Features Solo-Acoustic Tracks Of Eight Songs From 3x GRAMMY-nominated Album “Age Of Apathy” 

Aoife O’Donovan Plays “Nebraska” Tour Continues April 12 

Listen/Share: “Phoenix” (Acoustic)

From Yep Rock Records, “Today, critically acclaimed Aoife O’Donovan shares “Phoenix” from the “Age of Apathy Solo Sessions” out May 12 on Yep Roc Records. The companion album features eight acoustic versions of songs from her multi-GRAMMY-nominated album Age of Apathy reimagined as intimate solo performances. 

“The album, which was nominated for three GRAMMYS, including Best Folk Album as well as Best American Roots Performance and Best American Roots Song, both for “Prodigal Daughter” featuring Allison Russell garnered critical acclaim. Rolling Stone hailed “stunning,” NPR Music “a moving self-portrait,” and “No Depression “an astounding accomplishment.” Pitchfork says O’Donovan “taps into the propulsion of prime Joni Mitchell,” while The New York Times praises the album’s “musical surprises: daring melodic leaps, unexpected chord progressions, [and] subtle rhythmic shifts.” 

“Recorded through a unique residency with Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida, O’Donovan wrote and recorded 2022’s “Age Of Apathy” on-site at their studio with GRAMMY-nominated engineer Darren Schneider while collaborating entirely remotely with producer Joe Henry (Bonnie Raitt, Rhiannon Giddens). 

“On March 24, the GRAMMY Award-winning artist released a limited edition worldwide indie exclusive vinyl release of Aoife O’Donovan Plays Nebraska. The album, limited to 1,000 copies worldwide, is now available at select indie retail stores and via Bandcamp. The vinyl release follows a 2021 digital-only live recording of Bruce Springsteen’s 1982 album “Nebraska,” one of his most acclaimed. The intimate and uninterrupted live, solo-acoustic performance was recorded in Aoife’s living room in Brooklyn, New York, May 2020 from a livestream broadcast. 

“In April, O’Donovan’s Spring tour continues as she performs “Nebraska” in its entirety alongside selections from “Age of Apathy.” O’Donovan returns to Europe and the UK in late Spring followed by a full summer of touring.  O’Donovan is also the 2023 FreshGrass Festival commissioned composer and will premiere a new work at the festival this September. A complete list of dates follows below; tickets are available here.”

For my N.C. readers, please note you can catch O’Donovan with Nickel Creek on July 21 at the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh or July 22 at the Greenfield Lake Amphitheater in Wilmington.

Aoife O’Donovan Plays Nebraska

April 12 – Stoughton Opera House – Stoughton, WI

April 13 – SPACE – Evanston, IL – SOLD OUT

April 14 – Turf Club – St. Paul, MN – SOLD OUT 

April 15 – The Sheldon Concert Hall – St. Louis, MO

April 16 – The Basement East – Nashville, TN

with special guests The Westerlies

Aoife O’Donovan Performances

April 28 – Ryman Auditorium – Nashville, TN – SOLD OUT

May 30 – Dresden Music Festival – Dresden, DE ^

June 3 – Queen’s Hall – Edinburgh, UK

June 7 – Debarras Folk Club – Clonakilty, IE

June 10 – Doolin Folk Festival – Doolin, IE

July 15 – Palace Theatre – St. Paul, MN *

July 16 – Big Top Chautauqua – Bayfield, WI *

July 18 – Masonic Temple – Detroit, MI *

July 19 – Danforth Music Hall – Toronto, ON *

July 21 – North Carolina Museum of Art – Raleigh, NC *

July 22 – Greenfield Lake Amphitheater – Wilmington, NC *

July 23 – Wolf Trap – Filene Center – Vienna, VA *

July 24 – The Coves at Smith Mountain Lake – Union Hall, VA *

July 27 – Beak & Skiff Apple Orchards – Lafayette, NY *

August 19 – Green Mountain Bluegrass Festival – Manchester, VT ^

August 25 – The Long Road – Leicestershire, UK

August 26-27 – Tønder Festival – Tønder, DK

August 28 – TBD – Amsterdam, NL

September 9 – Moon River – Chattanooga, TN – SOLD OUT

September 22-24 – FreshGrass Music Festival – North Adams, MA

* supporting Nickel Creek

^ duo with Eric Jacobsen

The Apathy Sessions Tracklisting:

1. Phoenix

2. Galahad

3. Passengers 

4. B61

5. Age of Apathy

6. Elevators

7. Sister Starling 

8. Town of Mercy

About Aoife O’Donovan

GRAMMY Award-winning artist Aoife O’Donovan operates in a thrilling musical world beyond genre. Deemed “a vocalist of unerring instinct” by The New York Times, she has released three critically-acclaimed and boundary-blurring solo albums including her most recent record, 2022’s boldly orchestrated and literarily crafted Age Of Apathy. Recorded and written over the course of Winter and Spring 2021 with acclaimed producer Joe Henry, Age Of Apathy is “stunning” (Rolling Stone) and “taps into the propulsion of prime Joni Mitchell” (Pitchfork). 

Age of Apathy received three nominations at the 2023 GRAMMY Awards including one for Best Folk Album while Folk Alliance International named her song “B61” its 2022 Song Of The Year.

A savvy and generous collaborator, Aoife is one third of the group I’m With Her with bandmates Sara Watkins and Sarah Jarosz. The trio’s debut album, See You Around, was hailed as “willfully open-hearted” by NPR Music. I’m With Her earned an Americana Music Association Award in 2019 for Duo/Group of the Year, and a GRAMMY Award in 2020 for Best American Roots Song.

O’Donovan spent the preceding decade as co-founder and front woman of the string band, Crooked Still and is the featured vocalist on The Goat Rodeo Sessions – the group with Yo-Yo Ma, Stuart Duncan, Edgar Meyer, and Chris Thile. She has appeared as a featured vocalist with over a dozen symphonies including the National Symphony Orchestra, written for Alison Krauss, performed with jazz trumpeter Dave Douglas, and spent a decade as a regular contributor to the radio variety shows “Live From Here” and “A Prairie Home Companion.”