Pieta Brown

by Erik Hage
Pieta Brown, the daughter of Grammy-nominated folk/blues singer/songwriter Greg Brown, released her self-titled debut album on Iowa independent label Trailerpark Records in June 2002. With her languid, ethereal delivery, she has weathered numerous comparisons to such singers as the Cowboy Junkies' Margo Timmins.
The Iowa City, IA, native moved in with her mother after her parents' divorce, which occurred when Brown was only two years old. Five years later, after her mother graduated medical school, she moved to Birminham, AL. She returned to Iowa City at age 13 and earned a linguistics degree from the University of Iowa in 1996. Brown didn't seriously undertake songwriting or music in general until she was in her mid-twenties, when she secluded herself in a small shed in her dad's backyard and wrote a batch of tunes that would end up on her first, homemade cassette. (Two tracks from that effort, "Lullaby" and "Fly Right," ended up on her debut LP.) Bo Ramsey, who had worked with Brown's father and who had served as a producer and guitarist for Lucinda Williams, co-produced her debut. Helping out on the effort were the rhythm section of Rick Cicalo and Steve Hayes, Brown's sister Constie, her father Greg Brown, veteran folkie Dave Moore, and Don Heffington.