{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2021}} {{Short description|American musician (born 1996)}} {{Infobox musical artist | honorific_prefix = | name = Squirrel Flower | honorific_suffix = | image =File:Squirrel Flower (48548500607).jpg | image_upright = | image_size = | landscape = <!-- yes, if wide image, otherwise leave blank --> | alt = | caption = Sled Island 2019, Calgary, Canada | native_name = | native_name_lang = | birth_name = Ella O'Connor Williams<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ascap.com/repertory#/ace/search/workID/921927283 |title=ALLEY LIGHT |website=ASCAP |publisher=American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers |access-date=November 13, 2023}}</ref> | alias = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1996|08|11}} | birth_place = | origin = Boston, Massachusetts | death_date = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} (death date first) --> | death_place = | genre = Indie folk | occupation = | instrument = Vocals, guitar, piano, bass | years_active = 2015–present | label = Polyvinyl Records, 2000 Pigs Records, It Takes Time Records | associated_acts = alien girls | website = {{URL|www.squirrelflower.net}} | module = | module2 = | module3 = }}
'''Squirrel Flower''' (born August 11, 1996) is the stage name of American musician '''Ella O'Connor Williams'''.<ref name="rollingstone">{{cite web |last1=Martoccio |first1=Angie |title=Squirrel Flower's Tender-Hearted Indie-Rock Breakthrough |date=February 19, 2020 |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/squirrel-flower-interview-951303/ |publisher=Rolling Stone |access-date=March 3, 2020}}</ref>
==Early life== Williams grew up in Arlington, Massachusetts. When Williams was a child, she gave herself the nickname Squirrel Flower.<ref name="theguardian">{{cite news |last1=Morris |first1=Damien |title=One to watch: Squirrel Flower |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/jan/11/one-to-watch-squirrel-flower-ella-oconnor-williams-i-was-born-swimming |work=The Guardian |date=January 11, 2020 |access-date=March 3, 2020}}</ref> In 2014, she moved to Iowa to attend Grinnell College.<ref name="rollingstone"/> She graduated from Grinnell in 2018, earning a bachelor’s degree with a dual major in studio art and gender, women’s and sexuality studies. <ref>{{cite web |title= Season 1 Episode 11 |url= https://www.grinnell.edu/about/leadership/offices-services/communications/podcast/all-things-grinnell/squirrel-flower |publisher=Grinnell College |access-date=May 12, 2026}}</ref>
==History== thumb|Squirrel Flower, 2024. After getting involved in the DIY scene in Boston as a teenager, Williams moved to Iowa. There, she wrote her first EP as Squirrel Flower and began setting up small tours for herself. This first EP, titled ''Early Winter Songs From Middle America'', was self-released in 2015.
In 2016, Williams released her second EP titled ''Contact Sports'' on a St. Louis-based DIY tape label called It Takes Time.<ref name="diymagazine">{{cite web |last1=Finn |first1=Rachel |title=Squirrel Flower lays out her emotions on new EP 'Contact Sports' |date=June 22, 2018 |url=https://diymag.com/2018/06/22/squirrel-flower-contact-sports-ep-interview |publisher=DIY |access-date=March 3, 2020}}</ref>
Williams' debut album, ''I Was Born Swimming'', was released in 2020 via Polyvinyl Records.<ref name="nprmusic">{{cite web |last1=Touros |first1=Cyrena |title=Squirrel Flower's Debut Finds The Beauty In Transient Things |url=https://www.npr.org/2020/02/05/800431286/squirrel-flowers-debut-finds-the-beauty-in-transient-things |publisher=NPR Music |access-date=March 3, 2020}}</ref><ref name="pitchfork">{{cite web |last1=Gerber |first1=Brady |title=Squirrel Flower: I Was Born Swimming |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/squirrel-flower-i-was-born-swimming/ |publisher=Pitchfork |access-date=March 3, 2020}}</ref> The album was produced by Gabe Wax.<ref name="nprmusic" /> This anticipated label debut earned overwhelming praise from the likes of Gorilla vs. Bear,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.gorillavsbear.net/squirrel-flower-red-shoulder/|title=Squirrel Flower – Red Shoulder|website=GORILLA VS. BEAR|date=October 25, 2019 }}</ref> NPR Music,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2020/02/05/800431286/squirrel-flowers-debut-finds-the-beauty-in-transient-things|title=Squirrel Flower's Debut Finds The Beauty In Transient Things|website=NPR.org}}</ref> and ''Paste'',<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/squirrel-flower/catch-squirrel-flower-if-you-can/|title=Catch Squirrel Flower If You Can|date=January 31, 2020|website=pastemagazine.com}}</ref> and she was named ''Rolling