Music Existence Because of Music, We Exist
Singer-songwriter Annie DiRusso has had a whirlwind year, embarking on her first headline tour last spring and now returning to the road for some of her biggest shows to date on the “God, I Love This Place Tour” with special guest Hannah Cole. Named after her debut EP, God, I Hate This Place, the 27-date run kicked off in Milwaukee, WI on April 30 and will end in Kansas City, MO on June 20.
After testing out her songs live while opening for emerging acts Declan McKenna and Samia throughout 2021 and 2022, Annie has since released more music and has also recently opened for big names like HAIM, beabadoobee, Rainbow Kitten Surprise, Djo, The Backseat Lovers, and Peach Pit. She has established a devoted fanbase through the years of the pandemic, releasing buzzworthy indie-rock singles with earnestly relatable lyrics that have cemented her as an artist on the rise— we named her one of 2023’s Artists to Watch back at the start of the year.
Effortlessly blending fuzzy garage rock guitars and high-energy performances with a pop-infused flair, her choruses are as catchy as they are deeply relatable. Annie’s unique style of bedroom rock combined with the dry humor and whit encompassed in her lyrics speaks to the souls of twenty-somethings everywhere, who in turn show up to her shows in droves.
After a pair of Canadian tour dates Friday and Saturday, Annie will return to Boston this Sunday, May 7 at The Sinclair in Cambridge, MA where we’re eager to catch her set. We caught up with Annie over the phone while her and her crew traveled through rural Pennsylvania, having played Columbus, OH the night before. While still at the start of her tour, Annie excitedly reflected on the energy of the shows and what to expect at dates to come.
Hi Annie! Where are you coming from? I know you’re heading to Toronto for a show tomorrow night.
Hi! I’m currently in a van driving through Pennsylvania on the way to Toronto. We’re going across the border today.
Will this be your first time playing in Canada?
I played one show in Vancouver in October I think, and so that was my first Canadian show. But other than that, I haven’t played Toronto or Montreal yet. We are so excited to go to Canada.
You just kicked off your tour. What has it been like so far?
It’s been so sweet. We’ve just played four shows and it’s been awesome. The crowds have been really sweet and I’m playing in mostly cities I’ve never even been to, so I can’t believe people are coming to shows and singing the songs. They’ve all been really, really sweet so far.
How does it compare to your first headline tour last spring?
It’s a bit different. This is a much longer tour, it’s 29 shows. We’re playing a lot of like, not major markets. That last tour was basically just like a few shows in some major markets. So it’s been really cool to be playing places like Milwaukee or Indianapolis and seeing people show up to shows has been kind of crazy. And I have more music out now, so it kind of feels like an actual, more full show with more songs, and set design, an awesome band. So I think it’s a little more full on than last time, which is really cool.
How does the personality of each city impact the show, setlist, the vibe, things of that nature?
Yeah, that’s a fun question. I love to talk during my shows, and the last few shows like the ones in Milwaukee or Indianapolis, or Columbus, have kind of been like environmental where you can have a conversation with the audience, and that’s been really fun. So just being able to get to talk to people and kind of get their vibe at each show kind of changes the personality of each city shows what it is each night. Like last night in Columbus, they were so so so loud and singing all the words and dancing, and then in Milwaukee they were really just kind of listening and super engaged. But yeah it’s kinda interesting to see what each city is like every night. We don’t really plan for different cities, the set just kind of morphs itself just in conversation and flow based off of the energy in the room.
When you were in Boston last year (at Berklee’s Red Room) it was so high energy and you had a trampoline on stage. You and the band have such a great chemistry between you and you famously wear your matching outfits. How did that come to be?
When I was in high school, I thrifted the dress and I’d wear it a bunch and then my mom— you know how moms can never know what to buy you, they can buy the ugliest clothes? And so I’d always be like ugh when my mom would buy me stuff. And so she really liked this one dress ‘cause I’d wear it a lot and for some reason she said she’d buy more of that exact dress on eBay, so eventually I had like four or five of them. I was like okay, I don’t need this many of the same exact piece of clothing. Then I realized, oh it’d be kinda funny if the band wore this. So I started having the band wear it and it’s become a whole thing ever since. Now people have been coming to shows dressed in similar dresses and stuff, and it’s really sweet. This tour I’m actually not wearing the dress though, just the band is.
