Marisa Anderson

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Marisa Anderson is an American guitarist and composer based in Portland, Oregon. She blends American primitive guitar with many other styles from the United States and around the world, and much of her music is improvised.

She grew up in Sonoma, California. She started playing guitar at ten and learned from guitarist Nina Gerber. Curious about folk music from different parts of the world, she read about them and explored many styles. She left Humboldt State University at nineteen and spent years traveling the U.S. and Mexico, involved in protests and political causes. She even spent time in Mexico during the Chiapas conflict.

In Portland, she played with the Dolly Ranchers (1997–2003) and the Evolutionary Jass Band for six years. Her first solo album, Holiday Motel, came out in 2006, followed by several more. She has released albums with Jim White, Tashi Dorji, and William Tyler. In 2017 she signed with Thrill Jockey and released Cloud Corner (2018), The Quickening (2020, with Jim White), Lost Futures (2021, with William Tyler), and Still, Here (2022).

In 2024, Anderson and Jim White announced a new collaborative album, Swallowtail, released in May. She also contributed to Sharon Van Etten’s Are We There (2014) and has written music for films such as Lake Forest Park and A Perfect Day for Caribou. She tours with many collaborators and has appeared at major festivals and on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts.

Musically, her work is described as American primitive guitar with neo-Americana influences, mixing gospel, country, Appalachian folk, blues, jazz, circus music, minimalism, electronic, drone, and 20th-century classical sounds, along with global influences like flamenco and Tuareg music. She often improvises, viewing improvisation as a conversation in performance.

Her main instrument is guitar—acoustic and electric—though she also uses lap steel, pedal steel, Wurlitzer piano, charango, and other guitars. Her gear includes a 1930s Dobro, a terz guitar, a nylon-string parlor guitar, a Warmoth Telecaster with Lollar P-90 pickups, and a 1940s Gibson ES-125.