Anni Rossi
More Five Favorites
Each week, we call on notable locals to spill their guts and let us in on five of their favorite things. This week, we’ve asked Anni Rossi to take the Five Faves questionnaire.
Rossi grew up in Minnesota and attended Golden Valley’s Perpich Center For Arts Education. Classically trained, she’s known nowadays for her unusual viola-playing style. Her 2008 EP, Afton, showed a more adventurous, indulgent side than did her 2009 full-length, Rockwell, which spun her into national attention. Rossi’s latest, Heavy Meadow, places laid-back vocals upon a playful electronic landscape, and feels more “pop” than “precarious experiment.” She will take part in this Saturday’s String Theory: String Sampler, held at the History Theatre in St. Paul. Rossi will be joined by Tom Hagerman (of DeVotchKa), Robert Black, and Mississippi Peace.
1. You have a cover of Radiohead’s “Creep” that has more than 20,000 views on YouTube. What’s your favorite cover, and what makes it so special?
My favorite cover version is “These Arms Of Mine” by Otis Redding. I like the way it makes me feel when I sing it.
2. Many people say that you’ve given new life to the viola by playing it in a somewhat unconventional way. Who’s your favorite “unconventional” musician?
I admire Tina Weymouth very much. She is an original member of the Talking Heads who also had a side project called Tom Tom Club. In the ’80s, she was writing and producing amazing songs, which were incredibly expressive, while using recording techniques very ahead of her time. Her most well-known song was covered by Mariah Carey, which we all know as “Fantasy.”
3. Your grandmother was a church organist. Do you have a favorite church song? What makes it so special?
My favorite hymn is “Day By Day.” It was my grandmother’s favorite hymn, and it has a beautiful melody.
4. You live in Brooklyn now, but what’s your favorite thing to do when you come to back to the Twin Cities?
I always love hitting up Savers thrift store and hanging out with old high-school buddies, and eating my mom’s Special K bars and other homemade goodies.
5. What is your favorite thing about yourself?
I have cultivated my tendency to speak in different characters and personas. I love making prank phone calls.
Anni also draws. She shared one of her favorites with us, called “Matadors.”
