Katie Crutchfield

The mastermind and star of Waxahatchee was Birmingham, Alabama singer/songwriter Katie Crutchfield, who couched her emotionally direct lyrics in rough-edged, guitar-driven rock. Crutchfield began singing at a young age with her identical twin sister Allison; their first formal band the Ackleys was formed when they were 15. Both sisters sang, Allison began on drums and moved to keyboards, Katie played guitar, and the sisters were initially joined by a male rhythm section whose style was too polished for their tastes. For three years the band played weekly at Cave9, a Birmingham all-ages club. Their next band, P.S. Eliot, had a punkier rhythm section (Will Granger and Katherine Simonetti) and a more feminist lyrical slant. With both sisters blossoming as songwriters, the band released 50 songs during its five years together. By now Katie was attending the University of Alabama at Birmingham as an English major, but the band took priority and she dropped out. The two sisters remained musically connected, appearing on each other's albums and reviving P.S. Eliot for a tour in 2016. However, by the time the group originally disbanded in 2011, both sisters wanted to explore their own songwriting. Katie launched Waxahatchee while P.S. Elliot was still together, on a split cassette release with Indiana songwriter Chris Clavin. The first two full albums, 2012's American Weekend and 2013's Cerulean Salt, were both made in the basement of her parents' home; her main collaborator for the latter was drummer/guitarist Keith Spencer, her boyfriend who also played in Allison's band Swearin'. Both were critically praised, making end-of-year lists in Rolling Stone and Pitchfork. A polished and poppier sound emerged on 2015's Ivy Tripp, whose emotional tone was more upbeat despite Crutchfield and Spencer's breakup during the sessions. The breakup was largely the subject of the fourth Waxahatchee album, Out in the Storm, her first with an outside producer (John Agnello of Sonic Youth fame), second for the notable indie label Merge and her first real studio production. Largely a kiss-off to Spencer, the advance single "Never Been Wrong" proved her most snarling rocker to date. In April 2017 Crutchfield announced she'd be taking part in the Lenny tour, sponsored by Lena Dunham's online newsletter of that name. This prompted a slight backlash from her followers who weren't Dunham fans; the tour however fell through and she went out on her own.