Iowa City is host to many talented musicians, but few have experienced the popularity that Pieta Brown has during her career.
Brown has released eight full-length albums following her début self-titled album in 2002. The recording style she demonstrated on the first album set the tone for the rest of her studio career.
She will perform at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Mill, 120 E. Burlington St., in the first of a five-part series, This Land Is Your Music. The remaining events will span throughout the year.
Brown has recently worked with local artist Sayuri Sasaki Hemann, and the collaboration will feature a window instillation fitting the series theme, “This Land is Your Music.” It is set to be displayed April 21.
“I’m an Iowan, and I have a fascination with the land and where you come from,” Brown said in describing the inspiration for the series.
This series will also include an event with the Summer Concert Series, an event with FilmScene in August, and will be capped by a performance involving music and poetry at the Englert in November.
The singer/songwriter is no stranger to taking a unique approach to her musical process.
“It was just so raw,” said Brown about her early work. “I came to guitar really late, so everything was just so experimental.”
The trend continues to be relevant in her most recent works. Playing alongside guitarist Bo Ramsey, Brown decided to pick up the banjo for her album Paradise Outlaw.
Brown’s ability to pick up a new skill and apply it to fresh lyrical and instrumental ideas has allowed her music to grow in depth and popularity.
From the bluesy guitar licks and firm vocals on the 2005 release, In the Cool, to soft tales of pen pals and road travels in Postcards, there is something for everybody in Brown’s quiver of musical productions.
Brown’s last set of recordings brought her to Flat Black studios, before the studio moved to its new home in Lone Tree, where it is surrounded by cornfields and timber.
“Luke [Tweedy] was getting ready to tear it down, and I was fortunate enough to get in there before he did,” Brown said. “He had a vision of what he wanted to do but wasn’t sure how to do it yet.”
Following the release of Postcards, and some light touring, Brown put future works on hold and took a job working on a movie in Europe.
The movie, Autour de Luisa, featured all original music, cowritten by Brown, among other musicians in the film.
The experiences forced Brown down a different creative path.
“I am kind of doing now what I was getting ready to do before I began the film,” Brown said. “Now the songs for the new album have changed radically.”
This takes Brown down the familiar path of spontaneity and impulsive creativity. The work that comes from her various collaborations ranging from longtime friends the Pines to French musician Bertrand Belin and popular folk artist Amos Lee, Brown continues to find her music through experiments on stage and in the studio.
“It’s always a fun place to play new songs,” Brown said about the Mill.