Anais Mitchell, Rachel Ries

As a Vermont- and Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter, Anaïs Mitchell recorded for Ani Difranco’s Righteous Babe Records for several years before starting her own Wilderland label in 2012. Among her recorded work are four full-length albums, including 2010’s sensationally reviewed Hadestown and 2012’s Young Man in America, which was described by The Independent as “an epic tale of American becoming.” If there’s a common thread in Mitchell’s work it’s that she’s as interested in the world around her as the one inside her. She has a way of tackling big themes with the same emotional intimacy most artists use to describe their inner lives.