indie folk
Indie folk is a music genre that arose in the 1990s among musicians from indie rock scenes influenced by folk music. Indie folk hybridizes the acoustic guitar melodies of traditional folk music with contemporary instrumentation.
The genre has it ...
singer and songwriter. Her debut EP ''Faking My Own Death'' was released in 2021, and her second EP ''Shaking Hands With Elvis'' was released in 2022.
Early life and education
Ponthier was born and raised in the town of Allen, a suburb of
Dallas
Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
, Texas, and studied jazz at the
University of North Texas
The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public research university in Denton, Texas. It was founded as a nonsectarian, coeducational, private teachers college in 1890 and was formally adopted by the state 11 years later."Denton Normal Schoo ...
before moving to
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...
, New York in 2017 at age 20. In New York, she worked for the Museum of Natural History Snapchat stories program, tried modeling, sold jewelry she made, and drew commissioned pet portraits.
In 2019, Ponthier began posting to
TikTok
TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes.
TikTok is an international version ...
, with her work including song covers, songs adapted with what ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
'' describes as "queer-themed lyrics",
stop motion
Stop motion is an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames ...
Interscope Records
Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner Mu ...
in 2020.
Career
In August 2021, Ponthier released her debut EP ''Faking My Own Death''. The debut single from the EP, "Cowboy", was named one of the "25 Best Songs By LGBTQ Artists of 2021 (So Far)" by ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
'' on June 29, 2021.
Ponthier wrote "Cowboy" in 2017 after moving to New York, but delayed its release, explaining to ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper
A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background.
Newspapers can cover a wide ...
'' in 2021, "because I was a little teen hipster rebel I was like: 'I don’t need country music, I don’t want to make that.' But I was so wrong, because it was an amazing way to express myself." She told ''
American Songwriter
''American Songwriter'' is a bimonthly magazine covering songwriting. Established in 1984, it features interviews, songwriting tips, news, reviews and lyric contest. The magazine is based in Nashville, Tennessee.
History
The ''American Songwr ...
'' she wrote "Cowboy" after she met her girlfriend and while she was processing what she described as the "culture shock" of her move to New York and her need to come out about her sexual orientation, and told ''
Atwood Magazine
Atwood Magazine is a digital music magazine that focuses on emerging and established artists from around the world. The magazine was founded in 2012 and is currently run by editor-in-chief Mitch Mosk.
History
Atwood Magazine was founded in 20 ...
'', "I guess it was time to live my truth as a gay cowboy." For the "Cowboy" video, Ponthier has cited ''
Death Becomes Her
''Death Becomes Her'' is a 1992 American satirical black comedy fantasy film directed and produced by Robert Zemeckis. Written by David Koepp and Martin Donovan, it stars Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn as rivals who fight for the affections of t ...
'', ''The Witches'', and ''Troll 2'' as some of the many films that served as inspiration for her work with director Jordan Bahat on the creative direction of the video.
The second single released from the EP was "Harshest Critic" in May 2021, which she co-wrote with Adam Melchor. Ponthier wrote the song "Hell is a Crowded Room" with
Rick Nowels
Richard Wright Nowels Jr. is an American songwriter, record producer, multi-instrumentalist and arranger. He has co-written and co-produced over 90 hit singles with multiple artists and in a review of the song for ''
NPR Music
NPR Music is a project of National Public Radio, an American privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization, that launched in November 2007 to present public radio music programming and original editorial content for music ...
'',
Ann Powers
Ann K. Powers (born February 4, 1964) is an American writer and pop music critic. She is a music critic for NPR and a contributor at the ''Los Angeles Times'', where she was previously chief pop critic. She has also served as pop critic at ''The ...
writes, "Ponthier invokes
Chris Isaak
Christopher Joseph Isaak (born June 26, 1956) is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist and occasional actor. He is widely known for his breakthrough hit and signature song " Wicked Game", as well as other songs such as "Blue Hotel", "Baby D ...
invoking
Roy Orbison
Roy Kelton Orbison (April 23, 1936 – December 6, 1988) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician known for his impassioned singing style, complex song structures, and dark, emotional ballads. His music was described by critics as ...
,
Cat Power
Charlyn Marie "Chan" Marshall ( ; born January 21, 1972), better known by her stage name Cat Power, is an American singer- songwriter, musician and model. Cat Power was originally the name of her first band, but has become her stage name as ...
invoking
Peggy Lee
Norma Deloris Egstrom (May 26, 1920 – January 21, 2002), known professionally as Peggy Lee, was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, composer, and actress, over a career spanning seven decades. From her beginning as a vocalis ...
,
Lana Del Rey
Elizabeth Woolridge Grant (born June 21, 1985), known professionally as Lana Del Rey, is an American singer-songwriter. Her music is noted for its cinematic quality and exploration of tragic romance, Glamour (presentation), glamour, and melan ...
invoking every singer
David Lynch
David Keith Lynch (born January 20, 1946) is an American filmmaker, visual artist and actor. A recipient of an Academy Honorary Award in 2019, Lynch has received three Academy Award nominations for Best Director, and the César Award for Be ...
ever ushered onto the stage of ''
Twin Peaks
''Twin Peaks'' is an American mystery serial drama television series created by Mark Frost and David Lynch. It premiered on ABC on April 8, 1990, and originally ran for two seasons until its cancellation in 1991. The show returned in 2017 fo ...
s Bang Bang Bar."
She is also a featured vocalist on the track "I Lied" on Lord Huron's 2021 '' Long Lost'' album, performed with Lord Huron on ''
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jimmy Fallon that airs on NBC. The show premiered on February 17, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. It is the seventh in ...
'' in May 2021, and toured with Lord Huron in September 2021. Following the tour, she performed at Texas's
Austin City Limits Music Festival
The Austin City Limits (ACL) Music Festival is an annual music festival held in Zilker Park in Austin, Texas on two consecutive three-day weekends. Inspired by the KLRU/ PBS music series of the same name, the festival is produced by Austin-bas ...
.
In January of 2022
Jack Antonoff
Jack Michael Antonoff (born March 31, 1984) is an American singer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and record producer. Antonoff is the lead singer of rock band Bleachers, and is the guitarist and drummer in the pop rock band Fun. He was p ...
announced that Ponthier would be joining him for
Bleachers
Bleachers (North American English), or stands, are raised, tiered rows of benches found at sports fields and other spectator events. Stairways provide access to the horizontal rows of seats, often with every other step gaining access to a row ...
' 2022 tour.
In June 2022, Ponthier released her second EP ''Shaking Hands With Elvis''. According to ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
'', "Half the songs on the 6-track project sound like sonic cousins of her previous work ..But the other half of the songs, including standout single “Autopilot” and the high-camp fantasy “Hollywood Forever Cemetery,” sees the singer getting more experimental and dreamy with her sound".