Edan Archer's "The Goddess Wears A Dirty Crown" celebrates women through nature and symbolism of the ancient Goddesses. Re-interpreted verses from a traditional children’s song, an ancient kitchen spell for making butter, and droning harmonies that recall secret Celtic ceremonies combine for an Americana song fit for the Goddess in all women.
Explaining the cover art, Eden says, "The cover art has a panther and a crow; the panther has ancient associations with Goddesses (Hera/Juno has the panther as one of her animals, and Freya’s chariot was drawn by two large cats). Celtic goddesses like the Morrighan appeared as a crow, which are also messengers and walkers between the worlds. Both of these symbols have additional layers of meaning in Appalachian folklore."
Edan Archer is the type of woman who co-writes odes to liquor with her mom and has a repertoire of murder ballads at the ready at all times — some of which were written by her, others which have been passed down as folk songs since the Renaissance era.
Archer grew up in swampy Gainesville, Florida — hometown of Tom Petty and his pre-Heartbreakers band, Mudcrutch — singing Appalachian music around the house with her mom and two sisters. Even at a young age, the dark themes of those traditional songs crept into her songwriting. “I was writing about living and dying and reincarnation because those are the themes I heard in church,” she says.
Today, Archer is equally adept at modernizing centuries-old murder ballads (see 2016’s “Cruel Mother”) as she is singing Petty-style dive-bar jams like “Bad Imitation of Something Good,” off her 2019 album, Journey Proud. She continues to mine similar territory on her forthcoming record, on which she champions the working class, celebrates the raw, wild power of the divine feminine, and spins tragic tales about No Good Johnnys and the flawed women who love them.
After spending a decade living in Miami (“I didn’t know I was country ‘til I left the country,” she says), and several stints in Nashville and New York City. It’s a long way from the living room in which she learned to harmonize with her family band, but her penchant for soul-stirring writing remains the same. “I would love to be able to write happy songs, but everything has a little bit of a darkness to it,” she says. “We can’t just ignore it.” Archer will be releasing new music over the next several months
Archer has performed at Stagecoach, SXSW, Americanafest, Gasparilla Music Fest, Canadian Music Week and more. She plays both solo and with her band, and has shared the stage with Nikki Lane, Lilly Hiatt, Margo Price, Sam Morrow, Caroline Spence, and others.
Upcoming Shows:
Website: www.edanarcher.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/edanarcher
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