ABOUT DESSA

Spanning genres and disciplines, Dessa’s style is defined by wit, tenderness, rigor, and candor. As a musician, she’s co-composed for large choirs; crowdsurfed at rock clubs; recorded a live album with the Grammy-winning Minnesota Orchestra; and contributed a track to the #1 album The Hamilton Mixtape. As a speaker, Dessa regularly presents on art, science, and entrepreneurship at colleges and universities across the US. Her TED Talk, which recounts her science experiment on how to fall out of love, has notched more than 4 million views. As an author, she’s written for The New York Times and National Geographic Traveler; been broadcast by the BBC; and published several literary collections including the memoir-in-essays My Own Devices (Penguin Random House). She’s currently serving as Artist in Residence at Georgetown University’s Music Sustainability Initiative and preparing for the release of a new 7″ in November, 2025. 

Incredible gravitas and presence and humanity. There’s just so much intelligence to everything she does. – NPR, All Songs Considered

One of the most anomalous artists in music today. – NPR, World Cafe

Sound the Bells launches Dessa to the top of a vaunted class that features the likes of The Who, Sting, and Peter Gabriel. – Salon

There’s nobody quite like Dessa and no book quite like “My Own Devices.” It’s funny, heartbreaking and brilliantly written, and very possibly the best memoir by a musician since Patti Smith’s “Just Kids.” – Star Tribune 

Like no one else – Los Angeles Times

A force of nature – Sound Opinions