Wednesday March 16, 2022 “Like I Used To” Sharon Van Etten/Angel Olsen
Continuing the March focus on women we have Sharon Van Etten and Angel Olsen, two ladies with remarkable voices but when they sing together they blend beautifully into one lovely harmonious sound.
A dedicated choir student during her childhood, Sharon Van Etten studied clarinet, violin, and piano before moving on to guitar. She began writing songs in high school and sang in a choir group, the Madrigals. She credits her choral experiences as indispensable in learning to musically notate, as well as to sing harmonies. We ran into Sharon when she collaborated with Jessica Dobson’s band Deep Sea Diver on their hit “Impossible Weight” on the Song of the Day on January 19, 2021.
Van Etten began playing in small public spaces in Brooklyn and would record her songs on individually hand-painted CD-Rs which she sold at shows and via her website. At one show, she handed one to Kyp Malone from the band TV on the Radio. She had known his brother in high school. After hearing it, he enthusiastically encouraged her to pursue a musical career.
Angel Olsen also began playing in small public spaces, and coffee houses in her hometown of St. Louis. She would move to Chicago in 2006 and begin to write and record some of her own compositions as well as work as a background singer for Chicago groups like Bonnie “Prince’ Billy fronted by actor/singer/songwriter Will Oldham.
Olsen who has recorded six albums would connect with Sharon Van Etten and they would write and record today’s “Like I Used To” and she would follow that with an ep of reimagined '80s tracks made famous by acts like Laura Branigan, Billy Idol, and Men Without Hats.
Stay safe and well…and I read one of the comments associated with this video which suggested that the only thing wrong with this song is that now it seems to require a full album featuring these two singers.