OKAY PLAYER PREMIERES KRYSTLE WARREN’S “STIRRING” NEW ALBUM ‘THREE THE HARD WAY’: http://www.okayplayer.com/music/krystle-warren-three-the-hard-way-album-stream-premiere.html

KCRW, OTHERS RAVE AS 1ST US SHOWS SET IN NY, LA

Krystle Warren – the artist who Rufus Wainwrights calls “one of the greatest living singers” – released her album ‘Three The Hard Way’ this past Friday on Parlour Door Music. An eclectic, "stirring" (Okay Player) work, it sees Warren playing all of the instruments and co-producing with Ben Kane (D’Angelo, Emily King, PJ Morton). The album includes a number of powerful moments, foremost among them “Red Clay,” a stripped down song about the aftermath of a KKK attack on an Oklahoma community in the 1921, not far from where Krystle’s grandmother grew up.

On September 20, she will join with previously announced artists Billy Bragg, Esperanza Spalding, Frank Turner, Frightened Rabbit, Gregory Porter, Joan As Policewoman, Julien Baker, KT Tunstall, The Magic Numbers, The National, and others, each of whom will play Sofar Sounds concerts in partnership with Amnesty International as part of the Give a Home benefit concert series. More info on that series: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2017/06/give-a-home

Upcoming spotlights are due in Downbeat and Sheen Magazines. Here’s the buzz thus far:

“Evocative storytelling.”
- Audie Cornish, NPR All Things Considered, May 25, 2017

“I highly doubt it will leave my top 5 of best albums of 2017… A must have… Captivating… I absolutely love Krystle Warren. To say she is a phenomenal talent would be an understatement and I’m not one to dabble in hyperbole.”
- Aaron Byrd, KCRW, August 18, 2017

“Beautiful… stirring.”
- ZO, Okay Player, August 18, 2017

“Haunting.”
- Chris Steffen, All Music, August 4, 2017

"Sublime... organic experience that is full of life and feeling... Warren works with inspired expressions & rhythms that strips down conventional R&B to find new points of meaning & purpose that frames hopes for the future while still holding remembrances of the past in heart & mind."
- Sjimon Gompers, Impose, July 21, 2017

Krystle Warren Tour Dates

September 18 – The Bridge (KCPT) taping – Kansas City, MO
October 3 – Zebulon – Los Angeles, CA

Warren has earned prior praise from T Magazine, The Guardian, Consequence of Sound, and the LA Times and counts kd lang and Joe Boyd among her high profile fans.

NPR ALL THINGS CONSIDERED PERFORMANCE/CHAT, KCRW & OKAYPLAYER HAIL ECLECTIC MUSICIAN KRYSTLE WARREN’S FIRST ALBUM IN FIVE YEARS ‘THREE THE HARD WAY’ (AUGUST 18 / PARLOUR DOOR MUSIC)

2012’S ‘LOVE SONGS,” ONE OF THE BEST ALBUMS OF THE YEAR” (GUARDIAN) TO BE REISSUED FOR ITS FIFTH ANNIVERSARY

 

“ONE OF THE GREATEST LIVING SINGERS,” SAYS COLLABORATOR RUFUS WAINWRIGHT

 

Krystle Warren – the singer, songwriter, bandleader, and Rufus Wainwright collaborator  – will release her first album in five years ‘Three The Hard Way’ on August 18 on Parlour Door Music. NPR All Things Considered spoke with her about the announcement, calling her music “evocative storytelling."

 

Link to first single “Thanks and Praise” (OK to share).

 

Recorded, mixed, and co-produced by Ben Kane (D’Angelo, Emily King, PJ Morton), it’s also earned early spins on KCRW. okayplayer hailed its announcement, calling her "a light in dark times," continuing, "If you're a fan of uncut soul and spirited r&b, Krystle Warren should not escape your gaze or rotation.” A potent mix of styles, ‘Three The Hard Way’ swirls with R&B, folk music, jazz, hip hop, blues, gospel strains and yet is entirely original in its sound and scope, which ranges from spirituality and love to the effects of social media on our lives and gentrification. One of the album’s most poignant moments is “Red Clay,” about the Tulsa, OK African-American community of Greenwood that was destroyed by the Klu Klux Klan in a riot in 1921, not far from where Warren’s grandmother lived.

 

She will also reissue her 2012 album ‘Love Songs,’ hailed as “one of the best albums of the year” by the Guardian, on July 30, also on Parlour Door Music.

 

Warren has earned effusive and widespread praise in the press and among her peers:

 

"Formidable… one of the greatest living singers at the moment." -Rufus Wainwright

 

“Established talent” – T Magazine

 

"Krystle Warren: you should really give her a listen. You won't believe what you're hearing; she's amazing." - KD Lang

 

“****… remarkable… gloriously original.” – The Guardian

 

“Explosive… smoky voiced” – LA Times

 

“Impressive.” –Consequence of Sound

 

"Warren's voice is an extraordinary instrument, murmuring with tenderness at times, growling with intensity at others. It vividly recalls Nina Simone in its depth and smokiness, as well as John Martyn and [Jeff] Buckley in terms of virtuosic variety."  -The Guardian

 

Already in her career, she was handpicked by Joe Boyd to tour as part of Way To Blue, a stage tribute to Nick Drake. Born and raised in Kansas City, MO, she now lives with her partner in Paris, France; her time in Paris is tackled in “If Memory Serves Me Well.”