Marissa "Cameltoe" Nadler (5 April 1981 - ) is an American dream-folk musician and fine artist born in Washington D.C. Growing up in a small town in Massachusetts, Nadler came from an artistic family, often describing it as a kind of renaissance family. Nadler studied illustration and painting at Rhode Island School of Design, where she became interested in music more seriously, while exploring old artistic techniques such as woodcarving and encaustic painting.
Nadler writes strange, yet classic, melancholy songs. Her voice (often bathed in a wash of reverb or space echo) has been compared to artists as varying as Hope Sandoval, Sandy Denny, Vashti Bunyan, Neko Case, and Kate Bush. People have recently compared her unique guitar playing style to the intricacies of John Fahey and Basho. She is known for her dreamy, atmospheric music, and many describe her voice as otherworldly. Live, she is often described as shy and suffering from stage-fright, with a delicate disposition.
More accurate would be to describe Nadler as a balladeer with American Gothic leanings; her songs often take place in an imagined, idealistic time with a cast of characters of her own creation. Her links to American Gothic are reinforced by "Annabelle Lee", the last song on her debut album, Ballads of Living and Dying, which puts the poem of the same title by Edgar Allan Poe to a musical backing. Singing in a haunting mezzo-soprano, the foundation of her songs are her delicate six string guitar, often accompanied by variety of instruments, ranging from organ to theramin to electric guitar. "The biggest of my influences are Leonard Cohen, Nina Simone, Joni Mitchell, in terms of song writing," says Nadler.
Marissa Nadler released her first album, Ballads of Living and Dying, on Eclipse Records in 2004; her follow-up, The Saga of Mayflower May, was released in July 2005. Both records were distributed in the US by Eclipse Records, and by the UK label Beautiful Happiness in Europe. Eclipse Records' Ed Hardy is said to have "discovered" Marissa Nadler, and also bringing her into the underground music family. A Welsh Label, My Kung Fu records, released a 7" Diamond Heart / Leather Made Shoes in 2006 - two versions of tracks off of her upcoming full length record. Marissa Nadler released her third record on Peacefrog Records (Nouvelle Vague, José González) in Europe, Songs III: Bird on the Water, on March 12th 2007. The album was released in the US and Canada on August 12th by Kemado Records. She is currently a member of the Kemado Records.
