Marnie Stern is already a legendary shredder, the type of guitarist who plays with the fieriest intensity she can find. But on her new self-titled album, released last month on Kill Rock Stars, Stern goes less steel, more softness the songs still jolt and yelp with her usual ferocity, but their subject matter starkly recounts Sterns grief over lost love and tragedies in ways that her previous material did not. Its emotional, she told me on a recent phone call. I’m such a vulnerable person I felt like this was a big growth. The words may be mournful, the lyrics may be poignantly sad, but the music channels Sterns rampant spirit, flying high as ever. I’m always hopeful, dammit, she says. I’m a fucking fighter. With Witch Gardens. ERIN K. THOMPSON
Sat., Nov. 6, 7:30 p.m., 2010
