Connie Kis Andersen

"Connie Kis Anderson (sic) was one of the most popular performers during Saturday’s ACE Radio Country Music Spectacular at Horsham Soundshell"

Posted by Weekly Advertiser from Horsham on 26/03/2009 at 04:48 PM in Art & Entertainment / Horsham

http://theweeklyadvertiser.ezyzine.com/ThreadView.aspx?tid=16793 - Weekly Advertiser

March 1, 2009

Connie Kis Andersen may be new to most of the US country music fans, but she is by no means a newcomer. After enjoying a career in special education, Andersen didn’t hang things up, but rather pursued her passion of music with full force and in 2005 released her debut album “Gone Wishin’.” Since then she has received numerous awards in her native Western Australia, and has appeared on festival stages across the country as well as found her way to the states to play such famous places as Tootsie’s and The Bluebird Café. With her latest effort “Once Again” she gives listeners a generous 15 tracks that show the depth of her music and influences. The lead single from the album, “Happy Day,” climbed to the #1 spot on the Indieworld chart much due it part to its upbeat, islandy styled music and feel good lyrics. But this single by no means represents this CD. She displays a honky-tonk style more often than not with tracks like “You’re So Hot,” “Love In The Making,” and her covers of Hank Williams “Honky Tonk Blues” and album closer “Let’s Work Together,” made popular to country music fans by Dwight Yoakam. Throughout the album Andersen leans heavily on the influences of the more traditional based and honky tonk brands of country, but isn’t afraid to show off her wide range of influences when she tackles “Wicked Game” and “You’ve Lost That Loving Feelin’.” Though the cards may be stacked against her as far as mainstream country success goes, there is no doubt that Connie Kis Andersen will find a niche amongst those true country music fans that miss the way things used to be.

From: Today's Country Magazine
www.todayscountrymag.com

- Today's Country Magazine

Nashville Music Guide Feb/March 09 Issue: For its size, Australia is an underpopulated nation that spawns an incredible amount of talent in the entertainment world. Andersen is a perfect example. Featuring traditional country music with a pop feel, this latest CD from the artist was produced at Nashville's studio 815 by Tom K. Pick. Another wonder from down under, Andersen also penned ten of the fifteen songs featured on the album. I know you'll enjoy them all.
Find them at www.conniekisandersen.com.au or myspace.com/conniekisandersen

Rating: 6 Stars (out of seven possible stars)
Reviewer: Brad Fischer Nashville Music Guide Feb/March 09 Issue - Nashville Music Guide

March 1, 2009

Connie Kis Andersen may be new to most of the US country music fans, but she is by no means a newcomer. After enjoying a career in special education, Andersen didn’t hang things up, but rather pursued her passion of music with full force and in 2005 released her debut album “Gone Wishin’.” Since then she has received numerous awards in her native Western Australia, and has appeared on festival stages across the country as well as found her way to the states to play such famous places as Tootsie’s and The Bluebird Café. With her latest effort “Once Again” she gives listeners a generous 15 tracks that show the depth of her music and influences. The lead single from the album, “Happy Day,” climbed to the #1 spot on the Indieworld chart much due it part to its upbeat, islandy styled music and feel good lyrics. But this single by no means represents this CD. She displays a honky-tonk style more often than not with tracks like “You’re So Hot,” “Love In The Making,” and her covers of Hank Williams “Honky Tonk Blues” and album closer “Let’s Work Together,” made popular to country music fans by Dwight Yoakam. Throughout the album Andersen leans heavily on the influences of the more traditional based and honky tonk brands of country, but isn’t afraid to show off her wide range of influences when she tackles “Wicked Game” and “You’ve Lost That Loving Feelin’.” Though the cards may be stacked against her as far as mainstream country success goes, there is no doubt that Connie Kis Andersen will find a niche amongst those true country music fans that miss the way things used to be.

From: Today's Country Magazine
www.todayscountrymag.com

- Today's Country Magazine

NASHVILLE – The beautiful Australian singer and songwriter Connie Kis Andersen makes Country fans feel right at home all over the world.

That’s because Connie Kis is not only one of the most beloved musicians in Western Australia, but she also performs and records more in Nashville than many American artists, and has even already become a Radio favorite in her native Denmark.

And getting to Music City from Perth, Australia, ain’t exactly like going from Nashville to Memphis. She has flown so often on QANTAS that Connie Kis has literally earned two free round-trip tickets from Australia to the United States. Each round trip is roughly 15,000 miles.

But when we hear Connie’s songs like the mid-tempo “Gone Wishin,’ ” the ballad “You Stole My Heart” – which Celine Dion put on hold for more than a year – or the current summertime single “Happy Day,” we know right away that this world traveler’s musical heart is in Nashville.

