Kristin Hersh

Kristin Hersh is a veteran of indie rock who has been the leader and main driver of Throwing Muses, one of the significant American college radio bands of the late '80s and early '90s. Her music can be fairly jagged, angular, and rough (especially during the early years of the Muses). As she matured and cycled in and out of various projects, her sound smoothed out, she went acoustic, then back to electric, without quite losing her intensity as a performer and songwriter, and occasionally tapping into the same sense of rawness she displayed in the late '80s. Hersh songs are not happy or upbeat, and they don't necessarily make one tap one's foot with joy. Entering her musical world means embracing a degree of darkness. It also means being open to repeat listens, as she tends to write songs that are introverted in nature and need to slowly warm up to the audience before they completely reveal themselves.