Pieta Brown at the Codfish Hollow Barn -- May 18.
Saturday, May 18, 8 p.m.
Codfish Hollow Barn, 5013 288th Avenue, Maquoketa IA
A pair of gifted singer/songwriters who, although unrelated, share a love of folk, indie, and Americana as well as the same surname, Pieta Brown and Chastity Brown co-headline a May 18 concert event at Maquoketa's Codfish Hollow Barn, the former performing alongside her ensemble The Taken, and the latter in support of her 2022 album Sing to the Walls.
Iowa City native Pieta Brown released her self-titled debut record in 2002, co-produced with Grammy Award-winning producer Bo Ramsey, which NPR Music heralded as "a ghostly collection of largely melancholy songs rooted in the blues." Her 2005 follow-up In the Cool was named one of the year's best by Amazon Music, which called the recording "calming, hypnotic, and seductive." Since then, Brown's half-dozen albums ranging from 2007's Remember the Sun to 2019's Freeway have earned the artist raves from the likes of Stereogum, Paste, Billboard, Flood Magazine, and American Songwriter, with her many festival appearances including sets at Bonnaroo, Mountain Jam, the Edmonton Folk Music Festival, and Celtic Connections.
In 2020, Brown released the collaborative EP/digital triptych We Are Not Machines via the artist collective label 37d03d. The three-track release centers around the single “We Are Not Machines,” which features Ani DiFranco and S. Carey, while the other two tracks on the EP expand on the single’s original theme, featuring contributions from William Brittelle, Holland Andrews, Jenn Wasner, The Metropolis Ensemble, knotahaiku, Limit Infrared, and Grammy-nominated visual artist Eric Timothy Carlson. Throughout her career to date, Brown has toured and shared stages with Mark Knopfler, John Prine, Brandi Carlile, JJ Cale, Emmylou Harris, Richard Thompson, Ani DiFranco, Calexico, Neko Case, Mason Jennings, Shawn Mullins, Carrie Rodriguez, Howe Gelb, and Jim Lauderdale, among many others.
Raised in Union City, Tennessee, Chastity Brown grew up playing the saxophone and drums in church before she started to write and sing her own songs. She performed her first show in Knoxville, Tennessee, before moving to Minneapolis in 2006. Brown self-released her debut album Do the Best You Can in 2007 and its followup Sankofa in 2009. Both were met with critical acclaim, with music critic Jim Walsh of the Star Tribune calling the work "for those who appreciate songwriter-fueled jazz and a sense of organic greatness in the making, she is nothing short of a massage therapist for the ears and soul."
Since then, Brown has released a quintet of additional albums: High Noon Teeth (2010); Back-Road Highways (2012); Long Way (2014); Silhouette of Sirens (2017); and Sing to the Walls (2022). She was chosen as Minneapolis' Best Folk Artist in early 2012 before garnering nods from NPR as a "promising new voice" and best-album nods from 89.3 The Current, Star Tribune, City Pages, and Lavender Magazine. Brown toured Europe for the first time that same year and sold out her first two shows in Kiel, Germany, and while touring with Back-Road Highways, she supported Michael Kiwanuka, Dar Williams, Raul Midon, and Leon Russell. Her hit single, "After You," meanwhile, was featured in the BBC/HBO movie Mary & Martha, and after seeing Brown's performance of the song at the Americana Music Festival in Nashville, CMT highlighted it as a Top Ten Moment of the 2012 festival, stating "she's definitely a songwriter and performer to watch."
Pieta Brown & the Taken and Chastity Brown perform their co-headlining engagement in Maquoketa on May 18, the event also featuring an opening set by Jody McGill. Admission to the 8 p.m. concert is $35, and more information and tickets are available by visiting CodfishHollowBarnstormers.com.