Her voice combines the smooth stylings of Anne Murray with the Country soul of Patsy Cline, with countless shadings in between. The ace Music Row producer and engineer Tom Pick, who has won numerous Grammys, records Connie Kis in Nashville and loves her work.

The result has been a pair of standout albums – Gone Wishin’ and Once Again – with a combined 30 beautifully crafted songs, giving us a musical picture of a lady who loves the outdoors, riding horses, teaching singing, and experiencing life and love to the fullest.

Connie Kis writes most of the songs herself, but also covers tasty tunes like Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Game.” Her fans have so often requested that Connie Kis do Patsy Cline and Hank Williams songs at her concerts that she is releasing an album of classics.

Unlike many artists, Connie Kis is totally comfortable on stage, anywhere in the world. When she’s at home, she plays in front of several hundred people every Saturday night. “That’s what I live for,” she says, smiling.

Connie Kis has teamed with Claire Ratliff-Sears of the powerhouse Music Row publicist Laughing Penguin to spread her message to the media and to Radio, both in the US and elsewhere. Because Connie was born in Denmark, she is already quite a star there, and has had several indy hits on Danish Radio. She recently performed for the Danish-American Chamber of Commerce in Atlanta, where the Danes were thrilled to show off their native daughter.

In Nashville, she has wowed the crowds at legendary venues including Tootsie’s, the Bluebird Café, and the Nashville Palace.

Great music like Connie’s tends to break down international barriers. Remember, even The Beatles struggled at first: Their debut American single “From Me To You” on Vee-Jay peaked at No. 116 on Billboard in 1963.

And like The Beatles, Connie has found that the combination of terrific music, a fierce work ethic, and a willingness to travel the world makes magic happen.

June 9, 2008

- By PHIL SWEETLAND Music and Radio contributor, The New York Times

Connie returns from successful US tour

Connie Kis Andersen has returned from a successful five week solo tour in the United States.

And though it's been less than a week, she is already finalising plans for her visit to Tamworth in January 2008.

"Each time I visit the US, the experience seems to be greater than the last," she said. "I would rate it as the best yet – even if it was very hard work."

In support of her US radio single Wicked Game, and to promote her new album, Once Again, Connie Kis drove more than 7,000 km through six US states visiting radio stations and performing on 12 different showcases.

"Highlights of the tour were many," says Connie, "with each week offering something special, from guest performances at Nashville and Smoky Mountains Cowboy churches, the Midnight Jamboree, The Bluebird Café, Tootsies, the Australian Festival in Florida, Veets Bar and Grill and University Coffee House performances (in Mobile, Alabama, as special guest of recording artist Tim Kinsey), Nashville Airport, several songwriter rounds in Nashville, to going back to school and studying the craft of songwriting with master teachers from the Nashville Songwriters Association International.

"The songwriting workshop was fantastic," Connie said, "just what I needed to get inspired and lift my songwriting skills to the next level.

"With many of the performances being filmed, broadcast and/or telecast live, along with print media coverage, I was under pressure to do Australia proud, and judging from the feedback I received, it seems I did."

During her visit to Tamworth 2008, Connie will be a host on the Country Music Express (train) and perform guest spots at the festival, as well as run a voice workshop at the Musicians Headquarters on "protective vocal technique".

"I am really looking forward to being a host on the train and to catching up with radio presenters and fans who have been so supportive of not only my current Australian single, but my music in general.

Photo: Connie performs on America's Midnight Jamboree.


Nov 14, 2007
- Bob Kircner: Editor, Country Music Bulletin

NASHVILLE – The beautiful Australian singer and songwriter Connie Kis Andersen makes Country fans feel right at home all over the world.

That’s because Connie Kis is not only one of the most beloved musicians in Western Australia, but she also performs and records more in Nashville than many American artists, and has even already become a Radio favorite in her native Denmark.

And getting to Music City from Perth, Australia, ain’t exactly like going from Nashville to Memphis. She has flown so often on QANTAS that Connie Kis has literally earned two free round-trip tickets from Australia to the United States. Each round trip is roughly 15,000 miles.

But when we hear Connie’s songs like the mid-tempo “Gone Wishin,’ ” the ballad “You Stole My Heart” – which Celine Dion put on hold for more than a year – or the current summertime single “Happy Day,” we know right away that this world traveler’s musical heart is in Nashville.

Her voice combines the smooth stylings of Anne Murray with the Country soul of Patsy Cline, with countless shadings in between. The ace Music Row producer and engineer Tom Pick, who has won numerous Grammys, records Connie Kis in Nashville and loves her work.

The result has been a pair of standout albums – Gone Wishin’ and Once Again – with a combined 30 beautifully crafted songs, giving us a musical picture of a lady who loves the outdoors, riding horses, teaching singing, and experiencing life and love to the fullest.

