Photo by Jason Tang
"Star Anna is an American original." - Mike McCready
Star Anna was born and raised in the small town of Ellensburg, Washington. At the age of eleven, armed with her first snare drum, and a stack of CDs purchased from Rodeo Records (where Screaming Trees drummer Mark Pickerel manned the counter), Star took up drums. Five years later, she'd switched to guitar and started her first band, No Continuous Standing, who reached the height of their fame with a third-place finish in a local battle of the bands contest.
Ten years, a backing band (The Laughing Dogs), and a new home (Seattle) later, Star Anna has become a songwriter and vocalist with an arresting, singular voice. Star's three albums have earned accolades from the likes of NPR, KEXP, No Depression, Mike McCready (Pearl Jam) and Duff McKagan (Guns 'n' Roses, Loaded), while Star and the Laughing Dogs crisscrossed the country numerous times touring in support of those albums. While she has matured and evolved as a writer and singer, Star Anna has retained those early Ellensburg experiences, allowing her rural upbringing to inform her songs, while defying the genre classifications that pigeonhole and stifle so many young artists.
After a year that saw the release of Star's acclaimed third album, Alone In This Together (Local 638/Monkeywrench), an appearance at Pearl Jam's PJ20 festival, and a two-month US tour, Star Anna returned her focus to the studio, recording her forthcoming LP, The Sky Is Falling, with Johnny Sangster, and is preparing for another year of nationwide touring. Amid all of the accolades, it is easy to forget that Star Anna is only 26 years old, and there is so much more ahead.