Human Flower Project
Orrington, MAINE USA
Murrieta, CALIFORNIA USA
Princeton, MAINE USA
Sunday, March 01, 2009
The Garden in the Music
What’s behind a melody? Gardener and one-woman-band Theresa Andersson hears angel’s trumpets with elephant ears.
Theresa Andersson, playing what the plants dictate
Sarpsborg, Norway, July 2008
Photo: Hilde Visnes
By Allen Bush
Winter has been gray and icy cold so I left Louisville and found spring in New Orleans—and not a minute too soon. Lavender saucer magnolias and pink azaleas were in bloom. I won’t see these again in Kentucky for weeks. There was a party going on during Mardi Gras—in the French Quarter, Uptown over to Algiers Point – plenty of bands and beads. And musician Theresa Andersson was home for a brief tour break. After six weeks on the road and a performance on the Conan O’Brien show—her first national television appearance—Theresa was back in town.
It has been a busy year for the talented singer, songwriter, violinist and remarkable one woman band. She became an immediate YouTube sensation with the release of Na Na Na; The New Yorker recently did a cartoon caricature with their preview of her recent sold-out New York show; and she’s been in the studio working with David Byrne on his new album scheduled for late 2009 release.
There was little rest last week for the musician whom the LA Times recently named “Artist to Watch 2009.” Andersson had a 1:30 am weekend Mardi Gras show and didn’t get home Saturday morning until the sun peeked over the Mississippi Sound. She was heading-out again this week but happy to have a few days in the garden where she divines her music. Her new album, Hummingbird, Go!, is home grown—created here in the garden and recorded in the kitchen, just a few steps away.