Accessibility links
Anaïs Mitchell Anaïs Mitchell artist page: interviews, features and/or performances archived at NPR Music

Anaïs Mitchell

Anaïs Mitchell returns to her roots on a new self-titled album

Anaïs Mitchell performs live for World Cafe Courtesy of the artist hide caption

toggle caption
Courtesy of the artist

Music Interviews

Anaïs Mitchell returns to her roots on a new self-titled album

XPN

It's a confessional, intimate album a world away from Midtown Manhattan.

Anais Mitchell on World Cafe

  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1083987064/1083992510" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
'Hadestown' creator Anaïs Mitchell's new solo album reaches forward in looking back
Jenny Anderson/Getty Images for Elsie Fest

Music Interviews

'Hadestown' creator Anaïs Mitchell's new solo album reaches forward in looking back

Anaïs Mitchell spent more than a decade developing her hit musical Hadestown, a retelling of a Greek myth set in hell. Now, after eight Tony Awards and a Grammy, she has changed the scenery.

'Hadestown' creator Anaïs Mitchell's new solo album reaches forward in looking back

Listen · 8:00
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1077368346/1077371712" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
New Mix: Shamir, Midlake, Anaïs Mitchell, Janis Ian, more

Upper left: Shamir; upper middle: Frank Turner; Upper right: Keeley Forsyth; middle: Anaïs Mitchell; bottom: Midlake Courtesy of the artists hide caption

toggle caption
Courtesy of the artists

All Songs Considered

New Mix: Shamir, Midlake, Anaïs Mitchell, Janis Ian, more

All Songs Considered's Bob Boilen shares his favorite new tracks, including one from Hadestown creator Anaïs Mitchell, Frank Turner's dream-inspired ode to his late friend, Scott Hutchison and more.

New Mix: Shamir, Midlake, Anaïs Mitchell, Janis Ian, more

Listen · 38:44
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1073803341/1073928654" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
An Early 2020 Preview: 5 Upcoming Albums We Can't Wait To Hear

Kevin Parker of Tame Impala performs at Coachella in 2019. The band's latest album, The Slow Rush, is due out in February. Kevin Winter/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Music

An Early 2020 Preview: 5 Upcoming Albums We Can't Wait To Hear

From Moses Sumney's upcoming double album to a folk supergroup starring two of the minds behind Hadestown and Fruit Bats, here are some of Stephen Thompson's early picks for 2020.

An Early 2020 Preview: 5 Upcoming Albums We Can't Wait To Hear

Listen · 7:14
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/792474909/793257406" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Anaïs Mitchell's 'Hadestown' Musical Makes Its Broadway Debut

Eva Noblezada, who plays Eurydice, and the Broadway cast of Hadestown. Matthew Murphy/Courtesy of Hadestown, The Musical hide caption

toggle caption
Matthew Murphy/Courtesy of Hadestown, The Musical

Music Interviews

Anaïs Mitchell's 'Hadestown' Musical Makes Its Broadway Debut

The singer-songwriter turned her 2010 concept album into a folk-opera stage production and earlier this month, the show made its Broadway debut.

Anaïs Mitchell's 'Hadestown' Musical Makes Its Broadway Debut

Listen · 7:59
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/716089580/716096531" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
The Continuing Relevance Of Child Ballads

Anais Mitchell and Jefferson Hamer's new collaborative album is titled Child Ballads. Jay Sansone/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

toggle caption
Jay Sansone/Courtesy of the artist

Music News

The Continuing Relevance Of Child Ballads

Through the centuries, old songs known as the Child ballads have been passed down and tweaked to fit the times. More recently, they've been adapted by the folk revivalists of the 1950s and rockers from the '60s and '70s. Now, a duo of young songwriters is reviving them yet again.

Hundreds Of Years Old, These Songs Tour Like New

Listen · 7:22
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/177997065/178090634" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Anaïs Mitchell On World Cafe

Anais Mitchell has a penchant for storied poetry and a deep reverence for the expressiveness of folk music. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

toggle caption
Courtesy of the artist

World Cafe

Anaïs Mitchell On World Cafe

XPN

Hear the folk singer-songwriter perform songs from her latest album, Young Man In America, which was inspired by scenes of the economic crisis.

Anaïs Mitchell On World Cafe

  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/148947246/148985851" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Anais Mitchell On Mountain Stage

The Virginia-based singer-songwriter performed on Mountain Stage. Brian Blauser/Mountain Stage hide caption

toggle caption
Brian Blauser/Mountain Stage

Mountain Stage

Anais Mitchell On Mountain Stage

The Vermont-based singer-songwriter had just begun working on Hadestown, her folk-opera adaptation of Orpheus and Eurydice, when she made her first appearance on Mountain Stage.

Anais Mitchell On Mountain Stage

  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/132832703/132807062" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Anais Mitchell: A Greek Tragedy In Song

Anais Mitchell's folk opera Hadestown enlists the services of Bon Iver's Justin Vernon as Orpheus. courtesy of the artist hide caption

toggle caption
courtesy of the artist

Review

Song Of The Day

Anais Mitchell: A Greek Tragedy In Song

Mitchell's folk opera Hadestown enlists the services of Bon Iver's Justin Vernon as the legendary Greek hero Orpheus. In "If It's True," Vernon's tone of resignation, denial and doubt reflects a complicated swirl of emotions.

If It's True

  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/126048177/126000387" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Orpheus As Folk Opera In 'Hadestown'

The desolate journey of Orpheus is now a folk opera written by singer-songwriter Anais Mitchell. Emma Gluckman hide caption

toggle caption
Emma Gluckman

Music Interviews

Orpheus As Folk Opera In 'Hadestown'

The ancient tale of Orpheus searching for his beloved in the underworld has been told many times by famous composers such as Monteverdi and Offenbach. Now, the desolate journey of Orpheus is presented in a new way: as a folk opera written by singer-songwriter Anais Mitchell. Hadestown features performances by Justin Vernon, Ani DiFranco and Greg Brown.

Orpheus As Folk Opera In 'Hadestown'

Listen · 7:34
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/124357681/124394554" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Mountain Stage

Anais Mitchell On Mountain Stage

The Vermont-born singer-songwriter finds a creative home in the place where literature and folk art meet. Here, she brings her distinctive voice to Mountain Stage, where she previews material from the folk opera she's currently producing.

Listen Now: Anais Mitchell On Mountain Stage

  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/93499098/93497701" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Browse archive or search npr.org