What songs are getting the most reactions? Anything off the new EP?
I think that “Emerson,” “Body,” honestly all of them [off the EP].
Do you have any particular favorites to play?
I really love “Frisco.” Playing that is really fun.
Do you notice the energy shift with certain songs? Like “Frisco Forever” or some of your more upbeat ones?
Yeah totally, it’s really fun to see that in the set. We play “Don’t Swerve” in a fun little spot that’s a bit of a surprise. It’s really fun to see the energy kind of go up and down. The crowd is so attentive and like really there to sing and be apart of the softer songs and have fun during the more upbeat songs.
A lot of these songs are getting the chance to make their live debut. Having written a lot in the pandemic, what’s it been like getting to finally perform them in a crowd? I can imagine when you’re writing there’s always that portion of envisioning the lyrics being sung back to you.
Totally. I mean, I never toured pre-pandemic and I hadn’t really played many shows at all. So when I started touring for the first time last year, it was a bit of a shock to see people— I mean I grew most of my audience actually like during the pandemic from online space. And so to get to tour immediately and have people singing the words to things was really crazy.
Last tour, you covered Tommy James and the Shondells’ “I Think We’re Alone Now,” made famous by Tiffany. You’ve also got some great covers online. Are you playing any covers on this tour?
I am. I haven’t done them yet, but I feel like I will be sneaking some into the set.
You’ve got a tour exclusive vinyl pressing of your EP being sold at the merch stand. How cool is that to finally have a physical pressing of your music?
It’s been crazy. It’s so so so special. The vinyl showed up to the first show in Milwaukee and it was so special. We all screamed. When we opened the boxes we were screaming and crying and it was so fun.
Are there any more plans for bringing vinyl as a mainstay to your storefront or will it remain a tour exclusive?
This vinyl will remain tour exclusive.
That makes it even more fun and gets people out to the shows! This is quite a vigorous tour with lots of back-to-back shows. You’ve got 25 dates left to go. What do you and the band do in your downtime?
So we haven’t had that much downtime to be honest with you, not quite yet. We played at a college show last Friday, and we randomly had the next day off, and had a lot of the next day. That was just a college show though, we hadn’t officially started the tour yet. That day was nice though and we all did some yoga. That was the only time so far yet. And then we walked around and explored Milwaukee, but the last four days have been more busy. We filmed an Audiotree in Chicago, and did a radio thing in the morning in Columbus. Today, we’re just driving and we’re going to try to go to Niagara Falls by sunset.
You’ll be in Boston on Sunday. The last time you played the Sinclair, you were opening for Declan McKenna. How does it feel to be coming back to the same venue, but this time headlining it yourself?
It feels absolutely crazy. There’s a few shows on this tour that I just recently opened at last year, like the Music Hall of Williamsburg, there’s a bunch on there. Yeah, it’s really crazy and I can’t even believe it.
When you’re back in Boston this weekend, will you have any time to walk around Harvard?
I hope so! I’m not too sure of the schedule. We should have a few hours. Last time, we walked to get some tea in the area. So we should have a few hours to walk around, that area is so lovely.
Are there any cities you’re looking forward to most on the tour?
Boston and New York are always such fun shows, so I’m really excited about those two. And then Nashville is a fun show, and West Coast! I love touring the West Coast because I’m not from there, I’m from New York originally, so going out there is really nice and beautiful. There’s places like Salt Lake City that I haven’t been yet. So yeah, there’s so much I’m excited about.
As an audience, is there anything we should prepare for pre-show or look forward to?
I don’t know, I’ve been loving the outfits people have been putting on! That is so so so fun to me. So I think fun outfits and makeup or whatever people like to do is awesome. Come and have fun. There’s a bunch of kind people in the audience, and it’s just been reallysweet.
Annie DiRusso’s “God, I Love This Place Tour” is in full swing across North America now through June.
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