Dana Kletter is an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
musician and writer.
Kletter and her twin sister Karen were born in
BaltimoreBaltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
,
MarylandMaryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
and raised in New York. Dana began playing
pianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
at age four. She attended
American UniversityAmerican University is a private, Methodist, liberal arts, and research university in Washington, D.C. The university was chartered by an Act of Congress on December 5, 1892 as "The American University", which was approved by President Benjamin Harrison on February 24, 1893...
in Washington, DC where she studied piano with Alan Mandel. She left music school and submerged herself in the
DC HardcoreWashington, D.C. has had one of the first and most influential hardcore punk scenes in the United States since the early 1980s.Among the earliest DC punk bands were the Bad Brains, Slickee Boys, Teen Idles, Minor Threat, S.O.A., Chalk Circle, Velvet Monkeys, Void, The Faith, DC Youth Brigade,...
punk rock scene at its apex, in the early 1980s. There she met the friends who would become part of her professional musical life.
Dana moved to Raleigh, North Carolina in 1985 and formed blackgirls, described by the
Chicago Reader as a "dark art-folk trio," with Eugenia Lee Johnson and Hollis Brown.
The band performed for several years and released a single as part of the
Evil I Do Not To Nod I Live boxset with four other North Carolina bands (including the early bands of
SuperchunkSuperchunk is an American indie rock band from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, consisting of singer/guitarist Mac McCaughan, guitarist Jim Wilbur, bassist Laura Ballance, and drummer Jon Wurster. Formed in 1989, they were one of the bands that helped define the Chapel Hill music scene of the 1990s...
guitarist and
Merge RecordsMerge Records is an independent record label based in Durham, North Carolina. It was founded in 1989 by Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan. It began as a way to release music from their band Superchunk and music created by friends, and has expanded to include artists from around the world and records...
mastermind
Mac McCaughanMac McCaughan is a founding member of the rock band Superchunk, and co-founder of Merge Records along with Laura Ballance. He also heads the band Portastatic, which began as a lo-fi side project and has blossomed into his main musical project...
), and a five song EP,
Speechless. In his Spin magazine review of
Speechless,
Tony FletcherTony Fletcher is a music journalist best known for his biographies of drummer Keith Moon and the band R.E.M..-Jamming!:...
noted, “…hints of absolute greatness within, most noticeably on “Queen Anne,” a ballad in which Dana Kletter’s vocals lean towards the sultry peaks of
NicoNico was a German singer, lyricist, composer, musician, fashion model, and actress, who initially rose to fame as a Warhol Superstar in the 1960s...
and Marianne Faithful…”
The band came to the attention of American auteur producer Joe BoydJoe Boyd is an American record producer and former owner of the Witchseason production company. Boyd was instrumental in launching the careers of Nick Drake, Fairport Convention, and The Incredible String Band.-Career:...
(Nick DrakeNicholas Rodney "Nick" Drake was an English singer-songwriter and musician. Though he is best known for his sombre guitar based songs, Drake was also proficient at piano, clarinet and saxophone...
, Sandy DennySandy Denny , born Alexandra Elene Maclean Denny, was an English singer and songwriter, perhaps best known as the lead singer for the folk rock band Fairport Convention...
, Fairport ConventionFairport Convention are an English folk rock and later electric folk band, formed in 1967 who are still recording and touring today. They are widely regarded as the most important single group in the English folk rock movement...
, Pink FloydPink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
, REM). Boyd signed blackgirls to his European-based Hannibal RecordsHannibal Records was a record label and one of the first to work with the World music genre.Hannibal was started by Joe Boyd in 1980. Boyd had produced records by artists such as Nick Drake, The Incredible String Band and Fairport Convention and released recordings by these artists as well as...
label and Mammoth RecordsFounded by Jay Faires in 1989 in Carrboro, North Carolina, Mammoth Records was one of the premiere independent record labels of the 1990s. Its roster featured such diverse talent as Antenna, Blake Babies, Chainsaw Kittens, Dash Rip Rock, Dillon Fence, Far Too Jones, Frente!, Fun-Da-Mental, Fu...
of Chapel Hill, NC became their American label.
Boyd produced two full-length blackgirls LPs, Procedure in 1989 and Happy in 1991. The records were a critical success and the band toured regularly and performed on NPR’s Mountain StageMountain Stage is a two-hour music radio show, first aired in 1983, produced by WV Public Broadcasting and distributed worldwide by National Public Radio and the Voice of America's satellite radio service. Hosted by Larry Groce, the program showcases diverse music, from the traditional to modern...
, BBC-Radio 4-Woman’s HourWoman's Hour is a radio magazine programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in the United Kingdom.-History:Created by Norman Collins and originally presented by Alan Ivimey the programme was first broadcast on 7 October 1946 on the BBC's Light Programme . It was transferred to its current home in 1973...
. However internal problems caused the group to disband in 1992.
Kletter went on to form the four piece alternative rock band Dish, “An intriguing mix of guitar-driven garage-rock and more mannered, piano-based pop introspection…”.
Dish recorded Mabel Sagittarius with producer Mitch EasterMitch Easter is a songwriter, musician, and producer. As a producer, he is probably best known for his work with R.E.M. from 1981 through 1984, though he has also worked with many other acts including The Hang Ups, Pavement, Suzanne Vega, Game Theory, Marshall Crenshaw, Velvet Crush, and...
(REM), released on Engine/Crypt Records in 1994.
