{"id":490561,"date":"2019-09-26T08:43:04","date_gmt":"2019-09-26T14:43:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/?p=890505"},"modified":"2019-09-26T08:43:04","modified_gmt":"2019-09-26T14:43:04","slug":"sharon-van-etten-talks-new-doc-springsteen-and-leaving-new-york","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kqzr\/music-news\/sharon-van-etten-talks-new-doc-springsteen-and-leaving-new-york\/","title":{"rendered":"Sharon Van Etten Talks New Doc, Springsteen and Leaving New York"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Sometime in 2016, Sharon Van Etten<\/a> was heading to her rehearsal space when she stumbled upon her past. \u201cI walked by an old bar that had closed and I saw these kids living in a neighborhood that I couldn\u2019t afford anymore,\u201d the singer-songwriter said. \u201cI started feeling old, but then it made me mad at myself for even saying shit like that. I got to thinking about who I was when I hung out there, who I was before I moved to New York.\u201d<\/p>\n

The experience inspired Van Etten to write \u201cSeventeen,\u201d a synth-heavy standout from her new record Remind Me Tomorrow. <\/em>With lyrics like \u201cDown beneath the ashes and the stone\/Sure of what I\u2019ve lived and have known,\u201d she reflects on her youth in New York while looking towards the future. \u201cThe song still resonates with me as I\u2019m a mom now,\u201d she says. \u201cIt constantly changes meaning and perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fifteen years, three boroughs and nine apartments later, Van Etten packed her bags and moved to Los Angeles in September. Departure<\/em>, the new mini-documentary from Amazon Music, captures Van Etten\u2019s final days in the city, where she played her last performance as a New Yorker at Webster Hall on May 4th. \u201cI still feel like I have a lot to live and a lot more work to do to have a full-on documentary,\u201d she says. \u201cIn the grand scheme of things, I haven\u2019t been around that long. But I do feel like this is a really special moment in time.\u201d<\/p>\n

A heartfelt element of Departure<\/em> is when Van Etten describes how moving to the city at such a young age shaped her as a musician as clips of her performing in front of people for the first time flash across the screen. \u201cI moved there in my early twenties when I needed my ass kicked, and I got my ass kicked. I worked really hard, I had multiple jobs and I said yes to every show. I always struggled to find the next neighborhood that I could afford and constantly move further and further out.\u201d After Van Etten gave birth to a son in 2017, she and her partner \u2014 her once drummer and now manager Zeke Hutchins \u2014 made the decision to leave. \u201cI realized that a one-bedroom apartment is up to my maxed rent there,\u201d she says. \u201cBut also, I was done hustling.\u201d<\/p>\n