VIDEOS:
LONG BIO/GIRLFRIEND PRESS RELEASE:
Singer-songwriter Ani Mari’s debut album, girlfriend, explores the ambiguities of coming of age in a beautifully precarious world. Across ten warmly combative tracks, her songs fight for grace and connection amidst the anxieties, desires, heartbreaks, and oftentimes wearying joie de vivre of being young in America’s heartland.
Though just having graduated college, Ani Mari has been performing solo, with her backing band, and with her folk duo, Ani & Kora, around her home state of Michigan for almost a decade, along the way sharing stages with The Accidentals, Lindsay Lou, May Erlewine, and Joshua Davis, among many others. On tracks like “whitefish bay” and “the prettiest things,” listeners will hear echoes of the forests and waters of the Upper Peninsula where she was raised, and the bluegrass and folk musical influences she grew up around. While the title track, “girlfriend,” might triangulate Ani Mari’s current temperature somewhere between Liz Phair, Waxahachee, and Ratboys, comparisons ultimately fall short. Compelling, alive, humming, and hungry, her indie-folk songwriting is 100% original, and definitely not to be missed.
girlfriend was produced, recorded, and mixed by Erik Koskinen, mastered by Tom Garneau, and released by production house Real-Phonic Records, St. Paul, Minnesota. Songs by Ani Mari (guitar, banjo, lead vocals). Backing musicians include long-time collaborator Kora Melia (violin, mandolin, backing vocals), Michael Michaud (bass), Jack Harris (drums), Ruby Howard (cello, backing vocals), and Koskinen (guitar). Available on all streaming platforms.
SHORT BIO:
Ani Mari is an alt-Americana singer-songwriter from the Northwoods of Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula, whose songs weave complex chord progressions into heart-wrenching stories and melodies, spanning from roots folk to indie rock. Whether solo, with folk duo Ani & Kora, or with her backing band, Ani has toured nationally and across her home state for over a decade. Her debut album, girlfriend (2023), fights for grace and connection amidst the anxieties, desires, heartbreaks, and oftentimes wearying joie de vivre of being young in America’s heartland.
HIGHLIGHTS:
Has released: Two full albums (Good Fighter – 2022 andVoyager – 2018) and one EP (Dubious Decisions – 2017) of original songs of her composition with folk duo Ani & Kora, and full album as Ani Mari (girlfriend – 2023), all before age 21
Has shared stage with (among others): The Accidentals, Patty PerShayla & The Mayhaps, The Burney Sisters, May Erlewine, Lindsay Lou, Rachel Davis, Seth Bernard, Joshua Davis, Rabbitology, Erik Koskinen
Producers/Engineers worked with: Erik Koskinen (Real-Phonic Records), Tom Garneau, Andrew Bess, Christopher Plummer
Notable festivals/venues played: Blissfest, Earthwork Harvest Gathering, Viljandi Folk Music Festival, Nor-East’r Music and Art Festival, The Ark (Ann Arbor, MI), The Blind Pig (Ann Arbor, MI), North Star Lounge (Ann Arbor, MI), The Orpheum Theater (Hancock, MI), The Gallery (Munising, MI), The Alluvion (Traverse City, MI), The Fallout Shelter (Norwood, MA), Berlin (New York, NY), The Loft at Manor Mill (Monkton, MD), The Middle East (Cambridge, MA), The Painted Lady (Toronto, ON, Canada)
PRESS:
A2 Pulp (03/15/24): Ani Mari, girlfriend
Ani Mari’s girlfriend is the Ann Arbor singer-songwriter’s debut solo album, but she isn’t new to the recording industry. Mari’s been playing in a duo with Kora Melia—her fellow Houghton, Michigan native—since the age of 12, releasing two albums and an EP together. Now a University of Michigan student, Mari recorded girlfriend last summer in Cleveland—with Kora on backing vocals and fiddle—and released it in December 2023. The 10 strong songs extend the country-folk pop style heard on the Ani & Kora albums, but there’s a touch more rock ‘n’ roll on girlfriend, too. RIYL Waxahatchee, Ratboys, and going to see shows at The Ark. Read more here.
The Michigan Daily (01/18/22): Ani Mari brings Upper Peninsula folk tradition to the Ann Arbor scene
For most college freshmen, moving to a new city and plugging into a new community can be intimidating. But Ani Seigel, a first-year student at the University of Michigan, has leveraged the transition as an opportunity to share her passion for music with the U-M community.
“When I first got here, I knew that I wanted to keep playing music because it’s my biggest passion,” Seigel said in an interview with The Michigan Daily. “So I was immediately plotting how to break into the scene. First, I just started (by) trying to find open mics, and I did an open mic at The Ark and (another) at Vertex Coffee.”
Seigel, who performs as Ani Mari, is an 18-year-old from Houghton, Michigan and has been performing since she was 12 years old alongside her childhood best friend and violinist Kora Melia in their folk duo Ani & Kora. Read more here.
SOCIAL MEDIA:
Instagram: @ani.mari.music
Facebook: @ani.mari.seigel
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