A meeting of the minds between three talented and influential female artists,
case/lang/veirs is a collaboration between
Neko Case,
k.d. lang, and
Laura Veirs. Alt-country chanteuse
Case had matured into a celebrated indie rock singer/songwriter with a series of acclaimed albums in the 2000s, including 2006's
Fox Confessor Brings the Flood and 2009's
Middle Cyclone. And
Veirs was a folk-influenced songwriter whose literate and deeply personal compositions helped her enjoy a critical and commercial breakthrough with albums like 2004's
Carbon Glacier and 2005's
Year of Meteors. Both
Case and
Veirs were fans of
k.d. lang, the Canadian vocalist who anticipated the alt-country scene in the '80s with quirky country-influenced albums like 1987's
Angel with a Lariat and 1989's
Absolute Torch and Twang, before shifting into more personal and pop-oriented material with the hit 1992 release
Ingenue. In 2013,
lang reached out to both
Case and
Veirs, sending each an e-mail that read, "I think we should make a record together." While the three musicians didn't know one another personally, they deeply admired one another's work, and all three signed on for the project.
Case and
lang made guest appearances on
Veirs' 2013 album
Warp and Weft, and over the next two years the three collaborated on songs. Working with producer
Tucker Martine, the trio recorded their new material at a studio in Portland, Oregon, with additional recording at
Veirs' makeshift home studio and
lang's loft. The group adopted the name
case/lang/veirs, and their album, also called
case/lang/veirs, was released by Anti- Records in June 2016. The trio supported the album with an extensive concert tour. ~ Mark Deming