Ringdown

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Ringdown
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Caroline Shaw
Biography (Excerpt)

"Two-Step" is the debut Nonesuch single from Portland-based cinematic pop duo Ringdown, featuring creator-musicians Caroline Shaw and Danni Lee. With strings, keys, and synth melodies rippling around a crisp beat and Lee’s vocals, “Two-Step” channels the technicolor rush of falling in love. "'Two-Step' is about letting go of your inner critic and trusting your own intuition,” the duo says. “It’s about forward momentum toward things that feel good and trusting that sometimes what may seem like a wrong turn at the time, ultimately could be the best route you’ve ever taken. Also dancing. It's about dancing.”

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Instagram URL
https://www.instagram.com/ringdownmusic
Youtube URL
https://www.youtube.com/@ringdownmusic

Portland-based cinematic pop duo Ringdown, featuring creator-musicians Danni Lee and Pulitzer and Grammy winner Caroline Shaw, releases its first single via Nonesuch Records, “Two-Step,” today, March 19, 2024. With strings, keys, and synth melodies rippling around a crisp beat and Danni Lee’s vocals, “Two-Step” channels the technicolor rush of falling in love. A physical release compiling Ringdown songs will be released at a later date to be announced.

“‘Two-Step’ is about letting go of your inner critic and trusting your own intuition,” say Caroline and Danni Lee, who are partners on and off the stage. “It’s about forward momentum toward things that feel good. It’s about trusting that sometimes what may seem like a wrong turn could be the best route you’ve ever taken. Also dancing. It's about dancing.”

Ringdown’s intricate pop music floats up from the dusty record bin between Brahms and Brandi Carlile, reflecting the joy the duo delight in as they explore the spaces between genres and their various musical pursuits; Caroline has won a Pulitzer Prize and several Grammy Awards for her boundary-breaking compositions and contributed music to films including Beyoncé’s Homecoming, Danni Lee writes emotionally stirring lyrics and relishes in challenging how instruments are “supposed” to be played. The pair find additional inspiration from artists including Sylvan Esso, Glasser, Robyn, James Blake, boygenius, The Blow, and more. The duo first began performing at intimate shows in 2022, quietly releasing their songs periodically.

Ringdown songs are also rooted in celebration and admiration of human emotion and love, written while the duo was falling in love themselves. “For both of us, music has always been a means of communicating beyond language. We hope Ringdown’s music helps people feel everything they have been too afraid to feel,” continue Caroline and Danni Lee. “We hope it gives people the permission to feel and share those feelings. We joke and say that our greatest wish is that this music might make two people fall in love. So please make the first move and send our songs to your crush.”

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Tiktok URL
https://www.tiktok.com/@ringdownmusic

Latest Release

  • June 27, 2024

    "'Ghost' explores the weariness and anxiety of being a fully feeling human who is forced to live in our modern world and its tech-saturated chaos,” Ringdown, the Portland-based cinematic pop duo of creator-musicians Danni Lee Parpan and Caroline Shaw, says of its second Nonesuch single. “This is especially isolating in the world of internet dating, where the spotty texting tempo and normalized behavior of ‘ghosting’ someone can feel crushing. We used the clunky pedal sounds from a vintage piano as a heartbeat throughout the song. To us, this represents the yearning for connection beyond technology.”

Releases

News

  • June 27, 2024

    "'Ghost' explores the weariness and anxiety of being a fully feeling human who is forced to live in our modern world and its tech-saturated chaos,” Ringdown, the Portland-based cinematic pop duo of creator-musicians Danni Lee Parpan and Caroline Shaw, says of its second Nonesuch single, out now. “This is especially isolating in the world of internet dating, where the spotty texting tempo and normalized behavior of ‘ghosting’ someone can feel crushing. We used the clunky pedal sounds from a vintage piano as a heartbeat throughout the song. To us, this represents the yearning for connection beyond technology.”

