Kristi Strauss and the Blue Medusa

Kristi’s music is an eclectic blend of the various styles of music she enjoys. When asked what her influences are, she crinkles her nose and answers, “I really don’t know who my influences are. I know my music is influenced by other music, as is all music, but there are so many types of music that I enjoy. I can’t pinpoint any single songwriter or style.” She feels that a range of music, which covers classical, opera, blues, jazz, pop, R&B, rock, ethnic (middle-eastern, Latin, oriental) and folk, influences her music. As far as trying to pinpoint her sound, people have loosely compared her to Alanis Morissette, Garbage, Natalie Imbruglia, Nelly Furtado, Jewel, Tori Amos, Tracy Chapman and Fiona Apple, just to name a few. Although her music has elements of many types of music, her overall sound fits snugly into the pop/rock category. For example, in her song “Dream”, she makes use of her operatic range in the background with her ‘pop’ voice in the foreground over an electronica-sounding arrangement. The song sounds like a euro pop anthem. Another example is “Worth Dying For”. The song has a slight middle-eastern feel with tablas and talking drums in the arrangement and a lamenting melody. The song still somehow succeeds in fitting a radio-friendly “pop” sound.