Bartees Strange

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Born Bartees Leon Cox Jr. in Ipswich, England, to a military father and opera-singer mother, Bartees Strange had a peripatetic early childhood before eventually settling in Mustang, Oklahoma. Later, he cut his teeth playing in hardcore bands in Washington D.C. and Brooklyn whilst working in the Barack Obama administration. After charting a path as a solo artist, Strange released two records in quick succession: an EP reimagining songs by The National (Say Goodbye To Pretty Boy, 2020) and his debut album proper Live Forever (2020), which was featured as Best New Music on Pitchfork and earned Strange a loyal cult following.

Where his 2020 debut record Live Forever introduced the experiences and places that shaped Strange (Flagey Brussels, Mustang Oklahoma), Farm to Table zeroed in on the people—specifically his family and those closest to him—on his journey so far. The album secured Strange’s status as one of the most buzzed-about artists of the year, earning best-of nods from the likes of The New York Times, Rolling Stone, NPR Music, and many more. In the time since, he has supported Boygenius, Clairo, and The National on tour, and he has been featured on multiple popular TV and film soundtracks including Apple TV’s The New Look and A24’s I Saw the TV Glow.

Strange’s third album, Horror, was released in February 2025. The album, co-produced by Strange with Jack Antonoff and Yves and Laurence Rothman, tackles the fear Strange was raised on. His family told him scary stories to teach life lessons, and at an early age, he started watching scary movies to practice being strong. The world can be a terrifying place, and for a young, queer, Black person in rural America, that terror can be visceral. Horror is an album about facing those fears and growing to become someone to be feared.

This information is accurate as of their last semester spent teaching.