The Music Book Interviews – Whitney Ballen

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After a long hiatus, we’re back with The Music Book Interviews. We’ve gone through all the band sin the book, but that doesn’t matter. There’s so much great music happening in this city that we’ll keep bringing bands in the Critical Sun studio for interviews and live performances. And who knows, maybe a sequel of sorts for the book will develop.

Today we have Whitney Ballen. I’ve written about her before, and if I’d had the chance to hear her a few years ago, she definitely would have made it into the book just as she made it into my best of 2014 list, and all the way up to number three I might add.

I love the sparseness of her music, the use of dynamics, the seemingly understated passion, but it’s a passion that is deeply felt nonetheless. This isn’t mellow music. It’s heartwrenching in the sense that it pulls you from where your are and throws you over a bridge. It gets your attention. It’s moving stuff. Take a listen.

NOTE: My apologies to Whitney Ballen as this was actually recorded in December of 2014, but my brief hiatus from music writing lasted much longer than anticipated.

davemusic

Dave O’Leary is a writer and musician living in Seattle. The Music Book, his second novel, was published by Booktrope in September 2014. In addition to writing for Northwest Music Scene, he has also had work published in The Monarch Review and on Slate.com. Visit his website at http://www.daveoleary.net. Photo by Stacy Albright, stacyalbrightimages.com.