Stone'' Artist You Need To Know,<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/squirrel-flower-interview-951303/|title=Squirrel Flower's Tender-Hearted Indie-Rock Breakthrough|first1=Angie|last1=Martoccio|magazine=Rolling Stone |date=February 19, 2020}}</ref> ''Stereogum''<nowiki/>'s Artist to Watch,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.stereogum.com/2068903/squirrel-flower-i-was-born-swimming-interview/franchises/interview/|title=Artist To Watch: Squirrel Flower|date=January 9, 2020}}</ref> The FADER's Gen F,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thefader.com/2020/02/07/squirrel-flower-gen-f|title=Squirrel Flower finds clarity in solitude|website=The FADER}}</ref> and ''The Guardian''<nowiki/>'s One to Watch.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/jan/11/one-to-watch-squirrel-flower-ella-oconnor-williams-i-was-born-swimming|title=One to watch: Squirrel Flower|date=January 11, 2020|website=The Guardian}}</ref> In May 2020, Squirrel Flower released the single "Take It Or Leave It", backed with her cover of Caroline Polachek's "So Hot You’re Hurting My Feelings."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.stereogum.com/2083236/squirrel-flower-so-hot-youre-hurting-my-feelings-caroline-polachek-cover/music/|title=Squirrel Flower – "So Hot You're Hurting My Feelings" (Caroline Polachek Cover)|date=May 5, 2020}}</ref>
In March 2024, Williams was the first artist to withdraw from the South by Southwest festival due to sponsorships by "defense department contractors [that] make the weapons that the IDF uses to bomb Gaza." Eighty artists followed her lead, causing the festival to terminate their contracts with US Army and RTX Corporation for the 2025 festival.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Horton |first=Adrian |date=2024-06-26 |title=SXSW ends US Army partnership after backlash from artists over Palestine |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jun/26/sxsw-military-weapon-sponsor |access-date=2024-06-27 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB}}</ref> Also in March 2024, she was featured on NPR ''Tiny Desk'' for the first time.<ref>{{Cite web |date= |title=Tiny Desk Premiere: Squirrel Flower |url=https://www.npr.org/2024/03/06/1235871167/tiny-desk-concert-squirrel-flower |website=NPR}}</ref>
==Stage name== {{blockquote|The name I came up with when I was a kid. It's sort of like me borrowing this alter ego from my childhood to use as a moniker; I was trying to decide if I wanted a band name, if I wanted to use my own name, because when I first came up with Squirrel Flower as a musical moniker, I had been making music for a while under my own name, but I wanted to do something a little different. I was brainstorming and feeling kind of stuck, because band names are really hard to come up with (laughs). There are a lot of really bad band names out there, and there are a lot of not so bad band names out there. But it was interesting: I could use this alter ego that I had as a child when I first started engaging with my own creative practice and my own art, and it just stuck.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://wers.org/interviewsquirrelflower/|title=Interview: The Story Behind Squirrel Flower's Origins|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240914014314/https://wers.org/interviewsquirrelflower/|archive-date=14 September 2024|url-status=live}}</ref>}}
==Discography== '''Studio albums''' *''Contact Sports (Deluxe Edition)'' (2018, 2000 Pigs) *''I Was Born Swimming'' (2020, Polyvinyl) *''Planet (i)'' (2021, Polyvinyl) *''Tomorrow's Fire'' (2023, Polyvinyl)
'''EPs''' *''Early Winter Songs from Middle America'' (2015, self-released) *''Contact Sports'' (2016, It Takes Time. Re-released on vinyl in 2018 by 2000 Pigs) *''Planet'' (2022, Full Time Hobby)
'''Singles''' *"Midwestern Clay" (2016) *"Not Your Prey" (2016) *"Red Shoulder" (2019) *"Headlights" (2019) *"Streetlight Blues" (2020) *"Take It or Leave It / So Hot You’re Hurting My Feelings" (2020) *"Explain It to Me / Chicago" (2020) *"Hurt a Fly" (2021) *"I'll Go Running" (2021) *”Flames and Flat Tires” (2021)
==References== {{Reflist}}
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Category:1996 births Category:Living people Category:People from Arlington, Massachusetts Category:American indie rock musicians Category:Singers from Massachusetts Category:American indie folk musicians Category:Polyvinyl Record Co. artists Category:American folk singers Category:21st-century American women guitarists Category:21st-century American guitarists Category:21st-century American women singers Category:21st-century American singers Category:Guitarists from Massachusetts Category:Grinnell College alumni