A Brooklyn resident via New Hampshire, Minnesota, and Austin, Will Sheff is the driving force behind critically acclaimed indie band Okkervil River. “One of the best lyric-writers in indie rock” (Pitchfork), Sheff writes songs that grapple with emotional intangibles like anxiety, nostalgia, wonder, hope, and regret. Melodic energy matches the flow of words, counteracting cerebral detachment with visceral immediacy. Eleven years after Okkervil’s breakthrough concept album, Black Sheep Boy, the recently released and expansive Away features a new backing band and tracks that push past the confines of a pop song. Sheff arrives at The Appel Room as an artist shedding a past persona and striving to connect to the present.