Unbound: Kristin Hersh

The American singer/songwriter and guitarist — best known as the leading light behind alternative rock group Throwing Muses, as well as hardcore punk-influenced power trio 50 Foot Wave — comes to Edinburgh for one of two solo acoustic performances of her forthright memoir, Paradoxical Undressing.

The Atlanta-born, Rhode Island-raised Hersh is widely recognised as an indie rock pioneer, but she has also gained critical acclaim for her memoirs, originally published in the US as Rat Girl, but now available in an expanded version in the UK under the altogether more intriguing title, Paradoxical Undressing. Hersh has been praised as an honest and unflinching chronicler of her late teenage years – taking in the stresses and strains of being in an increasingly successful band, the attempted suicide, the belated diagnosis of schizophrenia and her arduous yet inspiring recovery following the birth of her first son.

Described as “playful, vivid, and wonderfully warm,” the book has been applauded for being “a well crafted, moving and surprisingly uplifting account of a short, pivotal chapter in someone's life.”

This evening is a rare opportunity to experience, in the flesh, a genuinely captivating and original performer – and one of the seminal voices of US punk – doing what she does best.