The gentle, dreamy textures of
Heather Woods Broderick's indie folk songs reside in nature and moments of deep reflection. An itinerant backing bandmember and studio musician based in Brooklyn, she has collaborated with artists such as
Sharon Van Etten,
M. Ward, and
Laura Gibson. Her solo recording debut, the hushed, acoustic
From the Ground, arrived in 2009 before she expanded her meditative sound with electronics on albums including 2019's
Invitation.
Heather Woods Broderick was born and raised in Maine until her parents, both musicians, moved the family across the country to Oregon when she was eight. A multi-instrumentalist who studied the piano from shortly after the move through college,
Broderick played with bands including
Loch Lomond, indie folk collective
Horse Feathers, and post-rock group
Efterklang during the 2000s.
Broderick recorded her first solo album,
From the Ground, in 2009. Produced by her brother, composer/musician/engineer
Peter Broderick, it was released by Australian label Preservation before receiving a vinyl release by Digitalis Recordings the following year. Around that time, she also appeared on albums by, among others,
M. Ward and
Blitzen Trapper.
Her contributions to albums by
Nightlands (2013's
Oak Island) and
Sharon Van Etten (2014's
Are We There and 2015's
I Don't Want to Let You Down) could be heard before the arrival of her second LP, 2015's
Glider, via Western Vinyl. It added atmospheric electronic components to her sound. Meanwhile, she continued to tour behind songwriters including
Van Etten,
Laura Gibson, and
Damien Jurado.
In the later 2010s,
Broderick guested on albums by
Dave Depper and
In Tall Buildings, and she contributed synthesizer, Wurlitzer, and backing vocals to
Van Etten's January 2019 release
Remind Me Tomorrow. Three months later, Western Vinyl issued the
Broderick album
Invitation. It was written during and inspired by a sojourn in coastal Pacific City, Oregon, a childhood summer spot for the Broderick family. ~ Marcy Donelson