Courtney Marie Andrews w/ Lanue at Turf Club

A distinctive, emotionally candid singer and songwriter, Courtney Marie Andrews first earned a reputation in the indie rock community in the early 2010s before finding critical acclaim as she evolved into a figure of the Americana/contemporary folk scene. An evocative vocalist whose performances reflect straightforward honesty with bittersweet beauty, Andrews is as gifted as a songwriter, creating melodies that are a fine match for the aspiration and heartaches of her lyrics.

Feeling detached from her previously released work as years lapsed, Duluth, Minnesota’s Sarah Krueger set out to Hive, a small studio nestled near the river in her hometown of Eau Claire, WI. In the course of two separate sessions, (the first on the cusp of a long winter, and the second on the fringe of summer’s swell), Krueger assembled a cast of collaborators to help flesh out a collection of songs that would later become the catalyst for Lanue. Culled from the title of a poem that found its way to Krueger from a thrift store shelf, Lanue comes to us as a project that stands firmly in front of a fresh creative backdrop and boasts a more developed taste and sincerity than Krueger’s previous releases — both a welcome departure and anticipated return.