# Bedouine
**Bedouine** is the stage name of Azniv Korkejian, a Syrian-born, Los Angeles-based songwriter of Armenian descent who draws on 1960s and 1970s folk and country influences for her songs.
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Artist | Azniv Korkejian, Syrian-born singer-songwriter of Armenian descent based in Los Angeles[1](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/bedouine-mn0003616999) |
| Early life | Born in Aleppo, grew up in Saudi Arabia, attended international schools; a green card lottery brought her family to the United States in her teens[2](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/oct/15/bedouine-review-wandering-star-is-born-islington-london) |
| Other career | Graduated from the Savannah College of Art and Design in 2011 with a degree in sound design; worked as a Hollywood music editor, most notably on the Judd Apatow-produced film The Big Sick[3](https://www.thefader.com/2017/06/22/bedouine-interview-azniv-korkejian) |
| Studio albums | Bedouine (2017), Bird Songs of a Killjoy (2019), Waysides (2021), Neon Summer Skin (2026)[4](https://bedouine.bandcamp.com/) |
| Debut reception | Self-titled debut scored a Metascore of 85, with 10 positive critic reviews, and ranked #33 Best Album of 2017[5](https://www.metacritic.com/music/bedouine/bedouine/critic-reviews) |
| Label | Debut and follow-ups released on Spacebomb Records; Neon Summer Skin was marketed and distributed by Thirty Tigers[5](https://www.metacritic.com/music/bedouine/bedouine/critic-reviews) • [6](https://www.qobuz.com/us-en/album/neon-summer-skin-bedouine/etnu7ecgrrqbd) |
| Name origin | She named herself after the nomadic Arab people; her mother kept Bedouin jewelry around the house[2](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/oct/15/bedouine-review-wandering-star-is-born-islington-london) • [7](https://letrangere.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/BRUZZ_out201619.pdf) |
## Life and name
Korkejian was born in Aleppo to Armenian parents, then spent her childhood in Saudi Arabia, where she attended international schools, before a green card lottery settled her family in the United States in her teens[2](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/oct/15/bedouine-review-wandering-star-is-born-islington-london). She explained the alias in an interview: "My mom always had Bedouin jewellery hanging around the house"[7](https://letrangere.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/BRUZZ_out201619.pdf). Critics have read the name in the same light as her peripatetic biography, a life that has moved between Syria, Saudi Arabia, and the United States[2](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/oct/15/bedouine-review-wandering-star-is-born-islington-london).
Her background in film shaped the records directly. After graduating from the [Savannah College of Art and Design](https://www.edgepedia.org/savannah-college-of-art-and-design) in 2011 with a degree in sound design, she worked in Hollywood as a music editor; her first feature was *The Big Sick*[3](https://www.thefader.com/2017/06/22/bedouine-interview-azniv-korkejian). She used those skills on her debut album, in the montage of street noises at the end of "Summer Cold" that re-creates the Syrian streets of her youth[8](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/album-reviews-bedouine-jeff-tweedy-big-boi-steve-earle-the-dukes-various-artists-imagine-dragons-justin-adams-a7801601.html).
## Debut album and Spacebomb years
Keen to self-record to tape, Korkejian met the analog engineer and producer Gus Seyffert, and over several years of downtime the two demoed the songs that became her debut[2](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/oct/15/bedouine-review-wandering-star-is-born-islington-london). Released on Spacebomb Records on June 23, 2017, the album *Bedouine* earned a Metascore of 85 from ten positive reviews[5](https://www.metacritic.com/music/bedouine/bedouine/critic-reviews). Reviewers compared her to [Laura Marling](https://www.edgepedia.org/laura-marling), Joni Mitchell, and [Leonard Cohen](https://www.edgepedia.org/leonard-cohen): [The Observer](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-observer) wrote that the Cohen-influenced "Solitary Daughter" gave Marling "a serious run for her money," and The Independent awarded the record five stars and called it a talent "as intriguingly fully-formed and distinctive, in its own way, as Marling, Mitchell and Bush"[5](https://www.metacritic.com/music/bedouine/bedouine/critic-reviews) • [8](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/album-reviews-bedouine-jeff-tweedy-big-boi-steve-earle-the-dukes-various-artists-imagine-dragons-justin-adams-a7801601.html).
