The Kristi Martel Trio:
Kristi Martel - vocals, piano, & other keys
Nisha Purushotham - Afro-Cuban & West African percussion
Kurt Meyer - fretless & upright bass
The Kristi Martel Band:
Kristi Martel - vocals, piano, & other keys
Angela Romans - backing vocals
Kevin Silvia - guitar
Miya Perry - cello
Kurt Meyer - 5-string fretless & upright bass
Nisha Purushotham - Afro-Cuban & West African percussion
Rich Kulsar - drums
Influences
Tori Amos, Laurie Anderson, Bach, the Beatles, Beethoven, Bjork,
Brahms, Jeff Buckley, Kate Bush, Chopin, Ani Difranco, Sheila E., Ella Fitzgerald, Aretha Franklin, Diamanda Galas, Kristin Hersh, Billie Holiday, Incubus, Jane's Addiction, Janis Joplin, Carole King, Cyndi Lauper, Bobby McFerrin, Joni Mitchell, Meredith Monk, Meshell Ndegeocello, Peter Paul & Mary, Prince, Sade, Skryabin, Nina Simone, Barbra Streisand, the Sugarcubes, Sweet Honey in the Rock, Throwing Muses, Tuck & Patti, Vinx, Craig Werth, Bill Withers, Stevie Wonder...and writers Denise Duhamel, Bell Hooks, Keri Hulme, Audre Lorde, Marge Piercy, Alice Walker
Sounds Like
CLICK ALBUM COVERS TO BUY ON CDBABY.COM! NOTE: iTunes Links work best with Netscape, Safari or Firefox browsers & you must have iTunes installed on your computer
"...a fine musician...Incomparable!" -- Utah Phillips
"Kristi Martel loves life, and the joy she gets out of it exudes from her every pore. She can be singing about the darkest things in the world -- betrayal, self-hate, death -- and yet somehow, coming from her, it feels hopeful and uplifting." -- Marion Davis, Motif Magazine
"She grins when she sings. Watching her perform, it's impossible not to get swept up in the sheer joy of music -- in her deft piano playing and soaring, soul-rhythm-and-blues voice, love emanates from every note." -- Vienna Teng
"Martel proves that she's a powerful storyteller, with meaningful lyrics, passionate performances, and an emotional mission." -- Bob Gulla for The Providence Phoenix
Kristi Martel’s Ravengirl: "In this arresting, intense and surprisingly uplifting album, Martel works out some of her feelings about her lover's suicide...raw awareness, bemused and hurt but grateful and joyous, ...makes Ravengirl so compelling. The album begins with the eerie instrumental "Oya," a sort of rite of passage easing us into Martel's psyche. Martel then wraps us in the gentle "Day of Rain," a song about the day you realize the crying is finally over and are able to look back, calm and clear-eyed. The collage of memories that follows is tinted with the full spectrum of emotion, and Martel's nimble voice constantly shifts with the music... "I am doing fine, I am doing fine," she bubbles; it's not some ironic mantra or attempt at manifesting, just a cheerful chorus of simple truth. She's doing fine indeed, and the album soars way above fine." -- Brian Jewell for Bay Windows
Featured on NPR, WERS, in Curve Magazine, and voted Rhode Island's Best Female Alt-Rock Vocalist, award-winning songwriter and avant-soul piano diva Kristi Martel grew up in New England and earned an ASCAP grant and two music degrees (Bard and Mills College) before beginning her touring and recording career. Her sweet presence and fearless songwriting endear audiences nationwide. Her piano playing combines her love of blues dissonance and syncopation with her classical training. Her powerful voice is at once sweet and bitter, emotional and visionary, articulating prayers and quirky autobiographical narratives in the same breath. Through Sealed Lip Records she has released six CDs. Ravengirl is Kristi's goofy joke superhero name for herself, her recognition of the crazy blessing it is that she felt joy everyday, amidst the profound grief, after her former life partner's suicide in 2003. This newest album is full up with that joy, with the healing and transformation Kristi has undergone to be singing still so powerfully today. Ravengirl received a "highly recommended" from the Providence Journal and stellar reviews from Motif Magazine, Bay Windows, Curve Magazine, and the Providence Phoenix. Kristi has just recorded demos for her next full-length CD, with its much-anticipated secret title track. The work is more jazz and soul, and focuses on the universal in our human experience and our need for inner and world peace.
Discography:
Ravengirl (LP 2006)
Quaint & Curious Ravendemos (LP 2005)
The Mule (LP 2004)
bound (single 2003)
brave enough (LP 2001)
give me a little... (EP 2000)
Want to help get Kristi's music to more people? Check this out.
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Guess what? We are currently Booking for Wednesday nights, All Summer Long! All participants must "auditon" (jam with us) at The Spot on Thayer on Tuesday nights, slots from 9pm-1am. From here there's no telling what might happen. To apply simply Reply, make an appointment, then, come on down. we're lookin for bands, solo's, side projects and compilations. Lookin forward to it!
Pretty spiffy online crib ya got here! Okay...I was trying to sound cool...Did it work? No, probably not, right? Yeah, wellllllllllll...That's fine because I really just stopped by to remind you to add my FACEBOOK page (if you haven't already). I feel kinda bad advertising Facebook on Myspace, but then again, I'm shameless and that's life. So, if you're willing to put aside my "lack of cool" for a good time (no, not like the kind you read about on the bathroom wall...dirty mind), copy & paste FACEBOOK. COM/PEOPLE/LINDSAY_RUSH-MUSIC/788609305 into your web address thing up there ^. So simple and quick - like Pop-Tarts! : )
Welcome to The SYNERGY Events’ second annual, “The Glamorous Red Party”. The event will be hosted at Church Restaurant and Lounge on May 16th, Friday.
Six young women will be chosen randomly prior to the event to be the lucky participants. Guests will spend the evening being treated like celebrities while the competition rages between three local salons to see who comes out on top in a competition to transform the participants from the everyday to the glamorous.
LIMITED REDUCED ONLINE TICKETS (TICKET PRICES WILL BE MORE AT THE DOOR!):
And you continue to grow and grow and grow..musically, spiritually,emotionally...I am beginning to hate you live so far away..I know we will be spending more time together..I certainly hope it is before we are in our 50's! Next time you guys are home for awhile let me know..Liz and Jack and I would love to do a road trip and spend some time together...much love and light to you ravengirl....
Hey Kristi! I still listen to your music constantly and I've been spreading the word down here in ATL. If you ever feel like exploring the deep south, let me know and I'll find you a place to have a show! :)
Come join us for a fun filled morning with good food great music w/ Dean from The Complaints. Really great stuff being auctioned and raffled. Get your tickets today at our website or myspace. Tell all your friends and hope to see your there
hiya kristi.. roger here.. remember - jen's photo opening in 2002? it's been awhile since we chatted. the new songs are very cool.. hope i see you someday in the future! take care of you!
p.s. photophobia reminds me so much of this quote:
"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. ” -Marianne Williamson
Acquired my 2nd cd of yours last night (with a little help from a friend!) Surprised that I knew all the words to a lot of the songs the first time I opened the plastic and played it. By the way, I don't cry (or laugh, for that matter,) easily or often in public. Don't ever stop doing what you do.
