Johanna Warren is an American musician, actor and filmmaker, now based in

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

Early life

Warren was born in

St. Petersburg, Florida St. Petersburg is a city in Pinellas County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 258,308, making it the List of municipalities in Florida, fifth-most populous city in Florida and the most populous city in the sta ...

. She played flute in her school band as a child (she plays flute on many of her recordings), and started teaching herself guitar at age thirteen.

Career

Warren wrote and released her earliest songs in high school on

MySpace Myspace (formerly stylized as MySpace, currently myspace; and sometimes my␣, with an elongated Whitespace character#Substitute images, open box symbol) is a social networking service based in the United States. Launched on August 1, 2003, it w ...

under the moniker Sticklips, which turned into a psych folk band with friends she met in college. The group released two albums before disbanding in 2012 after the death of their guitar player. Warren spent the following year on the road as a backup singer with

Iron & Wine Samuel Ervin Beam (born July 26, 1974), better known by his stage name Iron & Wine, is an American singer-songwriter. He has released six studio albums, several EPs and singles, as well as a few download-only releases, which include a live alb ...

. She self-released her first solo record, ''Fates,'' in 2013. Her sophomore LP, ''numun,'' released in 2015 on

Team Love Records Team Love is an independent record label based in New Paltz, New York, and Portland, Maine. The label was founded by Conor Oberst and Nate Krenkel in 2003. It has released albums by several recording artists. Team Love also released the documen ...

, made its way on to several year-end lists, including Stereogum's Best New Bands of 2015. Rolling Stone Magazine called her a "Singer-Songwriter You Need to Know." In 2016 Warren founded Spirit House Records, on which she released her third solo album ''Gemini I and its'' conceptual "twin" ''Gemini II,'' which received praise from The New York Times, Pitchfork and NPR. In 2020 Warren's fifth studio album ''Chaotic Good'' was released on

Carpark Records Carpark Records is an independent record label based in Washington, D.C. History Carpark Records was established by Todd Hyman in 1999 in New York City. In 2005, the label relocated to Washington, D.C. Carpark has subsidiary labels. Acute Re ...

/Wax Nine Records. It received praise fro
PitchforkNPR
an
Paste Magazine
Her sixth solo LP, “Lessons for Mutants,” arrived to critical acclaim in 2022, also on Carpark/ Wax Nine. Warren has toured extensively since 2012. She has toured with

Mitski Mitsuki Laycock (born September 27, 1990), also known as Mitski Miyawaki, and known professionally as Mitski, is an American singer-songwriter. She Self-publishing, self-released her first two albums, ''Lush (Mitski album), Lush'' (2012), and '' ...

, Julie Byrne,

Marissa Nadler Marissa Nadler (born April 5, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter. Active since 2000, she is currently signed to Sacred Bones Records and Bella Union, and released her ninth full-length studio album, ''The Path of the Clouds'', in October ...

, and

Xasthur Xasthur () is the project of American musician Scott "Malefic" Conner. Conner formed Xasthur in 1995 and released eight studio albums of black metal by 2010, when he announced the end of the project. However, he began using the name once again ...

. She was an official performer at SXSW in 2017 and 2018, and at Pitchfork London and Pitchfork Paris in 2022. In 2023 Warren announced she was “mostly retiring” from touring. To commemorate the occasion she recorded ''The Rockfield Sessions'', a retrospective selection of 28 songs spanning her entire catalog recorded at

Rockfield Studios Rockfield Studios is a residential recording studio located in the Wye Valley just outside the village of Rockfield, Monmouthshire, Wales. It was founded in 1963 by brothers Kingsley and Charles Ward. Recording studios Rockfield is a two-stu ...

in rural

, near where Warren currently lives. As an actor, Warren played a leading role in the indie feature ''She the Creator'', the debut film from writer/director Juliette Wallace. She voiced the character Bob on the

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

series '' The Midnight Gospel''. The music video for her single "Twisted", which Warren starred in and co-directed with Richey Beckett, won Best Music Video at the

Portland Film Festival Portland Film Festival is a non-profit organization which hosts events and programs in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 2013 by Joshua Leake with the help of Jay Cornelius. Their main event called the Portland Film Festival is an annual indep ...

. In October 2021 Warren announced her new musical adaptation of

Euripides Euripides () was a Greek tragedy, tragedian of classical Athens. Along with Aeschylus and Sophocles, he is one of the three ancient Greek tragedians for whom any plays have survived in full. Some ancient scholars attributed ninety-five plays to ...

The Bacchae ''The Bacchae'' (; , ''Bakkhai''; also known as ''The Bacchantes'' ) is an ancient Greek tragedy, written by the Athenian playwright Euripides during his final years in Macedonia, at the court of Archelaus I of Macedon. It premiered posthumou ...

, co-written with fellow interdisciplinary artist J Landon Marcus. A first look at the production was premiered online via

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher lear ...

Center for Hellenic Studies The Center for Hellenic Studies (CHS) is a research institute for classics located in Washington, D.C. at 3100 Whitehaven Street NW. It is affiliated with Harvard University. Nestled in Rock Creek Park behind Embassy Row, the Center for Hellen ...

. Also an

herbalist Herbal medicine (also called herbalism, phytomedicine or phytotherapy) is the study of pharmacognosy and the use of medicinal plants, which are a basis of traditional medicine. Scientific evidence for the effectiveness of many herbal treatments ...

and

Reiki Reiki is a pseudoscientific form of energy healing, a type of alternative medicine originating in Japan. Reiki practitioners use a technique called ''palm healing'' or ''hands-on healing'' through which, according to practitioners, a " unive ...

Master, Warren is an outspoken advocate for

regenerative farming Regenerative agriculture is a conservation and rehabilitation approach to food and farming systems. It focuses on topsoil regeneration, increasing biodiversity, improving the water cycle, enhancing ecosystem services, supporting biosequestration ...

rewilding Rewilding is a form of ecological restoration aimed at increasing biodiversity and restoring natural processes. It differs from other forms of ecological restoration in that rewilding aspires to reduce human influence on ecosystems. It is also d ...

and the healing powers of nature. In 2018 Warren traveled solo around the US on a "Plant Medicine Tour," partnering with local herbalists and organic farmers in over 65 cities to raise awareness about the healing powers of plants.

Discography

Solo albums

* ''It is Like a Horse. It is Not like Two Foxes'' (2009) – as Sticklips * ''Zemi'' (2012) – as Sticklips * ''Fates'' (2013) * ''numun'' (2015) * ''Gemini I'' (2016) * ''Gemini II'' (2018) * ''Chaotic Good'' (2020) * ''Lessons for Mutants'' (2022) * ''The Rockfield Sessions Vol. 1'' (2023) * ''The Rockfield Sessions Vol. 2'' (2024)

Guest appearances

* ''

Natalie Merchant Natalie Anne Merchant (born October 26, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter. She joined the band 10,000 Maniacs in 1981 and was lead vocalist and primary lyricist for the group. She remained with the group for their first seven albums before ...

'' album by

(2014) – Backing vocals on multiple songs * ''

Not Even Happiness ''Not Even Happiness'' is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter Julie Byrne. It was released on 13 January 2017 by Basin Rock in the United Kingdom and on 27 January 2017 by Ba Da Bing Records in the United States. Background an ...

'' album by Julie Byrne (2017) – Backing vocals on multiple songs *''Zoolights'' album by Forest Veil (2016) – Backing vocals and flute on multiple songs

Filmography

FILM

TV

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Warren, Johanna Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Singers from Portland, Oregon American women singer-songwriters 21st-century American women Musicians from St. Petersburg, Florida