Her name is Krista Detor and, though she plays most of the major folk festivals and has a serious following in Europe, it's safe to say that most American listeners have no idea who she is. She's been played on NPR and the other noncommercial stations but her marketplace profile isn't very high.
Which is a shame because she's fabulous.
Maybe it isn't a shame. Maybe she's just too good for radio.
I reviewed her second album and her third, the world's best Christmas album, for Rambles and fell in love with her music. I said then that she can't really be categorized, which might have something to do with her lack of big time commercial success. If you don't fit neatly into an established genre, radio doesn't know what to do with you and Detor is not going to be pinned down.
A piano-playing singer-songwriter, she appears to belong to the folk-rock school, but if that's the case, she attends a school with a mighty wide-ranging curriculum. She's bluesy, folky,jazzy, an ironic chanteuse, a depression era diva -- she's not only all over the map, she is the map.
In short, she's an original. Her songs are startling, with fine lyrics and unusual tunes. She's fond of dressing the tunes with trombones, saxes, banjos and dobros -- in the same song and the accompaniments give her work a sweet, postmodern feel.
Her voice is the story. Detor doesn't seem to sing at all. She never oversings, never shows off her marvelous voice at the expense of the song. What she does is tell you a story in a low, intimate, husky voice that appears to be directed just to you.
A new album is scheduled for release this fall. I recommend you be standing in line when it comes out. I know I will be.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment