing solo and with the band Swearin'. Crutchfield is sober; her fifth studio album Saint Cloud (2020) was largely written about her decision to stop drinking.[22]
Katie Crutchfield has been in a relationship with songwriter Kevin Morby since 2017, and they live together in Overland Park, Kansas.[29] In 2017 the couple released a cover of "After Hours" by the Velvet Underground.[30] In January 2018, indie label Dead Oceans released the single "Farewell Transmission" b/w "The Dark Don't Hide It" by Morby & Waxahatchee, in homage to songwriter Jason Molina.[31] [32] Merge Records published the digital single video Chapel of Pines, on YouTube on July 17, 2018, which led Waxahatchee back to solo work.[33] Waxahatchee's cover of Kevin Morby's "Downtown's Lights" was featured over the closing credits of episode six of American Rust.
| Album details | Peak chart positions | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [34] | US Indie [35] | BEL (FL) [36] | FRA Phys. [37] | NED Vinyl [38] | NZ [39] | SCO [40] | SWE Phys. [41] | UK [42] | UK Indie | |||
| American Weekend |
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Cerulean Salt |
| — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 156 | 39 | |
| Ivy Tripp | 153 | 15 | — | — | — | — | 87 | — | 98 | 19 | ||
| Out in the Storm |
| — | 7 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 12 | |
| Saint Cloud |
| 140 | 17 | — | — | — | — | 27 | — | — | 7 | |
| Tigers Blood |
| 146 | 27 | 101 | 172 | 31 | 35 | 7 | 7 | 38 | 4 | |
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | ||||||||||||
| Album details | Peak chart positions | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SCO [44] | UK Sales [45] | UK Amer. | UK Indie | |||
| I Walked with You a Ways |
| 76 | 61 | 4 | 25 | |
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | ||||||
| EP details | Peak chart positions | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [46] | US Indie | US Heat | ||||||||
| Great Thunder |
| 84 | 26 | 6 | ||||||
| El Deafo (Apple TV+ Original Series Soundtrack) |
| – | – | – | ||||||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | ||||||||||
| 2021 | Libera Awards | Record of the Year | Saint Cloud | [49] | |
| Best Country Record |