Spotlight On: charity rose thielen of the head and the heart

ABOUT this week’s guest:

It's been sixteen years since a group of friends casually formed a musical collective born of an open mic at an Irish bar in Seattle, that soon became a hugely successful band called The Head and The Heart. One of those founding members, singer, songwriter, violinist, guitarist, and producer Charity Rose Thielen is our guest today on SHEROES. For those not familiar with the band’s trajectory, it only took a year of playing shows and self-releasing their self-titled debut until they had a record deal with Sub Pop Records who re-released that now certified platinum album in 2011. In the years that followed, the success of the band continued to grow exponentially. They released one more album with Sub Pop, before signing to Warner Records for their third album, 2016’s Signs of Light. That year marked a big turning point in more ways than one, as founding member Josiah Johnson went on hiatus from the band, and Charity’s husband Matt Gervais took his place. The Head and The Heart released two more albums, worked with several outside producers, and played to bigger and bigger audiences. Cut to present day: The Head and The Heart have just released their sixth album called Aperture, the first since their beginnings as a collective to take an entirely communal, self-guided approach. Much has changed since those early days for all of them, and for Charity Rose Thielen, this has included becoming a mother to two children, and touring with her husband in the band. But as we’ll hear in our conversation, the reconnection to their roots and the founding spirit of The Head and The Heart brought about a creative wellspring, and what may be their best work yet.