Connie Kis writes most of the songs herself, but also covers tasty tunes like Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Game.” Her fans have so often requested that Connie Kis do Patsy Cline and Hank Williams songs at her concerts that she is releasing an album of classics.

Unlike many artists, Connie Kis is totally comfortable on stage, anywhere in the world. When she’s at home, she plays in front of several hundred people every Saturday night. “That’s what I live for,” she says, smiling.

Connie Kis has teamed with Claire Ratliff-Sears of the powerhouse Music Row publicist Laughing Penguin to spread her message to the media and to Radio, both in the US and elsewhere. Because Connie was born in Denmark, she is already quite a star there, and has had several indy hits on Danish Radio. She recently performed for the Danish-American Chamber of Commerce in Atlanta, where the Danes were thrilled to show off their native daughter.

In Nashville, she has wowed the crowds at legendary venues including Tootsie’s, the Bluebird Café, and the Nashville Palace.

Great music like Connie’s tends to break down international barriers. Remember, even The Beatles struggled at first: Their debut American single “From Me To You” on Vee-Jay peaked at No. 116 on Billboard in 1963.

And like The Beatles, Connie has found that the combination of terrific music, a fierce work ethic, and a willingness to travel the world makes magic happen.

June 9, 2008

- By PHIL SWEETLAND Music and Radio contributor, The New York Times

Once Again is an apt title for Connie Kis Andersen's latest album because once again, she has delivered a silky smooth collection of songs that show her versatility, songwriting skills and appealing vocals. With a mix of tempos, she has managed to take her audience through a range of emotions in a style which 'embraces' the listeners rather than confronts them.

Bob Anthony Jnr:
Editor, Country Update

_____________________________________________

This album is one you need in your collection; Connie has gone out of her way to cater for all styles of country music. A good album.

Jeff Dunn: Presenter
Good Morning Country. CBAA

____________________________________________

Once Again - you’ll just have to play it once again, and once again, and again, and again ...

Burt Everett: Country Music Reviewer
Bundaberg Guardian & Country Capers (online)

_____________________________________________


They say music feeds the soul, and Connie Kis Anderson’s wonderful new album does just that. Connie infuses her music with perception, passion and the kind of emotional connection that makes you sit up, take notice and smile.

Susan Jarvis; Journalist
Capital News
- Various: As acknowledged

KISS ME AGAIN!

By Deborah Minter

Danish born CONNIE KIS ANDERSEN is proud to call Western Australia home, but she knows the world outside is closer than ever.

Connie Kis has just released her second CD Once Again, and once again she travelled to Nashville to record. “We have wonderful very talented producers, musicians and artists here in Australia,” she explained, “but it just seemed fated that I record in the US. I started out as a songwriter pitching my material overseas only because I knew that most of our own artists write their own songs. There are many more prospects with overseas artists who don’t write.”
Connie Kis had been a member of NSAI (Nashville Songwriters’ Association International) for over 10 years; honing her skills as a songwriter and developing contacts there when she received a call that would change her life. Instead of a producer wanting to record one of her songs, he said he wanted to record an album with HER! The offer came from 16 time Grammy Award winning producer TOM PICK.
It was a heady rush for the lady who admits she thought time had passed her by. “For years I had visualised this, thinking it was beyond reach and then, there I was, working with people that I had held in so much esteem.”
Connie Kis’ first album was Gone Wishin’, which led the singer to win awards and praise right across Australia and the US. Her debut single Kiss My Cheek stayed in the Australian Top 30 charts for 8 weeks. She took out the WA Country Music Award for Best Country Music Female Vocal 2006 and was a finalist in the WAMI Awards for Best Country Music Act.
“This past year seemed to whiz by,” she said. “I had four trips to the East Coast to perform and two to the US… all up; I believe I was away from home for at least 3 months.”
August/September saw Connie Kis in the US for a month, writing and recording her follow-up album, again with Tom Pick producing. “I hardly had time to catch my breath before Christmas was upon us and it was time to head back to Nashville.” Connie Kis was invited to performance at the world famous Bluebird Café, Cowboy Church, Tootsies and several other prestigious venues. “I even got to sing with the JORDANAIRES,” she said, grinning happily.
“Tom feels the new album is a notch up on Gone Wishin’. I am just proud because I wrote 10 of the tracks on the album and Tom felt they were good songs he could put his name to as producer.”
The first single from the new album is a feisty tongue-in-cheek poke at the Aussie male. “Mere Male is a fun look at men, based loosely on my own experiences of living with, and loving my own mere male (husband Arthur) despite his flaws and idiosyncrasies.”\
Once Again is also the title track of the album. “The song just so happens to be one of my favourites,” Connie Kis said. “It has a very traditional country feel and tells a story with a subtle twist. It is the ultimate ‘cheatin’ song where the person in the story loses all that he treasures because of an indiscretion. It is loosely based on the experiences of a friend of mine. Sometimes as a song writer, we embellish the truth to get a point across.”
“The inspiration to write comes from all places; my own experiences, watching and feeling other people’s pain, listening to other folk’s stories and re-telling them wearing their shoes.” With songs like Lounge lizard, You’re So Hot, Blue River Of Tears and So Tired, Connie Kis shows a sensitive side and also the ability to write songs with huge slice of fun.
“I believe that with our new technology, Australia and indeed the world, has become a smaller place,” she said. “Whether it be working with the very best people in Nashville or performing to audiences across Australia and the US – sometimes I have to pinch myself to make sure this is all real.”

