Tristen

Hailing from Chicagoland, Nashville-based Tristen Gaspadarek crafts and performs intelligent indie pop under the name Tristen. Her sound has shifted across multiple phases since the early 2010s, moving from the folk leanings of Charlatans at the Garden Gate in 2011 through the polished synth pop of Caves in 2013 to the ringing guitar-driven indie pop of Sneaker Waves in 2017. Following a stretch devoted mainly to standalone tracks, she issued her fifth full-length album, Aquatic Flowers, in 2021.

Drawn to Beatles songs aired on oldies radio and supported by her father, a musician, Tristen started creating music early, capturing ideas at home and performing in neighborhood coffeehouses. Upon finishing her studies at De Paul University, she moved to Nashville to advance her musical ambitions. In 2009 she assembled a collection of home recordings called Teardrops and Lollipops, which she sold at performances in distinctive hand-sewn packaging. Early 2011 brought the more definitive debut Charlatans at the Garden Gate, a set of sharply observed indie pop threaded with folk and Americana elements. The record drew favorable notice from NPR, Paste Magazine, and Spin. She then toured alongside Justin Townes Earle and Ezra Furman & the Harpoons before returning to Nashville to begin work on the next project.

Without label backing, Tristen chose to finance her sophomore LP through crowdfunding. The outcome was Caves, a 2013 release marked by eloquent synth textures that represented a clear stylistic departure. Like its predecessor, Caves earned the Nashville Scene Critics Poll nod for Best Local Album that year. After touring behind Caves she joined Jenny Lewis’ backing band on the road, and in 2016 she released the poetry collection Saturnine. Sneaker Waves, her 2017 album, reduced the electronic focus of the prior effort in favor of hook-laden guitar pop. A few shorter projects followed, among them the 2019 holiday EP Tristen Decks the Halls and the 2020 single “Can’t Walk That Back.” Her fifth album, Aquatic Flowers, appeared in 2021 via Portland’s Mama Bird Recording Co.