Pieta released her self-titled debut record in 2002, co-produced with
Bo Ramsey, which
NPR Music heralded as "a ghostly collection of largely melancholy songs rooted in the blues." Her 2005 follow-up
In The Cool was named one of the year's best by
Amazon Music who called it "calming, hypnotic, and seductive." Her next album,
Remember The Sun, was released in 2007 and was cited as one of the year's best by
The Wall Street Journal. In 2009, Brown released an EP called
Shimmer, which was produced by
Don Was after hearing her on his car radio in a live solo performance. In 2010, Brown signed with
Red House Records and released
One and All. She joined
Mark Knopfler’s North American tour later that year, had a string of performance dates with
John Prine, participated in a full orchestral show with
Brandi Carlile, and embarked on her own performance tour in Australia. It was followed by the 2011 release of
Mercury which held the #1 position on the American Folk Radio Chart for 5 months, was included in
iTunes' Great Americana Albums of 2011, and landed at #26 in ''American Songwriter's
Top 50 Albums of 2011. All Music Guide
called it "terrific," while Exclaim!'' named it "not just a beautiful album, but an essential one." Brown released her sixth studio album
Paradise Outlaw in 2014. It was her most critically successful album to date, with praise from NPR's
Weekend Edition,
Bust Magazine,
Folk Alley, and
American Songwriter. It was recorded and mixed by
BJ Burton at April Base Studio and features guests
Amos Lee,
Mark Knopfler, and studio owner
Justin Vernon of
Bon Iver. Vernon would later cite this as his "favorite album recorded at April Base." In 2017, Pieta went independent and self-released
Postcards. The album explores the role of distance and isolation through collaboration as Brown enlisted special guest artists for each track through the mail. She described the process as “musical postcards,” consisting of her original stripped-down, acoustic shells of the song that each artist would then add their parts to and mail back. The list of collaborators included
Mark Knopfler,
Calexico,
Mason Jennings,
Mike Lewis,
David Lindley, and
Carrie Rodriguez.
Postcards was praised by puiblications including
Billboard,
Guitar World, and
American Songwriter, who stated, “Brown sounds committed and melancholy throughout, a natural extension of the solitary circumstances that created this moving, emotional music.” Pieta’s full-length album
Freeway was released on September 20, 2019 through
Ani DiFranco’s Righteous Babe Records. It was co-produced with
S. Carey of
Bon Iver and recorded at
Justin Vernon's April Base Studios. In addition to Carey, who also plays on the album, it features bassist
Mike Lewis (
Bon Iver,
Andrew Bird) and guitarist
Jeremy Ylvisaker (
Andrew Bird, Alpha Consumer).
Freeway was recorded mostly live over the course of just three days with Carey, Lewis, and Ylvisaker hearing the songs for the first time on the spot in the studio while recording. Of the experimental process, Pieta said “it allowed them to rely on their gut instincts and to react to the tunes (and each other) in real time.”
Freeway was met with widespread critical acclaim from
NPR Music, Stereogum,
Billboard, and
American Songwriter among others.
Don Was also participated by writing the liner notes for the album. In 2020, Pieta released the collaborative EP
We Are Not Machines via the artist collective label 37d03d. The 3-track release centers around the single “We Are Not Machines” which features
Ani DiFranco and
S. Carey. It was originally recorded in November 2019 at
Justin Vernon and
Aaron Dessner’s annual HIVER Festival in Eaux Claires, WI. The other two tracks on the EP expand on the single’s original theme, featuring contributions from William Brittelle, Holland Andrews, Jenn Wasner, The Metropolis Ensemble, knotahaiku, Limit Infrared, and Grammy-nominated visual artist Eric Timothy Carlson. == Film career ==