Under the Radar described her music as harking back to the "lush yet simple country-folk stylings of Nick Drake and Joni Mitchell" with a hazy 1970s aura, presented without cultural ties to one nation in particular[9](https://www.undertheradarmag.com/interviews/bedouine/). Her first UK show came at The Islington in London in October 2017, a nine-song solo set on which she was showcased in US Vogue and backed her polished album sound only with an acoustic guitar[10](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/bedouine-review-uk-tour-london-syria-gig-debut-album-stream-solitary-daughter-vogue-a7994421.html).
## Subsequent albums
The follow-up *Bird Songs of a Killjoy* appeared in June 2019, also on Spacebomb[4](https://bedouine.bandcamp.com/). In 2020 she released the single "Thirteen", a collaboration with [Waxahatchee](https://www.edgepedia.org/waxahatchee) and Hurray for the Riff Raff, followed by "All My Trials" and "The Hum"[4](https://bedouine.bandcamp.com/). *Waysides*, her third album, was released in October 2021[4](https://bedouine.bandcamp.com/).
**Neon Summer Skin**, her fourth album, was released on June 5, 2026[4](https://bedouine.bandcamp.com/) • [6](https://www.qobuz.com/us-en/album/neon-summer-skin-bedouine/etnu7ecgrrqbd). Written after a final visit to her parents in Saudi Arabia, before their retirement to Armenia, it tells the story of family and upbringing and marks a shift in sound: she returned to the instruments of her childhood, piano and trumpet and valved brass, and co-produced most of the songs with Seyffert, with two tracks worked on with producer Jonathan Rado and Michael and Brian D'Addario of the Lemon Twigs[11](https://www.bedouinemusic.com/about). In a 2026 Guardian interview she described the pain of displacement as a throughline of her family history across Armenia, Syria, and Saudi Arabia[12](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2026/jun/08/bedouine-strangeness-of-arab-life-outside-the-middle-east).
## Reception and reputation
The debut placed in Metacritic's year-end ranking at #33 Best Album of 2017[5](https://www.metacritic.com/music/bedouine/bedouine/critic-reviews). Her profile since has included praise from Pitchfork, which described her music as boasting "a surreal calm and lived in glow," and Rolling Stone, which lauded her "humble folk-pop brilliance," plus an NPR Tiny Desk Concert and tours with [Fleet Foxes](https://www.edgepedia.org/fleet-foxes) and [Father John Misty](https://www.edgepedia.org/father-john-misty)[11](https://www.bedouinemusic.com/about).
## References
1. [Bedouine Biography, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/artist/bedouine-mn0003616999)
2. [Bedouine review – a wandering star is born, The Guardian (2017)](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/oct/15/bedouine-review-wandering-star-is-born-islington-london)
3. [Bedouine Made A Modern Folk Masterpiece The First Time She Tried, The FADER (2017)](https://www.thefader.com/2017/06/22/bedouine-interview-azniv-korkejian)
4. [Music | Bedouine, Bandcamp](https://bedouine.bandcamp.com/)
5. [Critic Reviews for Bedouine, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/music/bedouine/bedouine/critic-reviews)
6. [Neon Summer Skin, Bedouine, Qobuz](https://www.qobuz.com/us-en/album/neon-summer-skin-bedouine/etnu7ecgrrqbd)
7. [AB Concerts feature on Bedouine, BRUZZ PDF](https://letrangere.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/BRUZZ_out201619.pdf)
8. [Album reviews: Bedouine – Bedouine, The Independent (2017)](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/album-reviews-bedouine-jeff-tweedy-big-boi-steve-earle-the-dukes-various-artists-imagine-dragons-justin-adams-a7801601.html)
9. [Bedouine interview, Under the Radar (2017)](https://www.undertheradarmag.com/interviews/bedouine/)
10. [Bedouine at The Islington in London, review, The Independent (2017)](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/bedouine-review-uk-tour-london-syria-gig-debut-album-stream-solitary-daughter-vogue-a7994421.html)
11. [About | Bedouine](https://www.bedouinemusic.com/about)
12. [Musician Bedouine on the strangeness of Arab life outside the Middle East, The Guardian (2026)](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2026/jun/08/bedouine-strangeness-of-arab-life-outside-the-middle-east)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musicians and ensembles › Individual musical biographies › Blues, folk, and roots musicians › Contemporary folk singer-songwriters › Contemporary indie folk artists*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license