BRATTLEBORO-Singer-songwriter Margaret Glaspy is having a moment in the spotlight.
Her new EP The Sun Doesn't Think was released on April 26, less than a year after her critically acclaimed album Echo the Diamond emerged to garner national attention from The New York Times, NPR, The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, and many others.
"While I was on tour for Echo the Diamond, I was writing this EP," says Glaspy, who will perform "Margaret Glaspy: Unplugged" at the Stone Church this Friday, May 10.
"I was inspired by just being around audiences and experiencing their charisma and their stories," she said in a recent phone call with The Commons. "It made me want to bring more music to them and release records closer to their inception."
So in March, Glaspy hit the studio with her acoustic guitar to create her third full-length album, "played new songs in front of a microphone, and The Sun Doesn't Think was born in a couple of days," she says.
"The simplicity of making this [EP] reminded me of why I make music," she adds.
The Sun Doesn't Think was recorded, produced, and written by Glaspy, was engineered by Mark Goodell at his studio Joe's Garage, and draws inspiration from musicians Tom Waits and Kim Gordon, as well as from author Neil Gaiman's "dark but fantastical and surrealist places."
"I wrote a majority of this record when I was on tour for my last record," she says. "I always felt like it would be nice to release things closer to when they are written."
She was able to release the new EP "one month after I made it," she says. "It's interesting and cathartic to do this in real time."
A musical life
Glaspy, who is based in New York City, grew up in Red Bluff, California, with lots of diverse music in her life from an early age.
She didn't have formal guitar lessons but picked it up quickly. She began writing songs at age 15.
"I've always been surrounded by talented musicians. My brother was an incredible guitar player. I was getting that influence at home. My family was very musical: my dad played guitar, and my mom played, too," she says.
"My early music influences were jazz from my Dad and lots of singer-songwriters from my mom, like Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, James Taylor, and Cat Stevens," Glaspy says.
"My brother and sister were into rock 'n' roll, pop music, and R&B; all of that trickled down to me," she says. "It was a lot of different influences all at once."
Glaspy studied music at Berklee College of Music in Boston for a year, which "introduced me to the world of my contemporaries making music."
"I loved the community. I met Julian [Lage], who is my husband now, when I was at Berklee. The level of musicianship was impressive," she says.
"I came from a very small town in California, so it felt like landing on Mars - coming to Boston with so many musicians and so many people," she adds with a laugh.
As Glaspy got older, she adored Dylan, Ray Charles, Joni Mitchell, and Elliot Smith, and she's a big fan of Björk.
She primarily played fiddle for years and then switched to guitar.
"It was very common that if you played one string instrument, you played all of them. I was playing fiddle, cello, mandolin, and guitar. It was kind of a comfort to play the guitar because there were frets," Glaspy says.
"I jumped into that very happily and have been in that zone ever since," she adds.
After she started playing electric guitar, "I played in the little clubs all over New York City for 11 years, and then I signed on with ATO Records," she says.
The new EP marks the fifth album she's released on the label since 2016.
Characters in other worlds
"I often write songs on only acoustic guitar," says Glaspy. "I cover them on my electric guitar."
She says that playing acoustic guitar for an audience "feels a little vulnerable."
"I like the tightrope walk of playing solo," she says. "It's a fun challenge for me, and I'm excited to do it."
She has been fascinated with writing songs in different environments, like the countryside in California or a lonesome city at night.
"The songs came out of those environments," she says. "Some are autobiographical and some are not."
She credits the work of Tom Waits and Bob Dylan for inspiring her to create characters who invite you into other worlds.
Of her song "Would You Be My Man?" she says, "It's the most character-driven one on the EP that was written from the perspective of a heroine character."
She describes that protagonist as "a little bit complex."
"I feel very connected to it," Glaspy says. "It's a special one. I enjoyed writing that song."
Running the distance
In addition to her music, "I'm a hobbyist distance runner and do ultra-marathons, which are about 30 miles," Glaspy says.
"I love the scene. It's been a really nice thing to be engaged in and something that I can throw myself into. I usually keep it to 5 miles on tour," she adds.
"My mom was a runner; she ran a lot when I was growing up, and my sister was always an athlete so I grew up around women running," Glaspy says. I always felt like it was something I would just do."
Rolling Stone has called her "one of the most relatable songwriters now."
How does that feel to Glaspy?
"Oh, gosh, it feels great," she says. "I will try and live up to it!"
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"Margaret Glaspy: Unplugged" will take place at the Stone Church, 210 Main St., Brattleboro on Friday, May 10. Doors open at 7 p.m., and the show begins at 8 p.m. For more information and tickets ($35–$40), visit stonechurchvt.com.
Ryan Lerman, singer, songwriter, and bassist, best known as the founder of Scary Pockets, will open the show.
For more information on Glaspy, visit margaretglaspy.com.
This Arts item by Victoria Chertok was written for The Commons.