Contact to book Skylar Gudasz
About
With her luminous voice and captivating songcraft, Skylar Gudasz has won the admiration of some of the most distinguished artists in music. In the past few years alone, the Durham, North Carolina-based singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist has shared stages with the likes of Ray Davies, Cat Power and Sharon Van Etten as part of the Big Star’s Third tribute concerts, opened for Television and toured from the US with Teenage Fanclub to Europe with the Mountain Goats, and appeared as a background vocalist on albums by Superchunk and Hiss Golden Messenger, making her TV debut with the latter on Late Night with Seth Meyers.
In turbulent 2020, Gudasz delivered a new album, Cinema, to accolades across Pitchfork, MOJO and Rolling Stone DE. It was recorded between the famed April Base in Eau Claire, WI, with grammy-nominated Brad Cook (Bon Iver, The National, The War on Drugs, Waxahatchee) and in secret studios across the lush forests of the rich NC music scene with Jeff Crawford (Daughter of Swords), Ari Picker (Dante High, Lost in the Trees) and Missy Thangs (the Love Language). This followed-up her full-length debut Oleander (a 2016 release, c0-produced by Chris Stamey, that prompted The Bitter Southerner to praise her as “the Joni Mitchell the South never had”).
Growing up with a musical family in Ashland, Virginia, Gudasz first found her affinity for music by learning to play flute at age five, and soon started writing songs of her own. She later taught herself to play piano and guitar, drawing inspiration from Joni Mitchell’s use of alternate tunings in developing her own distinct style. Although she spent time in folk and rock bands after heading to North Carolina for college, Gudasz has continued to strike off on her own with her lushly textured, sculpted singular sound. She has recently completed work on a third record, a concept album, expected for release in 2022.
Press
"On her own second LP, Cinema, Gudasz takes what could be a career-making star turn for sophisticated songs that explore the power dynamics inherent in lust, love, and life.
-Grayson Currin, MOJO (★★★★)
"Gudasz can bring to mind a slew of powerful singers and songwriters — Judee Sill, Aimee Mann, Rufus Wainwright, Gillian Welch, Randy Newman and even Karen Carpenter. She does brainy piano balladry, with whiffs of the spartan lonesomeness of alt-country, and flourishes of art song. The timbre of her voice is warm and full, with hints of a nasal edge at times. Gudasz delivers lyrics with clear precision, and then sometimes she’ll take a syllable and add expressive ornamental touches, extra shivering notes, melodic frills that prolong the timed-release punch of a line."
-John Adamian, Creative Loafing
“One of my favorite singers. The kind of voice that will quiet and command a room.”
-Mike Mills (R.E.M.)
Oleander was full of “tunes about the weirdness of love (that) by turns whisper, then snarl, then make you wonder if Gudasz is the Joni Mitchell the South never had.”...Gudasz’s songs, which eschew typical song structures and have beautifully poetic lyrics...Hell of an impressive debut here.“
-Chuck Reece, The Bitter Southerner (Best Southern Albums 2016)
“It’s not hard to see why this may be Gudasz’s moment: She’s a gifted singer-songwriter with a voice that attracts metaphors about hypnotism”
-Brian Howe, Pitchfork (7.4) on Cinema
"Cinema listens like a series of film-noir shorts that embrace the darker hours...emotion is everywhere. In Gudasz’s world, life is real and raw."
-Brian Turk, No Depression
"Durham, NC singer-songwriter Skylar Gudasz makes intimate Americana delivered with dry wit and stunningly precise vocal acumen."
-Bandcamp (New & Notable)
“…she decided to tackle the late-'60s Jimmy Webb classic [Wichita Lineman]. A foolhardy task it might seem but… Gudasz worthy in her execution…largely thanks to a jaw-dropping vocal…transcendent”
-Paul Bridgewater, Line of Best Fit
"patriarchy-toppling ... quirky ... subversive"
-Glenn Rowley, Billboard on Cinema
"lush textures of instrumentation and wistful choral lines... undeniable talent"
-Madeline Crone, American Songwriter on Cinema
"lush and dramatic and often rendered in exquisite detail."
-Alex Robert Ross, The Fader on Cinema
Highlights
Toured as support for Mountain Goats, Teenage Fanclub, Fruit Bats, Eric Bachmann, Mount Moriah, Mandolin Orange and Mipso. She also opened for Television, The Jayhawks, Superchunk, Lera Lynn, Robyn Hitchcock, Molly Sarlé, and Chris Stamey.
Performed at SXSW, Hopscotch, Savannah Stopover, Americanafest, Festival SinSal, Secret Stages, Campout, and 30A
Radio support: WXPN, KCRW, The Current, WNCW, WUNC, KEXP, KCSN, KSMU NPR Music Live Sessions, Radio New Zealand and CBC
Touring member of Hiss Golden Messenger who was featured on Seth Meyers
Member of Big Star's Third who toured globally
“Play Nice” featured as The Current Song of the Day, The AV Club’s 5 New Releases We Love and on NPR’s All Songs Considered
Cinema streamed over 100k times in 71 countries, featured on over 1000 listener playlists
“Femme Fatale” was featured on Vintage Vibes editorial playlist
“Actress” featured as a Rob Thomas Song of the Day
