Artist of the Week: Tara Jane O'Neil

Hometown: Portland, Ore.
Fun Fact: O’Neil intended to include a version of her song “Grain” that had appeared in Vanessa Renwick's short film, Cascadia Terminal, on her new album. Instead, in the hectic song compiling process, she accidentally remastered a version of the song that had already been released as bonus material on her last album, In Circles, not realizing it until the song had already been credited incorrectly in the book.
Why She’s Worth Watching: Equally adept at music and visual art, O’Neil likes to keep people guessing as to what’s next. “It’s kind of like a well balanced meal,” she says. “If something is missing from the dish, that’s okay, but when you get the full color, nutrition and flavor representation, its a better thing.”
For Fans Of: Azure Ray, Mirah, Cat Power

It’s Thursday night. Tara Jane O’Neil is in New York getting ready to play “some improvised music with film.” Three weeks earlier, friends such as Mirah and legendary folk artist Michael Hurley provided the soundtrack to her book release and art show in her hometown of Portland, Ore. A week later will find her back in Oregon prepping for upcoming dates in Japan and attempting to get back to Istanbul, the “amazing” city that often eludes touring musicians. She seems to trek across country and continent with the same ease and resolve that her art skillfully wanders between mediums.

Her versatility in various avenues has never been more apparent than on her latest release, Wings.Strings.Meridians, a 96-page, 6x6 inch book and CD release that collects songs and artwork she's created in the past few years. “There are some doodles from road books and some four-track versions of songs,” says the multi-faceted, multi-media artist. “There are finished paintings and film scores.” Subtitled A Blighted Bestiary, her wistful, experimental folk music provides the perfect soundtrack to her wistful folk art—both forms diverse but never stretched thin.

Intentionally varied in process, the end result sets Wings apart from earlier releases by O’Neil. “On my other proper releases, you get the product of a process,” she says.“A lot of what’s on this CD is the evolution of songs from discovery demos.” She’s taken some of the glaze off her previous albums’ polished lo-fi. She turns an otherwise straightforward cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye” into her own kind of understated experiment, via pitch-shifters placed on backing vocals that meander throughout most of the song. The album is not afraid of noise—not afraid of the background sounds and tape hiss that accompany the demos of the album. But these songs carry no less of the subtle and quiet beauty of the more “produced” tracks on the album. It’s just O’Neil giving us a glimpse into the development of her music.

And that evolution has been a part of her artistic career since starting out in Louisville art-punk band Rodan 15 years ago, spanning numerous groups and collaborations since. Wings.Strings.Meridians. continues the evolution in fine fashion.

O’Neil has a simple explanation for it all: “I’m different everyday.”

Read about Paste's February 4 to Watch artists:
The Whigs
Lightspeed Champion
The Bridges
Doug Burr