Tancred

Tancred is the ’90s alt-rock-influenced solo project of singer/guitarist Jess Abbott, formerly of the indie rock group Now, Now. While her 2011 debut, Capes, had an emo-influenced lo-fi demeanor, she developed a more aggressive sound that embraced hooks à la the Breeders and Weezer by her third album, 2016′s Out of the Garden. Arriving in 2018, Nightstand was a more vulnerable, nuanced outing. A still gentler mix of acoustic guitar and subtle electronics marked 2022′s “Mirepoix,” Tancred’s first solo release in four years.
Abbott relocated from her home state of Maine to Minneapolis, Minnesota in 2009 in hopes of playing guitar for Cacie Dalager and Bradley Hale following the release of Now, Now Every Children’s 2008 debut album, Cars. They welcomed her to the lineup, and the group shortened its name to Now, Now beginning with their 2010 EP Neighbors. In the meantime, Abbott worked on her own brittle, partly acoustic self-recorded songs. She collected them on her Tancred debut, the self-released Capes, in 2011. (It received a label release by No Sleep Records three years later.) The Now, Now LP Threads followed in 2012.
Made with help only from Hale, Abbott’s more energetic, electric guitar-centered follow-up Tancred arrived in 2013 on Top Shelf Records. Abbott brought in bassist Terrence Vitali and drummer Kevin Medina to play on demos for her next LP, and the pair would go on to perform on official recordings and as members of her touring band. Produced by Anna Waronker (that dog.) and Steven McDonald (Redd Kross/OFF!), the still more aggressive, part alt-rock and part power pop Out of the Garden was issued by Polyvinyl in 2016. Around that time, Abbott moved back to Maine and then parted ways with Now, Now to focus on Tancred. Recorded with Lewis Pesacov (Best Coast, Valley Queen) at his home studio in L.A., Tancred’s more nuanced fourth album, Nightstand, slightly softened her sound while retaining her hooky guitar core.
After taking a break from touring and recording for Tancred, a period that included and writing and singing for others (Chris Farren, Alex Lahey, Jenny Owen Youngs), she re-emerged in late 2021 with the holiday single “Fireside,” a collaboration between Tancred, Youngs, and John Mark Nelson. Working again with Nelson and Youngs, the tender solo Tancred ballad “Mirepoix” followed in late 2022. ~ Marcy Donelson