April 2007 Vol 32 No. 4 - Capital News Magazine

A testament to the philosophy of never losing sight of one’s goals and dreams, Connie Kis Andersen was of an age when most people would have long let go of pursuing their passion when doors started opening for her, winning 2006 Best Country Music Female Vocalist WA and making the 2007 finals in both the WAM Best Country Music Act and the ACRA Awards for Female Vocalist.

In Perth, Western Australia, it is no secret that the ‘tyranny of distance’ is the greatest hindrance that most WA artists experience, but in a strange turn of fate, this isolation has worked well for Connie Kis.

“With the rest of the music world so far away,” she says, “I had developed my networks as a songwriter in the USA, mainly because our Australian market was pretty well covered, and there was very little difference in effort when it came to pitching my material to the Australian or American music industries”.

Always the singer and performer, Connie Kis had tasted showbiz at the tender age of eleven when she appeared on the Slim Dusty show, playing a medley of songs on her banjo-mandolin. At the time, her family were living in Bourke NSW, when Slim’s tour came to town and involved the local talent in his show as was his practise.

“It stays in your blood when you experience the joy of music at such an early age” she says. “I began learning music when I was eight years old and in primary school would sing lead in Gilbert and Sullivan productions that my teacher would put on.”

Years later, Connie Kis had relocated to Perth to work at a ‘real job’, but still sang and performed in duos, bands and trios. She had also developed an interest in songwriting and began to actively pitch her material overseas.

“My first offer to record came from a Canadian producer based in Nashville. I had pitched a song to him for one of his artists, when he called me asking for more material and wanting to know who the singer on the demo was”.

From there, the story takes a few twists and turns but suffice it to say, Connie Kis ended up making a long distance recording of a debut E.P.; Keeping It Simple.

“Since then” she says, “I haven’t really looked back. It’s been an amazing, fulfilling journey laced with blood, sweat and tears - of joy as well as pain”.

Her current producer and engineer on both her full length albums; Gone Wishin’ and Once Again is 16 time Grammy Award winner, Tom Pick.

“I have just been so lucky to work with some of the best folks in Nashville” says Connie Kis. “Tom is up for another Grammy in February 08 and the album with the title song that I sang back up on for him is also up for a Grammy”.

“In only just 3 years, I have travelled to the USA five times in support of radio releases and to perform at venues such as The Bluebird Café, The Midnight Jamboree, The Australian Festival and both the Nashville and Smoky Mountain Cowboy Churches to name just a few venues. I am due back in Nashville, May 2008 for some more performances and another release to radio.” She says, “I would just love to tour and travel as much on the East Coast of Australia but surprisingly, it’s harder here for me to find the help that I need to set up a tour.”

That said, Connie Kis has just returned from the Tamworth Festival where she was an artist host on the Country Music Express Train travelling from Albury-Wodonga to Tamworth.

March 2008
- Country Update Magazine

Once Again is an apt title for Connie Kis Andersen's latest album because once again, she has delivered a silky smooth collection of songs that show her versatility, songwriting skills and appealing vocals. With a mix of tempos, she has managed to take her audience through a range of emotions in a style which 'embraces' the listeners rather than confronts them.

Bob Anthony Jnr:
Editor, Country Update

_____________________________________________

This album is one you need in your collection; Connie has gone out of her way to cater for all styles of country music. A good album.

Jeff Dunn: Presenter
Good Morning Country. CBAA

____________________________________________

Once Again - you’ll just have to play it once again, and once again, and again, and again ...

Burt Everett: Country Music Reviewer
Bundaberg Guardian & Country Capers (online)

_____________________________________________


They say music feeds the soul, and Connie Kis Anderson’s wonderful new album does just that. Connie infuses her music with perception, passion and the kind of emotional connection that makes you sit up, take notice and smile.

Susan Jarvis; Journalist
Capital News
- Various: As acknowledged