  • June 14, 2024

    Rectangles and Circumstance, an album of ten songs co-written and performed by Caroline Shaw and Sō Percussion, is out now. Shaw and Sō's Eric Cha-Beach and Adam Sliwinski "sourced a group of nineteenth-century poems that shaped its expressive mode [and] ended up using verses by Christina Rosetti, Emily Brontë, Emily Dickinson, Gertrude Stein, and William Blake," says Sliwinski. "The lyrics on this album by members of the band contain wordplay that explores the same profound feelings explored by Blake and Dickinson.” Shaw and Sō co-produced the album with Grammy-winning engineer Jonathan Low (The National, Taylor Swift). Also out today is a video for the album track "Sing On," which you can watch here.

Tour

Wed, Oct 16
Ithaca, NY
Ford Hall
Wed, Oct 16
Ithaca, NY
Ford Hall
Fri, Oct 18
Appleton, WI
Lawrence Memorial Chapel
Fri, Oct 18
Appleton, WI
Lawrence Memorial Chapel
Sat, Oct 19
Minneapolis, MN
McGuire Theater, Walker Art Center
Sat, Oct 19
Minneapolis, MN
McGuire Theater, Walker Art Center
Fri, Oct 25
Middelbury, VT
Olin C. Robison Concert Hall, Mahaney Arts Center
Fri, Oct 25
Middelbury, VT
Olin C. Robison Concert Hall, Mahaney Arts Center
Sat, Oct 26
Stowe, VT
Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center
Sat, Oct 26
Stowe, VT
Spruce Peak Performing Arts Center
Wed, Oct 30
New York, NY
Blue Building
Wed, Oct 30
New York, NY
Blue Building
Tue, Nov 26
Brussels,
Henry Le Boeuf Hall, Bozar
Tue, Nov 26
Brussels,
Henry Le Boeuf Hall, Bozar
Fri, Nov 29
Essex,
Saffron Hall
Fri, Nov 29
Essex,
Saffron Hall
Sun, Dec 01
London,
Barbican Hall
Sun, Dec 01
London,
Barbican Hall
Tue, Dec 03
Manchester,
RNCM Concert Hall
Tue, Dec 03
Manchester,
RNCM Concert Hall

Photos

About Ringdown

  • Portland-based cinematic pop duo Ringdown, featuring creator-musicians Danni Lee and Pulitzer and Grammy winner Caroline Shaw, releases its first single via Nonesuch Records, “Two-Step,” today, March 19, 2024. With strings, keys, and synth melodies rippling around a crisp beat and Danni Lee’s vocals, “Two-Step” channels the technicolor rush of falling in love. A physical release compiling Ringdown songs will be released at a later date to be announced.

    “‘Two-Step’ is about letting go of your inner critic and trusting your own intuition,” say Caroline and Danni Lee, who are partners on and off the stage. “It’s about forward momentum toward things that feel good. It’s about trusting that sometimes what may seem like a wrong turn could be the best route you’ve ever taken. Also dancing. It's about dancing.”

    Ringdown’s intricate pop music floats up from the dusty record bin between Brahms and Brandi Carlile, reflecting the joy the duo delight in as they explore the spaces between genres and their various musical pursuits; Caroline has won a Pulitzer Prize and several Grammy Awards for her boundary-breaking compositions and contributed music to films including Beyoncé’s Homecoming, Danni Lee writes emotionally stirring lyrics and relishes in challenging how instruments are “supposed” to be played. The pair find additional inspiration from artists including Sylvan Esso, Glasser, Robyn, James Blake, boygenius, The Blow, and more. The duo first began performing at intimate shows in 2022, quietly releasing their songs periodically.

    Ringdown songs are also rooted in celebration and admiration of human emotion and love, written while the duo was falling in love themselves. “For both of us, music has always been a means of communicating beyond language. We hope Ringdown’s music helps people feel everything they have been too afraid to feel,” continue Caroline and Danni Lee. “We hope it gives people the permission to feel and share those feelings. We joke and say that our greatest wish is that this music might make two people fall in love. So please make the first move and send our songs to your crush.”

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