Anna B Savage named in Rolling Stone’s ‘Artists to Watch’ list 2021
BIMM Institute Dublin student Anna B Savage, who’s on our MA Popular Music Practice course, has been named in Rolling Stone magazine’s ‘Artists to Watch 2021’.
Rolling Stone was first published in 1967 and was initially known for its coverage of rock music and political reporting by journalist and author Hunter S. Thompson. In the 90s, the magazine shifted its focus to a younger readership, interested in TV shows, movie stars, and popular music.
About Anna B Savage
London-born, Dublin-based singer-songwriter Anna B Savage released her debut album, A Common Turn via City Slang records in January 2021. It subsequently caught the publication’s attention.
A Common Turn follows the success of her 2015 debut EP, which was praised by press internationally including NPR and The Guardian. She quickly caught Father John Misty’s attention and later Jenny Hval, who both took Anna under their wing and brought her on tours.
As well as being named in Rolling Stone’s ‘Artists to Watch’, Anna has been extremely busy. Not only has she released a short film to coincide with the album, but she’s also set to tour the UK and Europe towards the end of this year.
The short film, entitled Baby Grand, was shot over three years with Jem Talbot, Anna’s ex-boyfriend and filmmaker. The co-directed piece is profoundly moving, blurring the lines of reality; art imitates life imitating art, imitating life. The cross-discipline, cross-genre work seamlessly blends real-life footage with actors portraying the pair’s younger selves.
Anna had this to say about the short film:
“Jem was my first love. For three years, we’ve been working on a film together about our past relationship. This song is written about a night Jem and I had, just after we’d started work on the film. This night was – like much of the filmmaking process – very confusing.
“Taut with unexpressed emotions, vulnerability, and miscommunication. ‘Baby Grand’ (the film) and ‘A Common Turn’ (the album) are companion pieces: woven together in subject, inspiration and time. Jem was, for want of a better word, a muse for ‘A Common Turn’. Expressing ourselves through our different mediums (mine: music, his: film) became a way for our disciplines to talk, perhaps in place of us.”
Talbot has this to add:
“Having not spoken to me in seven years, Anna sent me a text out of the blue saying she’d had a dream about me. Perhaps by chance, or by cosmic serendipity, I’d been listening to her EP and already dreaming up a film idea the two of us could collaborate on. Three years later, she’s releasing her debut album, and I’ve finished that film. In that time, both our mediums have been in a continually shifting dialogue with each other. This dialogue has mirrored the ebbs and flows of our connectedness in the present day.The film is an exploration of how and why some people just crawl into your heart and make a home there.”
You can watch the short film here:
When can you see Anna B Savage on tour?
See Anna B Savage on her UK and EU tour on the following dates:
October 2021
05 – Louisiana, Bristol – United Kingdom
08 – The Castle Hotel, Manchester – United Kingdom
07 – The Hug & Pint, Glasgow – United Kingdom
09 – Workmans Club, Dublin – Ireland
11 – Hare & Hounds 2, Birmingham – United Kingdom
12 – The Lexington, London – United Kingdom
13 – Prince Albert, Brighton – United Kingdom
14 – Elsewhere, Margate – United Kingdom
21 – Witloof Bar, Brussels – Belgium
22 – Molotow Sky Bar, Hamburg – Germany
24 – Hus7, Stockholm – Sweden
25 – Krosset, Oslo – Norway
26 – Vega Ideal Bar, Copenhagen – Denmark
28 – Kantine am Berghain, Berlin – Germany
30 – Haus Der Musik, Vienna – Austria
31 – Heppel & Ettlich, Munich – Germany
November 2021
02 – Bogen F, Zurich – Switzerland
03 – Circolo della Musica, Turin – Italy
04 – Le Periscope, Lyon – France
05 – La Boule Noire, Paris – France
07 – Le Grand Mix, Tourcoing – France
08 – Bumann & Sohn, Cologne – Germany
09 – Paradiso Upstairs, Amsterdam – Netherlands
Huge congrats to Anna on her recent successes; it’s truly amazing! To see more of our Student Success stories, click here.
Photo credit: Ebru Yildiz
