American songwriter Anna St. Louis took notes from a wide spectrum of classic folk and country artists when forming her dusty, wistful sound, but sculpted those inspirations into something uniquely her own. Relocating to Los Angeles after college, St. Louis fell in with a scene of like-minded music-makers, eventually releasing her debut cassette, First Songs, on Kevin Morby's Mare label in 2017. Press for this homespun release was glowing, and the next year St. Louis released a proper debut in the form of If Only There Was a River on the Woodsist label.

Anna St. Louis grew up in Kansas City, interested in painting and singing with punk bands throughout her youth. She attended art school in Philadelphia and relocated to Los Angeles after graduating around 2013. Moving into creating solo music, St. Louis looked to the influence of evergreen favorites like Neil Young, Patsy Cline, Elizabeth Cotten, and Buffy Sainte-Marie, wrapping these jumping-off points around a melancholy and decidedly Midwestern approach to bare-bones indie folk. Her first songs appeared in 2015 in the form of rough online demos. Roughly a year after First Songs, St. Louis' debut full-length, If Only There Was a River, was released, with production help from Morby and King Tuff's Kyle Thomas. Promotional touring surrounded the album's release, including dates opening for Waxahatchee. ~ Fred Thomas, Rovi