Monday, 06 September 2010
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Wednesday, February 01, 2006
BY MR.TROLL
Among
the many wonderful Texas musicians currently writing and performing
original music, Kristy Kruger is inching her way forward into the
public eye. With three CDs already released on her own Do It Yerself
Records, and a fourth on the way, she is poised to burst out of the
crowd.
Kristy was born and raised in the Dallas area, and
attended Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual
Arts, the same school that has brought us such artists as Norah Jones
and Eryka Badu. From there she went to USC, performing in the LA area
while earning her degree in the Music Business field. Her purpose in
this field was not to be active in the business end, but to have the
knowledge to be able to manage her own career, hopefully avoiding the
pitfalls that trip up many rising artists.
Piano lessons began
at age 5 for Kristy. Like many, she hated practicing, but continued on
under parental pressure until about the age of twelve, at which point a
piece of music grabbed her in such a way as to inspire her to play for
hours every day. It was also during this period that singer/songwriters
and “girl bands” (she mentions Debbie Gibson) caught her attention. The
idea of being able to be the songwriter and the performer, rather than
a performer of other writer’s material, caught her imagination and led
her to the path on which she finds herself today.
At nineteen,
Kristy began adding the guitar to her instrumental arsenal, and this
has become the most convenient performance instrument for her, although
she still plays keyboards on her recordings.
Among the numerous awards Kristy has garnered for her work are:
Nominated for Best Acoustic/Folk Act in Dallas—The Dallas Observer
Down Beat Magazine’s DeeBee Award
Four first place awards from the Texas Music Teacher’s Association
The Whitlock Memorial Scholarship Award (for winning more musical awards than any other high school senior in Texas)
Best
Singer/Songwriter Album of the Year at the Just Plain Folks
International Independent Music Awards (for her third CD, “Anatomy”)
Kristy’s
music includes elements of classical, jazz, folk, and pop music. Her
instrumental and vocal arrangements are subtle and supportive of the
song, rather than flashes of musical virtuosity. The emphasis is on the
song, which is likely to be darkly humorous, rather than the musical
performances.
Her pending CD, “Songs From a Dead Man’s Couch, is
currently being mastered by Bruce Barielle. Kristy self-produced the
album, recorded at Salim Nourallah’s studio, Pleasantry Lane, with
Salim taking on the engineering duties. Players include veteran Dallas
guitarist Eric Neal, Todd Pertll on pedal steel and banjo, Lyndah
Garner (known for her work with her twin sister Beth) on Bass, Warren
Kaye on upright bass, Jeffrey Barnes (Brave Combo) on clarinet and bass
clarinet, Todd Unruh (Cowboys and Indians) on drums, local songwriter
Doug Burr on backup vocals, and Paul Slavens (Ten Hands) on accordian.
Mixing was done by Ethan Allen, formerly with Daniel Lanois, and a
veteran with credentials that include work with Emmy Lou Harris,
Lucinda Williams, and U2, as well as many others. Wofford Denius, known
for work with The Old 97’s, is shopping the CD around the labels in LA,
but the CD will be released as an indie record in the meantime,
hopefully by March.
Kristy’s music can currently be heard at
www.Myspace.com/kristykruger, or you can visit her website at
www.kristykruger.com. She performs live frequently in the Dallas area,
as well as returning several times a year to the LA venues in which she
got her start.
Upcoming dates include Jan. 27 at The All
Good Café in Dallas, Feb. 4 at Hailey’s in Denton, Feb. 10 at Standard
& Pours in Dallas, and Feb. 18 at Momo’s in Austin.
Come on out and SUPPORT TEXAS MUSIC!
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