From the dreamy, confessional indie-rock that fills her newest release, Bad Actor, to the bluegrass and old-time roots music that soundtracked her upbringing in small-town Pennsylvania, Jen Starsinic has spent much of her 20s in a whirl of evolution. She’s been a frontwoman, a side musician, a songwriter, and a top-tier instrumentalist. As her music has deepened and diversified, so has her understanding of her own emotional makeup — an understanding that’s been shaped not only by the onset of adulthood, but also by her time taking care of a sick parent, navigating the twists and turns of modern-day romance, making a new home in Nashville, and taking a hard look at her anxieties. Bad Actor shines a light on that period of personal and musical growth, reintroducing Starsinic as a songwriter whose folk roots have blossomed into something bigger, bolder, and far more amplified.
“I grew up playing fiddle in bluegrass bands,” she says. “In my heart, I’ll always be a folk writer, because what that means to me is a musician who writes truthfully about her own experience. But I also love weird pop music, indie-rock, and dream-pop. I’ve always wanted to be in rock bands. The opportunity had just never been presented before…so I made my own.”