Rebecca Pronsky (born September 4, 1980) is a singer-songwriter from Brooklyn, New York. Her musical style combines folk, jazz and country elements.
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Born in Brooklyn, New York, Rebecca began professional vocal training at the age of eight, and was encouraged to continue studying music throughout her middle and high school years. In 1996 she met Lucy Wainwright Roche, then a fellow high school student at Saint Ann's School. Lucy introduced Rebecca to folk music and Rebecca began to study guitar. Rebecca attended Brown University and graduated with a degree in Ethnomusicology in 2002. However, it wasn't until she left college that she considered music to be a serious career option.[1]
Rebecca recorded several songs she had written while in college upon graduating and released this collection as her first demo Milestone in 2002. She moved back to Brooklyn soon after and began working with other musicians to explore her songs more fully. She met Rich Bennett (Friendly Bears, Monocle, Rich Bennett) in 2003 and the two began a musical collaboration. Bennett played guitar on Rebecca's EP The Early Hours in 2004. The EP received strong reviews in the northeast and prompted Rebecca to begin touring.
In 2005, Rebecca created the Brooklyn Songwriters Exchange, a music series presenting strong local songwriters in the New York City area. The series continues to run today, although Rebecca no longer hosts it.
Over the next few years Rebecca worked with Bennett to solidify her sound, culminating in Departures & Arrivals (2007), Rebecca's third record which Bennett produced, and, which was released by indie label Nine Mile Records. Rebecca spoke of the record as being "much more compositional" than earlier work.[2] The track Break Even from the album was featured on XM Radio's The Loft program and Rebecca's tour schedule picked up as a result of the release. Departures & Arrivals was followed by a limited edition EP The Best Game in Town in 2009.
Nine Mile Records released Rebecca's third full length album Viewfinder in April 2011. Viewfinder was recorded at the Great North Sound Society in Parsonsfield, ME with engineer Sam Kassirer. The album explores themes of loss and coming of age, as well as the economic downturn.[3] Track 1 "Hard Times" was featured on Song of the Day on NPR Music, on April 18, 2011, due to its topical relevance.[4]
Rebecca tours nationally and has performed with Peter Case, Catie Curtis, Sarah Bettens, Josh Ritter, Erin McKeown, Loudon Wainwright III, Patty Larkin, Elvis Perkins, Freedy Johnston, Carrie Rodriguez, Steve Forbert, Elvis Perkins, Caroline Herring, Shawn Colvin, Shannon McNally and many others.
The Early Hours (2004; EP, US; Self-released)
Departures & Arrivals (2007; US; Nine Mile Records)
The Best Game in Town (2009; US; Nine Mile Records)
Viewfinder (2011; US; Nine Mile Records)