Ana Egge Biography

Ana Egge Biography

Ana Egge, the daughter of a teacher and a wheat farmer, was born in 1976 in Estevan, Saskatchewan and raised in Ambrose, North Dakota, population twenty-three. When drought killed the farming up North, the Egge family put down roots in Silver City, New Mexico. When Ana Egge was 15 years old, she began a one-year apprenticeship with luthier, Don Musser, in order to build her own guitar which she still plays exclusively. The early songs she wrote were soon noted by bassist Sarah Brown (Albert Collins, Bonnie Raitt) and guitar virtuoso Steve James, who persuaded her to record a demo of her original songs in Austin, Texas. That led to a record contract with Lazy S.O.B. Recordings and the release of her first full-length album, "River Under The Road." About her debut album, "River Under the Road" the Austin Chronicle observed that is was "A debut masterpiece worthy of a songwriter decades worldlier than this mere twenty-year-old soul." The following year, the Austin Music Awards named Egge, then nineteen, their "Best Singer/Songwriter" and "Best Folk Artist".

Next Egge was invited on tour by several luminaries, including Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Iris Dement, Shawn Colvin and Ron Sexsmith. On her solo tour in 1999, she recorded her first live album "Mile Marker" which highlights her guitar talents. She later shared the stage with John Prine, Lucinda Williams, and Sinéad O'Connor. After a few years of constant touring, Egge retreated back to Silver City, New Mexico where she began building her own desert house and spending time with family. In 2002, after writing some of the songs for her next record, Ana resettled in Brooklyn, New York. Brooklyn was where Ana met bassist Jason Mercer (Ani DiFranco, Ron Sexsmith). They began recording demos of Egge's new songs. Singer/songwriter Ron Sexsmith, guitarist Tony Scherr and trumpeter Shane Endsley joined their efforts and the result was "Out Past the Lights" which received critical acclaim. In July 2007 she won The Mountain Stage New Song Regional Competition in New York City. Egge’s most recent endeavor, "Lazy Days", was released on November 13, 2007. It is a covers album made up of songs on the theme of laziness. Egge is currently writing songs for her sixth album and touring the US and the UK. She sings, plays guitar, mandolin, bottleneck slide guitar and piano during her live performances.