So‚ who is Kirsten Price?
The quick bio would read something like this: a Brit-born, Brooklyn-based singer who has fashioned a sound that evocatively connects classic American soul with modern pop. You may have heard some of her work before; even before the release of her debut album “Guts & Garbage, Price's music had been featured in such heavyweight television shows as The L-Word, CSI and Cashmere Mafia. She has already toured extensively on her own, and served as the hand-picked opener for Wyclef Jean, and, more recently, the long-missing-in-action Sly Stone.
But that's all surface. Listening to her album, and talking to her, brings out all sorts of shades, nuances and quirks. She is not “the next" anything. She IS wickedly funny. She is not a porn star. And she is very exacting and determined an interview with her may involve an out-of-breath phone conversation while she stalks around town putting up posters for her next show “I have problems delegating, she admits.). At the end of the day, what you are hearing is a singer who wants to express her creativity and do it, decidedly, in her own way.
To understand, you need to go way back. In her youth, Price dove headfirst into music and developed her staunch individualistic streak. The singers earliest music memories from London involve her joining a number of a capella groups and choirs, “I always filled in for whoever was missing,the alto, the soprano. While her own research continued at home. “I remember getting home from school and waiting for mom. While I was waiting, I' raid her whiskey cabinet, smoke some cigarettes, and cue up some classic records William Byrd, Leonard Bernstein, Bach, Prince, Motown, it wasn't the worst day to spend my afternoons.
Eventually, music pulled Price out of London and toward Brooklyn, where she arrived, jobless and near penniless, a week before Sept. 11, 2001. “The only good thing about hat was, I got to see the sense of togetherness and compassion that was taking place in the city right afterwards, she remembers. Price carved out a busy existence, studying music and composition during the evenings, teaching piano during the day, and testing out different music on her own.
After some commercial work and generating a lot of industry buzz Price began work on several new tracks, assisted by producer Frederick Sargolini “I had pretty much finished the bulk of what I wanted my record to be before the labels came calling, says the singer. “And part of any deal anyone was going to be offered was that they had to include the material I had already worked on. As a deal with Sony approached, Price was able to cut some additional tracks with Raphael Saadiq (of the R&B trio Tony! Toni! Tone!) and Danny Saber (David Bowie, Madonna, Seal).
Still, the singer was having mixed feelings about the mechanics of the industry. “That's the biggest hurdle, isn't it? Producing your own material in a way that accurately reflects who you are, or finding people who can help you achieve your vision, she says. “I mean, working with someone like Frederick, it was great; we wouldn't even need to say something, he just knew what I was thinking. But when it came time to finish the album, I wanted to cut off a lot of the fat, and put the music back where it's supposed to be.
In the end, after label shake-ups and the album being delayed, Price took back her songs and decided to release the album the way she wanted to. The result, “Guts & Garbage, finds the singer taking center-stage and having her fabulously talented collaborators working for her, not over or against her. "I'd say this record is 100% me and what I wanted to do" she says. The record is both diverse and cohesive, deftly moving between the exaggerated swagger of “Crazy Beautiful" through the trip-hop flavored jams of “5 Days Old" and “Possibilities", with plenty of soulful harmonies (the retro-leaning “Bring Me Back" and contemporary pop sheen (“Let Me Go") to round out the mix.
Oddly, despite the increased interest in female-driven soul music (especially those artists with a UK flavor), Price admits she doesn't see herself much in her contemporaries, or vice versa. “When I work, it's like I'm living under a rock, she admits. It's just me and my own stuff."
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