Kristy Apps (solo) Kristy Apps and The Shotgun Shirleys (band)
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia | SELF
Music
Press
The last 10 years has seen Kristy Apps move on from being a folk-orientated troubadour with attitude and issues to sing about (which is usually enough for most people to work through) to something stronger but also more challenging. That's more than evident on this, her 2nd full length album. Rather than deliver a logical progression from the stripped back feel of 2007's Stranger in the Divide, she bought in a top notch producer in Anthony Lycenko(Pete Murray,Women in Docs, Giants of Science) and then beefed up her songs with a variety of musicians. So when she sings of being high from sexual tension the music lifts accordingly, adding to Apps' impassioned vocal. And Lycenko found a way to harness Apps' range of intensity, giving the project a dynamism that takes you from the big, bold rock of Physical and the driving energy of the tittle track to a more vulnerable stance for the touching piano ballad Be Patient. In between there's the palpable urgency of You Could Be You, the questioning tone of Friend or Foe, and a truely amazing reworking of Salt-n-Pepa's Push
It . It's built around all things accordion but sung as if Bruce Springsteen may have written it for Patti Smith. It is something to experience, but not the only such moment here. On this impressive effort, Apps has found a way to bridge the more intimate and the bolder sides of her songs, and she sound the better for it.
4 Stars, Bill Holdsworth Rave August 2009 - Rave
Kristy Apps has power in every move she makes. Known for her 12 string attitude, insightful lyrics and voice that is soul stirring, she s definitely making waves around the country. - Sunshine Coast Daily
Kristy Apps is a performer who infuses her music with a certain something. The music and lyrics stand alone but when you add a purely unrestrained vocal tone it makes the jaded of listeners stand up, take notice and be moved. - Nikki Bignol Q news
To see Kristy Apps perform is like seeing someone channel the spirit of Janis Joplin. - Courier Mail, Craig Spann
Discography
Pour Me Out, 2009 heard on JJJ Roots n All, 4ZZZ, FBI Sydney and many community, indie stations nationally as well as being added to U.S College Radio
Stranger in the Divide, 2006- recieved airplay on 4ZZZ and national community stations
HEY MR LION (2001) EP Received airplay Nationally on ABC Radio & New Zealand National Radio.
NATURE STRIP POKER (2004) EP
STRANGER IN THE DIVIDE (2006) Received airplay Nationally on ABC, 4ZZZ and New Zealand Radio. it was also spot played on USA radio stations. Joy Fm Sydney.
Pour Me out to be release Oct 2008
Photos
Bio
In the clatter and noise of the Australian singer-songwriter set, it can be hard to find a voice that really grabs you. But when you listen to Kristy Apps, you know you’re hearing something really special – this is not music as wallpaper. It demands you attention.
Listen to her latest album Pour Me Out and it’s all but impossible to tune out. There’s a sense of reckleness and bravado, but also a vulnerability and brutal honesty underpinning every track.
Blending folk, country and rock she delivers her songs, as if she was hand delivering you a telegraph, written for you or someone you know. And live, that sense of connection is turned up to the next level.
Her two Woodford shows on New Years day further solidified her reputation as a powerhouse live performer. – Time Off
One of the top three shows of 2010 – Rhythms Magazine
It’s a craft she has honed over a decade of writing and peforming, carving her very own niche in the Australian songwriter community – while winning plenty of fans around the globe.
She’s performed with artists like Deborah Conway, Jen Cloher, and Pete Murray at venues and festivals all over Australia – including the Woodford Folk Festival. And she’s hit the road across the USA, chalking up sets at numerous venues including the Philadelphia Entertainment Centre, Eddies Attic and the Susquehanna Folk Festival.
It’s a sense of experience that’s written all over ‘Pour Me Out’. Her third full-length record, Kristy enlisted the help of ARIA nominated Producer Anthony Lycenko ( Pete Murray, Women in Docs, Giants of Science) to capture what is easily her strongest work to date.
Since it’s release Pour Me Out has been named album of the week in Rave Magazine and hit the top of the 4ZZZ airplay charts. It has received support from Triple J’s Roots ‘n All, ABC national and community radio across the country, and was named in the top 10 albums of the year by national blues and roots publication Rhythms Magazine.
Kristy pours out her heart and soul to create this excellent acoustic rock album. Power vocals combined with great rock build-ups add to the impact. Nice one - LOTL
Pour Me Out will no doubt elevate this young lady's career to the next level. Mature, thoughtful, pensive, smart tunes abound on this impressive album. – LMNOP
A truly amazing reworking of salt n pepa's Push It... sung as if Bruce Springsteen wrote it for Patti Smith, it is something to experience." On this impressive effort Apps' has found a way to bridge the more intimate and bolder sides of her songs – Rave Magazine
Opener ‘Pour Me Out’, with its driving energy, leads into the bolder rock of ‘Physical’, and it’s immediately clear Apps, with her impassioned, pained vocals, could be the next Melissa Etheridge. The instrumentals perfectly complements the range in Apps’ emotional spectrum, ebbing and flowing consistently and effectively. – MCV
Today, she is performing under the moniker Kristy Apps and the Shotgun Shirleys with the addition of some of Brisbane’s finest musicians – Sallie Ann Campbell (violin), Ruth Gardner (guitars), Shiv Zimmerman (bass) – and is currently in the middle of pre-production for her next release.
All of Kristy’s records are available online everywhere through SUGARRUSH Records.
Links
