One of three daughters of jazz bassist
Charlie Haden,
Petra Haden was born in 1971 in Manhattan.
Haden's early life was steeped in music, and not only due to her father's influence. She and her two sisters routinely sang together, and at a very early age she demonstrated not only an extraordinary ear for music, but also the ability to re-create the sounds of musical instruments with her own voice -- in pop, classical, jazz, blues, or any other idiom or genre one cared to name. She began studying the violin when she was eight years old, and by her teens she was on her way to becoming a virtuoso, although she also displayed proficiency on the trumpet, mandolin, and various keyboard instruments, making her a true multi-instrumentalist.
It was
Haden's voice, however, with its extraordinary range, that most caught people's ears. She and her sister
Rachel, along with
Anna Waronker (the daughter of renowned producer
Lenny Waronker) and drummer
Tony Maxwell, formed the group
that dog. in 1992. The Los Angeles-based indie pop/rock group released three albums over the course of five years. A year before their split in 1997,
Haden recorded her first solo album,
Imaginaryland, consisting of a cappella versions of cover songs. She also joined former
Weezer bassist
Matt Sharp in
the Rentals, remaining with the group for several albums. In the ensuing decade, she worked with such additional artists as
Sean Lennon,
Victoria Williams, and guitarist
Bill Frisell, the latter of whom joined
Petra on a self-titled duet album that crossed classical, country, pop, jazz, and world music. She also worked with her siblings as part of the
Haden Sisters trio.
In early 2005, Bar/None Records released
Haden's
The Who Sell Out, a recording that she worked on intermittently for three years. The album reinterpreted the classic
Who album in its entirety, using
Haden's a cappella voice as the sole instrument, and the result was a 39-minute recording that sounded like
the Roches crossed with
the Swingle Singers.
Ten Years followed in 2008, pairing
Petra with guitarist
Woody Jackson. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide