Courtesy of http://www.mergerecords.com
A native of Birmingham, Alabama, Waxahatchee’s Katie Crutchfield is often asked about what impact the South has on her music. When she was younger, she wasn’t sure how to respond to the question, but now, after living away from the South for some time, she’s come to see the how the region is prevalent in her work.
“A lot of the imagery in my music, the lyrics, just kind of come from or are inspired by growing up in the South,” Crutchfield said. “Waxahatchee kind of to its roots is inspired by Alabama and growing up at Waxahatchee Creek and stuff like that.
“So I guess there’s that element sort of like being inspired by just that setting and the nature that I don’t really get to inhabit very often anymore. The community that I grew up in, the music community, I think that is another thing that sort of influenced what I tried to seek when I moved away.”
Waxahatchee is the solo act of Crutchfield, who previously played in bands such as the The Ackleys and P.s. Eliot. Somewhere between indie folk and rock, Waxahatchee released its third, most recent album, “Ivy Tripp,” on April 7, 2015, and a new single, “Home Game,” on June 6 of this year.
Crutchfield said she began writing “Ivy Tripp” when touring for previous record “Cerulean Salt” was nearing an end. Her first album, “American Weekend” of 2012, was mostly just Crutchfield singing and playing guitar, but on 2013’s “Cerulean Salt,” she started branching out and writing on different instruments — a trend she continues with “Ivy Tripp.”
“I really wanted to expand that sound even further, so all of the songs on ‘Ivy Tripp’ are written with the intention of having a full band and multi-instruments and stuff like that,” Crutchfield said.
Crutchfield shifted lyrically in Ivy Tripp as well.
“I focused on, rather than writing about my own experiences in the moment, sort of focusing on ideas that maybe applied to more people and more general ideas, which was kind of a new thing for me because I’m usually sort of an experience-based writer,” Crutchfield said.
“Ivy Tripp” was generally received well by critics, landing at No. 6 of SPIN’s Best Albums of 2015 list, and No. 8 and No. 19 on the AV Club and Sterogum’s Best Albums of 2015 lists, respectively. Crutchfield explained how she handled the praise.
“I guess I try to take it in stride and not let it have too much weight, only because I’ve been making music for a really long time, and most of the time I’m making music it’s been for not a very large audience,” she said. “The goal of writing songs has always been to make something that I connect with and that I feel passionate about and just making something that means a lot to me and that sort of worked for me, and that’s been really fulfilling for me.
“What critics say or my fans say, if I focus on that too much I feel like it’ll kind of lose its meaning for me and it won’t be as fulfilling. I definitely think it’s cool and it’s flattering. I’m gracious but I also try to let it be background noise and not let it be the thing I focus on.”
Her show in Oxford is a can’t miss event, as following the conclusion of this tour, Crutchfield plans on taking a break to work on writing.
“This tour that we’re going to do in June is actually going to be our last for a long time hopefully,” Crutchfield said. “I’ve pretty much been on tour since March of 2015. I’m pretty exhausted, so I really want to focus on writing. I’m just going to sort of come home and hang out with my dog and write songs.”
Waxahatchee performs Monday at Proud Larry’s, with Katie’s sister Allison Crutchfield slated to open at 9 p.m.
