On a crisp fall evening last October, Hannah Frances played solo to a crowd at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater. She walked briskly across the stage as the lights illuminated her smile and her monochromatic outfit. Her voice and big electric guitar quickly filled the room. It didn’t take much for her to captivate this eager audience.
This was her last show on her Fall run supporting Hiss Golden Messenger. Most of the songs she’s been playing every night have been off her latest album, Keeper of the Shepherd, which was released last year on March 7, 2024.
Keeper of the Shepherd is seven songs that are dark yet intricate, often feeling visceral at times. They swell between just voice and guitar to blown-out arrangements with shimmering woodwinds and strings. Lyrically, it shows how Frances navigates through her relationship with deep emotions like pain, loss and grief.
“It’s dealing with a lot of heavy subject matter,” Frances says. “But reckoning with difficult experiences and finding a lot of healing and release through them.”
Over the course of 2024, Keeper of the Shepherd garnered raving reviews and press from Pitchfork, NPR’s “All Songs Considered” and Chicago Tribune. It landed the #45 spot on Paste Magazine’s “Best Albums of 2024” as well as winning Pitchfork’s “Best New Music” Award last year for releases that came out on March 7, 2024.
The album was written all through 2022 and recorded in the fall of that year. Songs such as “Browyn” showcase the ways grief can manifest itself in one’s body and how someone can be changed forever after the death of a loved one.
Despite the album’s somber tone, Frances explained the whole recording process of the album was still joyful and fun.
“Recording that album was the most fun I’ve ever had in my life,” Frances said. “My friend and producer Kevin and I just have this amazing electric collaboration.”
Kevin Copeland, who helped record, produce and engineer this record, played a key role in the layers of instruments on top of Frances’ vocal and guitar tracks. Copeland was in charge of the piano, percussion, pedal steel, and bass tracks, on top of his production duties. Alex Ellsworth and Hunter Diamond, other friends of Frances, were in charge of the cello and woodwind tracks. All of these instrumental tracks contributed to the record’s massive sound.
Frances comes from a folk background, inspired by the songs of Nick Drake and Joni Mitchell at her foundation. Jazz, progressive rock, and Brazilian music have all found their way into the rhythmic aspect of her guitar playing, incorporating odd time signatures into her songs. Specifically on this album, much of the instrumentation and arrangements were inspired by King Crimson and Grizzly Bear.
Her debut album “Bedrock”, released in 2021, was written and recorded when Frances was 22 and 23. For Frances, this release felt like a completely different headspace compared to working on Keeper of the Shepherd.
“I didn't even approach it as an album I was just writing,” Frances said, “It really was after the fact that I was like ‘I have a collection of songs and it is cohesive because it's all me, and it's all from this pretty short amount of time.’”
Frances feels that Keeper of the Shepherd is a more cohesive work with a clearer vision of the album’s concept. As a whole, she feels this album felt like a more elaborate and intense project to work on. Frances had to think intensely about creative direction behind her music videos, hiring a publicist and even pressing vinyl for the album.
“Keeper of The Shepherd feels like a whole world and a whole project.” Frances said. “‘Bedrock' felt like I was just getting my feet wet as a songwriter.”
2024 was a jam-packed year for Frances following the album’s release. It was full of constant touring and much positive press. Pitchfork gave the release an 8.2 out of 10, characterizing it as “a dazzling folk album that contends with the long grip of grief and the belief that it will steadily loosen.”
Frances has played all over the country both solo and with a backing band. She toured in Europe, playing at London’s version of Pitchfork Music Festival and having the opportunity to tour Germany, France and Belgium. Frances even got to play with Robin Pecknold of Fleet Foxes in Chicago at the end of November.
2025 has appeared to start out as a less touring-heavy year for Frances. In February, she hosted a virtual workshop with Collective Cadence titled “Open Tunings as Emotional Landscapes” with musicians Hayden Pedigo and Barry Archie Johnson. It gave musicians an opportunity to be taught by Frances about how she approaches the guitar in songwriting and how open tunings can foster emotions in the creative process.
Looking ahead, Frances is embarking on a short run of shows through New York and Massachusetts with Canadian folk band The Weather Station in late March and early April. She is also set to play Kilby Block Party music festival in mid-May alongside artists such as New Order, Black Country New Road and Car Seat Headrest.
Frances also finished recording a new record last summer, which she’s shopping around to different labels and hoping to release at the end of 2025.
“It’s a crazy record.” Frances said, citing progressive rock as a big influence on the new record. “It sounds nothing like the way I played the songs tonight.”
