Marisa Anderson channels the history of the guitar and stretches the boundaries of tradition. Her playing is fluid, emotional, and masterful, featuring compositions and improvisations that re-imagine the landscape of American music. Classically trained, Anderson honed her skills playing in country, jazz and circus bands. Her current work is focused on a mid-20th century archive of recorded music from the Islamic world, Southeast Asia and the Soviet Union.

The New Yorker calls Anderson "one of the most distinctive guitar players of her generation", and NPR refers to her as among "this era’s most powerful players". Anderson is the recipient of  the 2025 Spark Award for Oregon Artists presented by the James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation.