Jarboe Devereaux, known mononymously as Jarboe (), is an American singer and musician who came to prominence as a member of the New York City

experimental rock Experimental rock, also called avant-rock, is a subgenre of rock music that pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique or which experiments with the basic elements of the genre. Artists aim to liberate and innovate, with ...

band

Swans Swans are birds of the family Anatidae within the genus ''Cygnus''. The swans' closest relatives include the geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Someti ...

in 1985. Jarboe and

Michael Gira Michael Rolfe Gira (; born February 19, 1954) is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, author and artist. He is the main force behind the New York City musical group Swans and fronted Angels of Light. He is also the founder of ...

, the founder of Swans, were the two constant members of the group until it broke up in 1997. Although absent from the group's lineup when the band reformed in 2010, Jarboe contributed background vocals and voice collage for the band's 2012 album, '' The Seer''. She has released numerous solo albums and collaborations, many of which have been

self-published Self-publishing is the publication of media by its author at their own cost, without the involvement of a publisher. The term usually refers to written media, such as books and magazines, either as an ebook or as a physical copy using POD (pri ...

. She also co-composed the soundtrack of the 2009

psychological horror Psychological horror is a subgenre of horror and psychological fiction with a particular focus on mental, emotional, and psychological states to frighten, disturb, or unsettle its audience. The subgenre frequently overlaps with the related subge ...

game '' The Path''.

Life and career

Jarboe was born in

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

and raised in the

Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

, primarily in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

and

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

. Her father was a police detective who worked for the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...

(FBI), and whom she has described as "the ultimate law-enforcement man".Chonin, Nieva (1995).
Birds of Prey
," San Francisco Bay Guardian, 1995 Both of her parents were employees of the FBI, and met through their jobs. In a 2015 interview, she revealed that her father died before she joined Swans, though she commented that her mother was "very interested in what I was doing." As a child, Jarboe learned to play a Hammond organ, and studied opera at the insistence of her father, who hoped for her to have a career as a singer. Jarboe described herself as "obsessed" with Swans since hearing their first album, ''

Filth Filth or The Filth may refer to: Common uses * Dirt, unclean matter * Police officer, a pejorative in British slang Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Filth'' (film), a 2013 film based on the novel * ''Filth'', an alternative title for ''S ...

'' (1983). She came into contact with Michael Gira and attended the band's practice sessions before, after several auditions, joining as a vocalist and keyboardist and debuting on ''

Greed Greed (or avarice) is an uncontrolled longing for increase in the acquisition or use of material gain (be it food, money, land, or animate/inanimate possessions); or social value, such as status, or power. Greed has been identified as und ...

'' (1986). Prior to Swans, Jarboe's musical background had consisted of training as a

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

and choral vocalist.

I had to unlearn proper singing technique and pronunciation. There is a tremendous difference between the vernacular of jazz and choral work and the way Michael Gira molded me. I think Michael Gira is the one who made me a "rock" singer. He told me, "Drop your g's." It's not "going to," it's " gonna." "Drop your consonants and relax." He said to me, "You're an American, sing like an American." He really ripped into my singing style and changed it around for me.

Between 1985 and 1996, she worked as a vocalist and keyboardist in the band, appearing on albums including '' Children of God'' (1987), '' The Burning World'' (1989), and '' Soundtracks for the Blind'' (1996). Jarboe's inclusion in the band marked a departure from their previous noise rock sound to a more melodic industrial and even

folk rock Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers s ...

sound. She also collaborated with Gira, forming their side project,

The World of Skin The World of Skin was a music project springing out of the American group Swans, which was a collaboration between the core Swans members Michael Gira and Jarboe. The project was initially called Skin, with the first two albums being released und ...

in 1987, releasing several albums and singles. Jarboe left Swans in 1997 when the band broke up and embarked on a solo career, releasing various experimental records (many of which she has self-released and distributed over the internet) including '' Sacrificial Cake'' (1995) and '' Anhedoniac'' (1998). She has continued to self-release solo albums and, despite not returning to the group, recorded vocals for two tracks on the re-formed Swans' album, '' The Seer'' (2012). Jarboe completed a world tour in the autumn/winter of 2013, with Veil of Thorns' P. Emerson Williams on guitar. She released an experimental soundscape album, ''With Sun Falling,'' with Veil of Thorns in June 2015. In reflections on her solo work, particularly the six albums between 2017-2020, Jarboe said her participation in Tibetan Buddhism has been a persistent theme.

Discography

References

External links

*
Discography
{{Authority control Singers from New York City Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Swans (band) members American women singers Place of birth missing (living people) American experimental musicians American post-punk musicians American industrial musicians Musicians from New Orleans American women in electronic music Alternative Tentacles artists Singers from Mississippi 20th-century American women singers 21st-century American singers 20th-century American singers 21st-century American women