Anna Rose Menken '03

ALUMNI PERFORMERS

THE ULTIMATE STORYTELLER

Anna Rose Menken ’03

Photos by Alexa King

Perhaps you’ve heard Anna Rose’s soulful, powerful, captivating music. Her Nashville fans might describe her as an outlaw country singer/songwriter, while others might say her music leans towards alternative country industrial. Her roots are a bit of Led Zeppelin rock with influences by Muddy Waters, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, and other jazz greats and additional inspiration from the likes of Joni Mitchell, Paul Simon, Warren Zevon, Sheryl Crow, and Fleetwood Mac. She would prefer not to be lumped into any genre but rather be known as a storyteller who writes great songs.

Self-Expression & Performance Art at Millbrook

Anna grew up in North Salem, New York, with parents famously known for their creative pursuits: dad Alan Menken, an Oscar-winning Disney composer, and mom Janis, a celebrated dancer. As a ninth grader at Rippowam Cisqua, a day school, Anna was hesitant about the idea of moving on to a boarding high school, where classes met six days a week. She was dancing every day after school, playing piano and guitar (she started playing at the age of two and five respectively), and riding horses at home, but she came for a tour because Millbrook was still close enough to home for comfort. On her Millbrook tour she met Émilie Richard-Froozan ’03, who instantly put her at ease. To this day, Émilie and several other Millbrook classmates remain her closest friends.

Anna reflects fondly on her three years at Millbrook and credits two teachers, Bill Hardy and Walker Zeiser, especially, with encouraging self-expression and empathy. They taught Anna and other students to question what they read and what the

art they were studying represented, to consider biases and why they enjoyed certain artworks or books by certain authors. “I was asked, ‘Why?’ a lot, which was a big part of why Millbrook was so special. I very much developed my individual point of view here.”

Having studied ballet and modern dance from a young age, Anna continued dancing as a creative outlet, and this performance art, not singing, was her chosen form of self-expression at Millbrook. “For me, it was equal parts athleticism and artistry, and I think that’s where I really found a lot of joy in it.”

While Anna expressed herself more publicly then through dance, she was at the same time, more privately, writing music and playing her songs in the practice rooms in the Holbrook Arts Center or for her closest friends.

Storytelling Through Song

After graduating from Millbrook, Anna majored in dance and added choreography to the mix at Occidental College in Los Angeles for two years. But

music was beginning to consume her life as she began playing in smaller venues around L.A. and building her catalog of songs. In the first few days of her junior year, she called her parents to let them know she had made the decision to pursue a music career full time. Their response was, “It’s about time.”

“Both of my parents, to their credit, never dissuaded me from pursuing a life in the arts. And Millbrook didn’t either. I knew who I was, and I was always encouraged. And that’s been the best gift.”

In her early twenties, Anna’s first album, Nomad, was released, which included all original songs, some of which she had written at Millbrook. More recent discography includes Behold a Pale Horse (2013), Strays in the Cut (2016), The Light Between (2019), and In the Flesh (2020). All of her songs are personal, often representing deeply moving, and sometimes difficult, moments in her life. This year, she has produced a concept record, Last Girl of the Rodeo, which is currently being released in sequence over several months.

Labels, Streaming Services, and Making a Living

“There’s a difference between making music and working within the music business, and sometimes you feel like a prizefighter who gets hit a lot and who’s supposed to be in there to get hit. That’s what it can feel like—putting on your armor every day and getting in the ring, you know?”

When Anna began her career in the early 2000s, getting signed to a record label was seen as vital to an artist’s success. Today, with multiple revenue streams for artists—including everything from

radio campaigns to physical record sales to whole album digital downloads to individual streams—she argues that much of what a record label does, you can do for yourself. It certainly is not easy. Today’s music industry is incredibly complicated in terms of copyrights, artist and material management, and payment structure, but 20+ years of experience (and plenty of self-study along the way) allows Anna to map out her own best business approach. For her, what works is remaining an independent performer and owning her own material.

Live Music and Music Videos

Playing live music, however, remains Anna’s passion and main pursuit. While in the process of releasing her newest record, she has been touring this spring, mostly in the northeast corridor, creating connections with old and new fans. Nashville is where she currently lays her head, as she finds a community of songwriters with a high level of camaraderie a welcome change from her previous experiences in L.A. and New York.

This spring she was also busy collaborating with her former classmate and good friend Émilie. Émilie directed the video for “Sucker Puncher,” from Anna’s third album, a song about the music business and a nod to the L.A. biker culture that embraced Anna’s music early on. Émilie has been creating microcosm stories for each song on the new record and is

It’s practically impossible to nail down a true average based on multiple factors, but based on a 2022 iGroove study, generally, recording artists in the U.S. are averaging $4 per 1,000 streams on digital music platforms. An artist needs a quarter million streams to earn $1,000.

Rather than spending time and energy to create fluff content for Instagram reels or marketing partnerships on YouTube, Anna chooses to play shows. She prefers retaining control and choice—playing solo, teaming up with another musician, or going full band—and building a loyal fan base along the way. She also creates songs for film, television, and commercials. You might not have realized it, but if you’re a fan of the NBC series This Is Us, you probably heard Anna’s song, Nobody Knows I’m Here, in season three, episode 12. Recently, she’s added co-writer and producer of musicals to her repertoire, expanding her creativity in new directions.

working with Anna on a longer form video for the record’s title song. Together, they are creating a visual asset for YouTube, inclusive of the entire record beginning to end. “A lot of it is my own story. It’s a pretty honest record, which is both nerve wracking and really exciting, with a through line and a bit of dramatic flair.”

There is no doubt, you can find Anna Rose on the road this year doing what she loves. She’ll be following the advice she shares with younger artists regularly: the best thing you can do is play live music in front of people—it will make you a better artist, a better, musician, and a better vocalist. She’ll continue to share her songs to connect with others and to evolve as an artist. “The more I make music, the more I realize that there’s always something to learn. And the thing that I learned from my dad, especially…in order to achieve something, you have to work hard. Hard work remains the beacon for me.”