PJ Harvey

From the outset, PJ Harvey has commanded attention. She formed the bass / drums / guitar trio in 1991 in Dorset, England and by autumn had released the debut single, 'Dress', on independent label Too Pure. Harvey began an impressive critical climb, which set the stage for a highly anticipated album release the following month. 'Dry' was hailed as an astonishing debut, not just in the UK but worldwide and especially in the United States, where Rolling Stone named Harvey Best Songwriter and Best New Female Singer.

In 1993, PJ Harvey signed to Island Records and began work on a follow-up album, 'Rid Of Me' which was released in early '93. The album was supported by a lengthy world tour, drawing increasingly wide audiences and Harvey's first Mercury Prize nomination. The original trio dissolved and Harveys solo work '4-Track Demos' was released in the autumn of 1993. 'To Bring You My Love' followed in 1995, an eclectic and starkly original album. The tour which followed saw Harvey explore a theatrical edge to her live performance. She received her second nomination for the Mercury Music Prize and was nominated for two Grammies, received '1995 Artist Of The Year' awards from Rolling Stone and Spin and gained album of the year acknowledgements across the board.

Her fifth album,' Is This Desire?' was released in September '98 and attracted plaudits on both sides of the Atlantic gaining nominations for The Brits and The Grammy Awards. 'Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea', the much anticipated follow-up to 'Is This Desire?' was released in October 2000. This album won the Mercury Music Prize in 2001, 'Stories...' was supported by a lengthy world-wide sellout tour. After a summer of live dates - including the first rock concert at The Tate Modern Gallery, London. Harvey finished work on the album 'Uh Huh Her' in the autumn of 2003. White Chalk was PJ Harvey's eighth album.

Recording followed the 2006 release of 'PJ Harvey: The Peel Sessions', a collection of Harvey's recordings for the veteran British broadcaster spanning her whole career. That year also saw the release of 'PJ Harvey On Tour: Please Leave Quietly', Harvey's first DVD. Recent live shows have included solo performances at the Manchester International Festival, the Hay-On-Wye Festival of Literature, the New Yorker Festival and a performance at Copenhagen opera house for the Crown Prince couple. Other projects have included soundtrack work on the films 'Basquiat' by Julian Schnabel, 'Stella Does Tricks' by Coky Giedroyc, 'The Cradle Will Rock' by Tim Robbins & 'Six Feet Under'. Also she appeared as Mary Magdalene in Hal Hartleys movie 'The Book Of Life'. In 1996 she worked on the album 'Dance Hall At Louse Point' with John Parish for both the album and a live accompaniment to the Mark Bruce Dance Company production of the same name. The follow up collaboration with Parish was released in Spring of 2009 - A Woman A Man Walked By. The video for the first single from this album, Black Hearted Love, was directed by the British artists, Jake & Dino Chapman. She has collaborated with an extraordinary range of musicians, including Thom Yorke, Nick Cave, Tricky, Howe Gelb of Giant Sand, Pascal Comelade, Gordon Gano of Violent Femmes and Sparklehorse.

More recently, she joined Queen's of the Stoneage's Josh Homme on his critically acclaimed 'Desert Sessions' project [2003] and worked with Mark Lanegan (also of QOSTA) on his recent solo album. Harvey produced the debut album by American artist Tiffany Anders and also wrote, recorded & produced material for Marianne Faithfull's 'Before The Poison'. In addition to her musical career Harvey paints, draws and sculpts and has had poetry published.

-www.pjharvey.net