Tara Jane ONeil is like the Daniel Boone of Indie Rock. From the very dawn of her career — as a founding member of Rodan, Retsin and The Sonora Pine — to her decade-long solo stint, ONeil has blazed sonic trails in favor of following trends, making a name for herself as a guitarist, singer/songwriter, producer, film scorer and visual artist.
A Ways Away, her new album, like a fair amount of ONeil’s work (as well as the projects to which she contributes), is a masterful display of atmospherics and texture. Mixing Jane Siberry quietude and Math Rock precision with Indie Rock passion and Ambient intimacy, ONeil invests A Ways Away with a quiet elegance that sounds like a sonic summit meeting of Adrian Belew and Brian Eno. Although conceived in part through her improvisational explorations, A Ways Away benefits from ONeil’s deliberation in the studio.
She performs at the Art Damage Lodge with Mount Eerie and No Kids. Read Brian Baker’s full interview and get show details here.
This article appears in Oct 28 – Nov 3, 2009.