Zoe is excited to announce that her new album, Before the Machine, will be released on June 7, 2024. Inspired by memories of a pre-smart phone world, the title track explores how technology, and specifically smart phones, has irrevocably altered our experience of time.

Picking up where Zoe’s last album, Waterlines, left off, Before the Machine further showcases the artist’s vivid, literary sense of language while weaving a rich and confident fabric of folk, country, rock, blues and jazz.

From the achingly intimate beauty of Angel Bus to the sultry rocker Magic Bus, to the Tom Waits-eque evocation of New York City on Let’s Just Stay Friends, this wide-ranging 9-track LP features a stellar cast of top Bay Area musicians and, like Waterlines, was produced by Jeffrey Wood at Fantasy Studio in Berkeley, CA. 

Zoe grew up in Washington D.C. where she began playing guitar and singing as a teenager. But while music was her first love, writing was her first career. A graduate of Columbia Journalism School, Zoe has written for numerous national magazines (The New York Times, Newsweek, Vogue) and, in 2010, published an award-winning memoir, Imperfect Endings.

After leaving New York City for the Bay Area, she played with numerous local bands – Do Wrong Right, The Deadliners, Rolling Thunder, and co-founded the Americana string band Sugartown. She’s performed in clubs from the fabled Freight & Salvage in Berkeley, to the Lost Church and Hotel Utah in San Francisco, to Rancho Nicasio in Marin County. She toured the East Coast as a solo act last fall and has played on the central coast and in Southern California where she recently performed at the Hotel Cafe.

In 2018, Zoe released an album of original songs with Sugartown, Waiting for the Earthquake, and in 2021, Zoe released her first solo album, Waterlines. Ranging in style from folk to funk, the album featured an impressive crew of musicians and established Zoe as an exciting, literary lyricist. The critics took note:

“There aren’t any boring moments. They’re all well-crafted songs. On ‘Below the Waterline,’ Zoe sounds like she’s channeling the songwriting style of Nanci Griffith thru a Mary Chapin Carpenter tone. Zoe’s lyrics are applied with expertise. The accordion drenches the melody in a Parisian flavor. The showcase is refreshing.” – Americana Highways 

"In her second solo album, Waterlines, Zoe FitzGerald Carter expands upon her roots in the East Bay’s folk and Americana scenes. Her impressive acoustic guitar-picking is still evident, but the songs on the record are delivered in a variety of styles that highlight their spirited lyrics and her often-ironic sense of humor.” – East Bay Express 

For information on upcoming tour dates, follow Zoe on BandsInTown or go to the Events page. 

For all press inquiries, please contact Maggie Poulos: Maggie@mixtape-media.com