Chicagoland native Tristen Gaspadarek is a Nashville-based singer/songwriter who records and performs smartly crafted pop under the name Tristen. Since emerging in the early 2010s, her music has evolved in various directions from the folk strains of 2011's Charlatans at the Garden Gate to the classy synth pop of 2013's Caves and the jangling indie pop of 2017's Sneaker Waves. After focusing on singles for several years Tristen returned in 2021 with her fifth LP, Aquatic Flowers.