Name: Molybden
From: Austin, TX
Member: Tess Seipp (vocals, guitar)
Genre: Spook-Tonk, Outlaw-Folk
RIYL: Elliott Smith, Patti Smith, Cat Power, Joanna Newsom, Charlie Feathers, Kate Bush, Rosanne Cash

MUSIC

PRESS PHOTOS

“WOMAN WHO LEFT BEHIND” 45 RPM ARTWORK

“TAKE IT” COVER ARTWORK

MOLYBDEN ON THE “TAKE IT” WEST COAST TOUR:

As I continue to promote February’s release, “Woman Who Left Behind,” Take It West Coast Tour is a celebration of several manifestations :: It marks my first West Coast tour – I’ll be performing to audiences that have most likely never heard Molybden. It also commemorates the beginning of “Bedroom Recordings,” a series of digital singles recorded live in different bedrooms and living rooms. I decided to do this in the interim of recording my next full-length album, Long Lance. There are a handful of songs that don’t belong on an album, but that I love playing live. Releasing those songs as “Bedroom Recordings” gives them a home, a voice. “Take It” is the first song in this series, recorded by Kyle Ellison (Meat Puppets, Pariah) in his living room.

BIOGRAPHY
Growing up 62 miles from the Mexican border in the Chihuahuan Desert city of Marfa, Texas (known for its Minimalist art and the 2006 filmings of both No Country For Old Men and There Will Be Blood) and coming of age selling vinyl in Pacific Northwest record stores, Tess Seipp is Molybden, an Austin-based singer-songwriter who crafts a serenely gorgeous piece of work on “Woman Who Left Behind,” the four-song 7″ that follows up 2013’s 13-song Songs From Lincoln (live recordings, recorded and mixed by Brian LeBarton of Feist). During her short tenure as a performing artist, Molybden has shared bills with Mt. Eerie, Sleep Over, Calvin Johnson, and Sorne, in addition to performing alongside David Garza and others in ‘No Name #1: An Elliott Smith Celebration’ in Austin, TX. Austin Fusion Magazine says about Molybden’s performances, “With a guitar and a voice that was both melancholy and sultry, the solo songstress…poignantly and gracefully made her way through her set. She harnessed her pitch with dexterity and demonstrated her unique vocal cadence.”

Molybden’s tracks pull together influences from Elliott Smith and Patti Smith to Charlie Feathers and Rosanne Cash, as well as paying homage to poet Edna St. Vincent Millay. There is a strong sense of place and closeness in Molybden’s recordings. The Autumn Roses calls her Marfa-recorded debut release Songs From Lincoln an “atmospheric album…written with vibrancy and animated by ambient sounds like the clicking of train wheels or a reel of tape, and warm analog breaths.” Molybden’s forthcoming release is thematically tied to the sea, and in the title track, Molybden explores “how women mirror each other. Each time we look at another, we see a bit of ourselves and are ‘faced’ with the choice, to judge or to love.”

“Woman Who Left Behind” was recorded and mixed by Matt Simon (Voxtrot, Tele Novella) of Eastern Sun Studios in Austin, TX and mastered by Barry Simon at Flambay Studios, with original artwork by Heyd Fontenet and package design by Dustin Eastes and Molybden. The recordings utilize double-vocal tracks, bass organ, and clarinet in addition to Molybden’s signature stripped down acoustic guitar ballads. The tracks were recorded through a handful of vintage mics, and the backing vocals on the title track were captured by singing into a crevice of piano guts leaning against a wall behind a vocal booth, infusing the tone with a unique analog-sounding reverb. The bass sounds were created with a Yamaha Electone through a Leslie 330 Amp. The single was released on February 25th, 2014 on vinyl and digital formats on Berniece Rode Records, and Molybden toured throughout February to promote the release.

This October, Molybden will release “Take It” (Bedroom Recordings, I – Berniece Rode Records), the first in a series of live recordings in various bedrooms and living rooms to be released by Berniece Rode Records as digital singles. This first song was recorded, mixed and mastered by Kyle Ellison (Meat Puppets, Pariah) in his living room on August 23, 2014. Guitar and vocals were written and played live by Molybden, with wind chimes recorded live outside while recording guitar and voice inside. Molybden will be touring in support of the release throughout October, incorporating another of her passions into her live appearances – Pretty Hole Collective, a small biodynamic apothecary, is included on each tour date as a small pop-up alongside Molybden’s new release and music-related merchandise.

PRESS

[Molybden’s] natural ability to command with a minimal palette is evidenced immediately with the title track that leads off the collection. Her voice is masterfully controlled, arresting and enticing all at once. There are shades of Cat Power, Feist, and Joanna Newsom. – Heartbreaking Bravery

[Molybden] recorded a gorgeous, atmospheric album in a small house in Marfa, Texas called Songs From Lincoln. The songs are written with vibrancy and animated by ambient sounds like the clicking of train wheels or a reel of tape, and warm analog breaths. It is hard to explain, but you can hear something more — most likely it’s the spirit of creativity. – The Autumn Roses

With a guitar and a voice that was both melancholy and sultry, the solo songstress…poignantly and gracefully made her way through her set. She harnessed her pitch with dexterity and demonstrated her unique vocal cadence. – Austin Fusion Magazine

Dana Falconberry, Jess Williamson, Jana Horn, and now Molybden. Austin has so many spectacular lady singer/songwriters. – Side One Track One

Great big chunks of space separate the layers of Molybden’s music, evoking longing and seeking. Is the voice we’re hearing a flesh and blood transmission, or an echo of something that faded from reality light years before? – Denton Record-Chronicle

Molybden is a desert mirage. A one-woman outfit consisting of Marfa native Tess Seipp and her guitar, Molybden (pronounced muh-lib-den) creates a sound that is tender and delicate and brutally vulnerable. – Beaumont Enterprise

The Rise and Run of her gentle guitar chords, along with the tiny details in her lyrics that might seem mundane at first, tell of heavy memories with even the most subtle sway. – Botanicals Folklorica

The Molybden album Songs from Lincoln is pretty amazingly somber and beautiful AND features a killer cover of Rosanne Cash’s “Seven Year Ache”. – Party Ends

OCTOBER TOUR DATES
10/14/14: Seaview, WA – Sou’wester
10/15/14: Olympia, WA – Obsidian
10/16/14: Manzanita, OR – Cloud and Leaf
10/17/14: Portland, OR – The Waypost
10/18/14: Placerville, CA – Cozmic Cafe
10/19/14: San Francisco, CA – The Hotel Utah Saloon
10/20/14: San Francisco, CA – Green Apple Books
10/26/14: Austin, TX – Sahara Lounge

FEBRUARY TOUR DATES
2/13/14: San Antonio, TX – Bottom Bracket Social Club w/ Dana Falconberry, Flower Jesus Quintet, Goodfield
2/14/14: Corpus Christi, TX – NASA w/ Rene Sandoval, Vidacitas
2/15/14: Beaumont, TX – The Art Studio, Inc
2/16/14: New Orleans, LA – Circle Bar w/ Sarah Quintana, The Swamp Lilies
2/18/14: Denton, TX – Macaroni Island w/ Ryan Thomas Becker, Delmore Pilcrow, New Science Projects
2/19/14: Lubbock, TX – house show
2/20/14: Santa Fe, NM – TBA
2/21/14: Las Cruces, NM – Vintage Wines w/ Steve McIntyre
2/22/14: Marfa, TX – El Cosmico w/ Hotel Neighborhood
2/26/14: Austin, TX – Spider House Ballroom 7″ release show

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