Singer-songwriter Brooke Annibale is shedding a bit of her indie-acoustic skin. Her new album, Hold to The Light (June 2018), is a pop-progressive piece offering a fusion of textured electronic and traditional instrumentation with songs bearing her keen, soulful lyricism.

And hey! She’ll be performing songs from it at WGBH on Thursday, 6/21 for a one-of-a-kind Live at Fraser show. You can get your tickets here. This is going to be a big one, folks, so get ready!

Produced by Sam Kassirer (Josh Ritter, Lake Street Dive), Hold to The Light marks several major departures for Annibale in terms of both songwriting and production, enabling her to explore a range of narratives that work through themes of seeking truth, letting go, and reconciling the past with the present. Both lyrically and musically, it opens up spaces for the listener to inhabit and make their own.

The new album marks an very cool time in her evolving career. In addition to her storytelling and whip smart industry knowledge, here are some other things we think Annibale's strong musicianship can be traced back to.

She has music roots that run deep

A career in music was inevitable for Annibale. In the 1960’s her grandfather opened a music store in Pittsburgh, where her mother and father worked. So, when she took an interest in guitar at age 14, learning the instrument came naturally – and it should come as no surprise that her grandfather’s music store is still family-run today.

When it comes to songwriting, Annibale started even younger. “The first song I wrote without a guitar, just vocal melody and lyrics, was called ‘Never Forget You’, and it was about a 100% fictional relationship scenario (I was in 4th grade),” she says. “The first song I wrote with a guitar was called 'Say Hello' and it was about some sort of embellished high school relationship drama.”

She released her first album when she was 17

Annibale’s songwriting developed even further in her teenage years. The singer-songwriter was just 17 when she recorded and released her first full-length album, which also happened to be her senior project in high school.

From there she took her passion for music to Nashville, where she earned her degree in Music Business at Belmont University, and continued to write and perform.

She’s crowdfunded three full length albums

Hard work, and a life-long entrepreneurial spirit is what fuels Annibale’s drive to self release her work. In 2010, she crowdfunded and self-released Silence Worth Breaking. The album garnered positive reviews from her Pittsburgh base, and caught the attention of Glide Magazine, helping her to grow a larger national audience.

“I think the majority of the people that have supported my crowdfunding efforts have been people who have supported me in the past in one way or another – while maybe a few new folks signed on to help out.” she says of her crowdfunding efforts. Her first Kickstarter campaign was funded by 100 backers; her most recent campaigns have more than doubled that backing.

“It certainly helps to have them as built in support for everything as the album release comes together.”

Tickets for Brooke Annibale’s upcoming show are available now. Annibale will also releasing the 2018 single “Hold On” soon, so bookmark this page and check back soon for a preview of the new album!