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The Price is right
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When society stumbles into hard times and people are forced to start sacrificing, few things remain which most of us cannot go without. Booze and condoms first come to mind, but music can undoubtedly be added to the list. So in the midst of this global recession, U.K.-born, NYC-based singer Kirsten Price is embarking on her North American Tough Times ’09 Tour to address our collective anxieties and soothe them with some good ol’ soulful songwriting. A child of an eclectic musical upbringing, from Chopin and Debussy to Chuck Berry and Prince, Price—whose tunes have graced The L Word and Cashmere Mafia, and earned her opening slots for Wyclef Jean and Sly Stone—sees herself as a jack of all trades but still clarifies that she is a singer first and foremost. “I’ve learned a lot from working in studios in the earlier part of my career but I definitely wouldn’t call myself a musician. My voice is my instrument, but I can pretty much do what I need to do to get by when it comes to accompanying myself or playing different parts of my music.” When she’s on stage, Price can comfortably jump from the piano, her oldest friend, to the guitar and even the bass, her latest crush. “Right now I’m going through a bass phase. I never had the balls to do it before but it’s really been a liberating experience, especially because I have such a beautiful 1960 stand-up bass. I’m addicted, I can’t stop playing it.” When it comes to songwriting, she’s not one of those “lyrics first” people. Her debut album, 2008’s Guts & Garbage, offers an intricately woven personal style of soul music heavy on feeling and emotion. “I usually have the whole song produced and finished with the lyrics still missing. Sometimes it will all come to me at once but I always start with the music.” Her performance this coming Tuesday at Green Room will be her first appearance in Montreal, but not in Canada. “I find an energy here that is similar to the energy I found growing up in London. There is a lack of self-consciousness that makes for great musical culture.” Cheers to that. AT GREEN ROOM ON TUESDAY, |
