Emilee Petersmark is a bisexual Asian-American singer from Michigan. She is in the band "The Crane Wives" and is a visual artist. Petersmark is on vocals and guitar in the band.

She was born in 1987 to parents Marilyn Ann Petersmark and Joseph D Petersmark.

She grew up in the Waterford School District

The Crane Wives is an Americana/folk band from Grand Rapids, Michigan known for its distinct harmonies from vocalists and songwriters Emilee Petersmark and Kate Pillsbury.

The group writes across a broad spectrum of themes, from local folk-tales, personal friendships and relationships, to the occasionally politically motivated track. Petersmark also notes that the group's subject matter includes queer representation, as several songs are about relationships between two women or relationships between two men.

Songwriters Emilee Petersmark and Kate Pillsbury worked at a Chinese restaurant on 44th Street in Grandville, Michigan. To avoid waiting tables, they spent weekends performing in the restaurant under the name The Crane Wives -- a reference to the Decemberists album "The Crane Wife." Later they moved their show to the local circuit and added members Dan Rickabus (drums, vocals), Tom Gunnels (banjo), and Ben Zito (bass).

The Crane Wives entered Sound Post Studios to record their debut album, "Safe Ship, Harbored." Both Zito and Rickabus produced the album. The band held a release celebration at Founders on May 12, 2011 (fact check this).

The album's twelfth and final track, "I Ain't Done," is about the Ada Witch, a Grand Rapids folk-tale in which a woman is murdered by her husband after committing infidelity, and returns to haunt the cemetery near her home.

The Crane Wives made local headlines after Decemberists vocalist Colin Meloy held up a copy of "Safe Ship, Harbored" for a picture during an interview on NPR.

Safe Ship Harbored Track Listing:

Can't Have it All

The Diving Bell

New Colors

Caleb Trask

Counting Sheep

Hole in the Silver Lining

Safe Ship, Harbored

Naked, the Night Falls

Ancient History

October

The Crooked, the Cradle

I Ain't Done

"The Fool in Her Wedding Gown" is the second studio album by The Crane Wives.

The Fool in Her Wedding Gown Track List:

Icarus

Steady, Steady

Easier

Shallow River

Strangler Fig

The Glacier House

Tongues & Teeth

Back to the Ground

Show Your Fangs

Once & for All

Canary in a Coal Mine

Coyote Stories is the fourth studio album by The Crane Wives, and the first album after banjo player Tom Gunnels left the band.

Coyote Stories Track List:

Keep You Safe

The Moon Will Sing

Allies or Enemies

Unraveling

Hard Sell

Rockslide

Metaphor

The Hand That Feeds

Little Soldiers

Sleeping Giants

Of Everlong

Never Love an Anchor

New Discovery

In 2016 The Crane Wives released their sixth studio album, Foxlore.

Foxlore Track List:

Nothing at All

I Talk in My Sleep

Down the River

Ribs

Can't Go Back

Curses

Turn the Lights Out

Pretty Little Things

Know How

Not the Ghost

The Garden

In June of 2017, vocalist and songwriter Emilee Petersmark was featured on the front page of Buzzfeed for a series of art pieces she was commissioned to do as album artwork and posters for fellow Michigan folk group, The Accidentals. The series imagined each zodiac sign as a different goddess.

The Crane Wives entered the studio to record its seventh album in January of 2019.

The Well (2023)

On December 5, 2023, The Crane Wives released their first studio single since the Foxlore era, "The Well."

The song had been played prior on the band's 2023 Summer and Fall tour.

Arcturus Beaming (2024)

On June 4, 2024, The Crane Wives released a single "Arcturus Beaming" using art from Emilee Petersmark that is meant to be part of a new album releasing on September 6, 2024, Beyond, Beyond, Beyond. Including Bitter Medicine which had been released shorty after

Beyond, Beyond, Beyond (September 6th, 2024)

Mad Dog

Black Hole Fantasies

Scars

Bitter Medicine

Arcturus Beaming

Red Clay

Predator

Time will change you

High Ground

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