How Hannah Cohen found a muse in the Catskill Mountains

Hannah Cohen‘s Earthstar Mountain sounds timeless and modern; it’s set amid one of the most gorgeous natural backdrops in the northeastern United States.

A singer-songwriter who for years called New York City home, Cohen moved up to the Catskill Mountains a few years back with her partner and co-producer, Sam Evian.

Recorded at their studio in the Catskills, Earthstar Mountain feels like a good hang. It is, in some ways, a nod to her new surroundings, and the record features Sufjan Stevens, Clairo and Shawn Mullins, among others.

In this session, Cohen talks about the sort of ambience she tries to create in the studio, how she approaches vocal performance, plus she performs live for World Cafe.

This episode of World Cafe was produced and edited by Miguel Perez. Our senior producer is Kimberly Junod and our engineer is Chris Williams. Our programming and booking coordinator is Chelsea Johnson and our line producer is Will Loftus.