Katie Crutchfield spent three years performing with her twin sister Allison in the band P.S. Elliot. After the sisters relocated to different cities the band became unworkable, leading each to pursue their own projects. Katie began recording as Waxahatchee, named after the creek running near her home in Birmingham, Alabama.
She recorded her first album in about a week, alone in her bedroom in Alabama. American Weekend told stories of personal relationships, devastation and longing and generally received positive reviews.
This set the stage for 2013’s Cerulean Salt, which received more praise and was a much bigger seller. Soon Waxahatchee was on tour, first with Tegan and Sara and then as a headliner.
Waxahatchee began a move away from her low-fi sound on 2017’s Out in the Storm and continued that progression with 2020’s Saint Cloud. The latest album also comes from a time of changes in her life. Crutchfield gave up drinking and relocated to Kansas City, and the album focuses on her struggles dealing with alcoholism. Paste, Rolling Stone and Pitchfork were among the many music publications to list the album amongst the top 10 releases of 2020.
Waxahatchee has just released a five song EP of songs written for the AppleTV+ animated series El Deafo, a process that she called in a statement “an amazing experience all around.” Madi Diaz opens her current tour, including tonight’s show at the National. The pair released a reworked version of Diaz’s “Resentment.” Crutchfield says about the song that “This specific song hits me so hard every time I hear it, and having the chance to sing harmonies with Madi is always a true thrill.”
