To celebrate the 10th anniversary of her second album, epic, Sharon Van Etten is releasing a double LP of the original, epic Ten, along with a documentary and a concert livestream in commemoration of the 2010 release.
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Out digitally on April 16 and physically on June 11, via Ba Da Bing, Van Etten asked several artists she admires to reimagine one song from epic with Lucinda Williams taking on “Save Yourself,” IDLES covering “Peace Sign,” and “DsharpG” getting a reboot by Shamir. Rounding out epic Ten, Courtney Barnett and Vagabon take on “Don’t Do It,” St. Panther covers “One Day,” and Fiona Apple embraces closer “Love More.”
Each Thursday leading up to epic Ten’s release, Van Etten will share the album’s next cover, beginning with Big Red Machine’s “A Crime.”
Recording “A Crime” with Justin Vernon brought back memories for producer Aaron Dessner, who found himself reminiscing on their cover of epic’s “Love More” more than a decade earlier.
“Sharon is one of my favorite songwriters, and I’ve been very lucky to get to collaborate with her many times over the years,” says Dessner. “It’s an honor to be able to pay tribute to Sharon and her incredible songs. We felt like the door should be about to fall off the hinges of this version, and I think it sounds like that.”
Accompanying the album release, Van Etten will present an epic, Ten concert livesteam, April 16-17, benefiting Zebulon, a venue that played a pivotal role earlier in her career. Preceding the concert will be a screening of a short documentary on the making of epic Ten and the significance of Zebulon.
“‘Epic’ represents a crossroads for me as an artist—going from intern to artist at Ba Da Bing, from solo folk singer to playing with a band for the first time and beginning to play shows on tour where people showed up,” say Van Etten. “I am in awe of the artists who wanted to participate in celebrating my anniversary and reissue, from young inspiring musicians, to artists who took me under their wing, who I met on tour, and to artists I’ve looked up to since I was a teenager.”
Van Etten adds, “Each one of these artists continue to influence my writing and provide a sense of camaraderie during this new era of sharing music.”