The band signed to Interscope RecordsInterscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that currently operates as one third of UMG's Interscope-Geffen-A&M label group.-History:...
in 1994, and recorded Boneyard Beach at Ardent StudiosArdent Studios is a recording studio located in Memphis, Tennessee. Ardent Records/Ardent Music is the in-house label.- History :Ardent Studios was founded by John Fry and was initially a studio in his family's garage, where he recorded his first Ardent Records 45's. In 1966 the operation moved...
in Memphis, produced by John AgnelloJohn Agnello is a producer, recording engineer and mixer who has been involved with many albums throughout the last 25 years. Most recently, John has been involved with Kurt Vile, Sonic Youth, Sweet Apple, Dinosaur Jr...
(Breeders, Drive By Truckers, Hold Steady). Interscope Vice President, Tom Whalley, told Billboard magazine that “the high quality of songwriting in Dish and the sound of Dana’s voice are two things that set this band apart.”
But Interscope did little to promote the band, and after a number of frustrating years, Kletter dissolved Dish.
In 1997, Kletter reunited with Joe Boyd, signed with Hannibal/RykodiscRykodisc Records is an American record label. It is owned by Warner Music Group, operates as a unit of WMG's Independent Label Group and is distributed through Alternative Distribution Alliance.-Company history:...
and with her twin sister Karen composed and recorded Dear Enemy with Joe Boyd producing. Dear Enemy, released in 1998, garnered much praise on both sides of the Atlantic, from The Times (“an early contender for album of the year”), Mojo (“extraordinary and riveting”), New York Times (“The songs reveal a sensibility like nothing else in pop: private, dreamlike and heartfelt, as enigmatic and touching as Joseph Cornell's boxes”), San Francisco Chronicle (“gemlike”), but the sisters made no plans for a follow up recording.
In 2003, Kletter set a series of children’s poems to music, composing, recording, and producing Mrs. Moon, which the Guardian called “22 of the most beautiful lullabies ever” for British imprint Barefoot Books.
Kletter has sung backing vocals and played piano on Hole's Live Through This, Mike Johnson's Year of Mondays, Michael Hurley’s Sweetkorn The Hold Steady’s Boys and Girls in AmericaBoys and Girls in America is the third studio album by The Hold Steady, released on October 3, 2006 by Vagrant Records.On August 18, 2006, first single "Chips Ahoy!" was released as a free download from music site Pitchfork Media...
, and on other recordings by Linda ThompsonLinda Diane Thompson is an American actress, lyricist and beauty pageant winner who rose to international fame as Elvis Presley's long time girlfriend after he separated from his wife.-Pageants:...
, Angels of Epistemology, Damon and NaomiDamon & Naomi are an American dream pop/folk-rock duo formed in 1991 by Damon Krukowski and Naomi Yang, formerly of Galaxie 500.-History:After Galaxie 500 completed a tour of the US supporting The Cocteau Twins, guitarist and vocalist Dean Wareham quit the band, forcing the cancellation of an...
(ex-Galaxie 500Galaxie 500 was an American alternative rock band that formed in 1987 and split up in 1991 after releasing three albums.-History:Guitarist Dean Wareham, drummer Damon Krukowski and bassist Naomi Yang had met at the Dalton School in New York City in 1981, but began playing together during their time...
) and Hobex. She is a frequent collaborator with and featured on recordings by former Magnetic FieldsThe Magnetic Fields is the principal creative outlet of singer-songwriter Stephin Merritt...
’ singer LD BeghtolLD Beghtol is an American musician, art director and writer. Beghtol participated in The Magnetic Fields' 69 Love Songs recordings and live shows. Beghtol is a founding member of the band Flare—aka Flare Acoustic Arts League—and the death-pop outfit LD & the New Criticism, and was also in the...
and with various bands including Flare Acoustic Arts LeagueFlare Acoustic Arts League — a.k.a. Flare — is an experimental pop band formed by guitarist Damian Costilla and singer LD Beghtol in New York in 1996.-History:...
and LD & the New CriticismLD & the New Criticism was an American experimental pop bandformed by songwriter/producer LD Beghtol. Designed by Beghtol to showcase his less dour songwriting efforts—and to be a highly portable, essentially 'live band,' unlike his other studio-based projects Flare and moth wranglers—the outfit...
. Her songs have been covered by the band Smoke and are featured in the independent documentary Benjamin Smoke.
Kletter began writing for magazines and journals, her articles and reviews appearing in The Independent Weekly, San Francisco Chronicle, Boston Phoenix and Fiction Writers Review. Her review of Joe Boyd's memoir "White Bicycles" was a PopMattersPopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...
selection for Best Music Scribing Awards 2007 and received an honorable mention in DaCapo’s Best Music Writing 2008
Kletter now concentrates her energies on writing. At the University of Michigan she won Hopwood AwardThe Hopwood Awards are a major scholarship program at the University of Michigan, founded by Avery Hopwood.Under the terms of the will of Avery Hopwood, a prominent American dramatist and member of the Class of 1905 of The University of Michigan, one-fifth of Mr. Hopwood's estate was given to the...
s for short fiction and novel. In 2010 she was awarded a Stegner FellowshipThe Stegner Fellowship program is a two-year creative writing fellowship at Stanford University. The award is named after American Wallace Stegner , an historian, novelist, short story writer, environmentalist, and Stanford faculty member who founded the university's creative writing program. Ten...
at Stanford University, where she is at work on a novel-in-progress.
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