February 5th, 2020 9pm Stage 1
Celebrating Rockwood Music Hall’s 15-Year Anniversary!
Francesca Blanchard
Francesca Blanchard has no more interest in hiding how she really feels. Because, truly, what’s the point? Following the release of her bilingual folk debut deux visions in 2015, the French-born Vermont native took some time to regroup and reassess where she fits in the world. A stark contrast to album promotion and van touring, Francesca joined an Outward Bound course with a motley cast of gap year students, to climb mountains and camp in the snow — a choice she defends in typical tongue-in-cheek fashion, saying, “How else does a sentimental drama queen reassess?”
When the course ended in Ecuador, she stuck around Quito and taught guitar to children as part of an after-school music program.
It wasn’t until returning home from her travels that Blanchard truly started coming to. Capturing the essence of her “quarter life crisis” with habitually whimsical songs no longer cut it, and when her own whining started to make her laugh, she knew she was onto something. She got right to the point: Tell it like it is. Ditch the restraints of elegance and delicacy. Poke fun at yourself. Growth is a painful process and all hearts break.
Blanchard is currently finishing her second album, rife with this new attitude. “Baby” is the first single, a peevish lament for unrequited love with a decidedly sassy beat. Imagine a mouthful of chilly peppers dipped in maple syrup.