annie's story
After a childhood spent writing poems and songs in quiet suburban Michigan,
Annie Stela moved to LA at the age of 22. She got a hard core-case of mono
and some serious culture shock - but once she recovered, she was signed to
Capitol Records. She recorded her debut full-length record, Fool, with producer
Bill Bottrell(Sheryl Crow, Shelby Lynne). Influenced by artists like Billy Joel,
Ben Folds Five, and Tori Amos, Fool chronicles Annie's journey from Michigan to LA and,
as such, from childhood to adulthood. Before Fool could make it to the public, Capitol
experienced a devastating label shake-up. Seeing a bad road ahead, Annie left
Capitol and took her record with her. She released it independently on iTunes in early 2008.
After touring with artists like Joseph Arthur, Ron Sexsmith, and Bright Eyes, Annie
settled back into her house in Los Angeles, hung out with her dog, and holed herself
up to write. The result of her seclusion is the EP Little House, the first in a two
volume series of EPs called Little House/Hard City. Produced by Mike Mogis (Bright Eyes)
and Jason Lader (Rilo Kiley, Jakob Dylan), Little House is strikingly bare in comparison
to Fool;
"After all the complications and mess in my life, I found myself writing songs
that were clear and strong, songs that could stand on their own. I wanted the music to
sound exactly like it sounds live."
Annie recorded Little House as a trio, with piano,
bass and drums. The pared-down set-up forces the listener to hear what Annie's grappling
with, which is a lot: success, failure, love, confusion, and way too much sunshine. Little
House will be released online in November, with Hard City to follow in early 2009.