My homemade immortality. My lasting effect. This is my life after death.
HOLLY KIRSTEN -
SINGER/SONGWRITER/COVER ARTIST/GUITARIST/PIANIST
With the voice of angel and the ability to captivate her audience, Arizona singer / guitarist / songwriter Holly Kirsten is a natural born performer. On stage, 'rockin' is where Holly's most at home.
* Holly has recently returned to the USA following a tour of Australia which saw her play more than 80 solo shows over a six month period. Holly also played a large number of support gigs for some of the most recognised and respected names in the Australian music industry such as Kasey Chambers, Brian Cadd, The Radiators and Mental as Anything.
* Holly currently resides in Chandler,Arizona and plays 4 to 5 shows every week in the greater phoenix area. Her popularity in the bars and clubs has gained her weekly residencies at a number of well known local venues, Skeptical Chymist, Fibber McGees, John Henrys and Old Town Tavern. Holly performs a mixture of her own material and well known cover songs. Her original material is often requested and always well recieved by the audience.
* Holly has a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance. She studied at Northern Arizona University, gradutating in 2007. Showing her musical diversity, Holly performed several lead opera roles including Menotti's Old Maid and the Thief and Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutti. The intense opera training Holly recieved has enabled her to create a sound that is uniquely her own.
* In 2007 Holly recorded a live album of all original music that was well recieved and is currently working on her debut studio album set to be released during the Summer of 2010.
* Holly has also studied piano for 10 years and was taught guitar by her father beginning at age 14. She has been teaching Voice and Piano lessons for the past 2 years in Arizona and Australia, along side gigging full time.
**HollyKirsten.com is coming soon!
Long distance love song
(US country singer Holly Kirsten is making a life for herself at Terrigal.)
ALL the way from Arizona, folk rock musician Holly Kirsten, 24, has travelled halfway around the world for love.
Kirsten was a rising music star on the US southwest music scene before she fell in love with a Central Coast boy.
Upon her arrival, she soon discovered Australia had quite a strong country following and was determined to become a household name.
“I have been singing for as long as I could speak,” Kirsten said.
“But it wasn’t always easy,” she said.
Kirsten was born with a cleft palate and underwent surgery every year until she was six years old.
In grade three, she attended speech therapy and joined the school choir which began her musical journey.
She also received assistance from her father who goes by the performance alias of Carl Shepherd. He was a band leader for 40 years and has run Shepherd Entertainment Agency since 1975.
“I remember watching him as a child and him teaching me to never sing the melody to a harmony,” she said.
“He always said to try and sing the more difficult notes.”
Kirsten said she played in the mould of Jewel and Alanis Morissette and had produced one live album in the US.
At college, she majored in vocal performance and began playing lead roles in several American operas.
She later conducted voice training and singing lessons.
“My goal is to play music every day of my life,” she said.
While trying to build a future at Terrigal, Kirsten has already created a buzz among Central Coast musicians and fans.
Country music legend Bill Chambers, father of Kasey and Nash Chambers, was dumbfounded by her talent and has invited Kirsten to be part of his showcase at the Tamworth Country Music Festival.
She also has a line-up of gigs this weekend with a dinner show at Lizotte’s Restaurant on Wednesday, January 28, at tall Timbers Hotel, Ourimbah on Saturday, January 31, and at The Dam Hotel, Wyong, on Sunday, February 1.
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Oral traditions
Singer-songwriter Holly Kirsten continues a musical legacy
By Jennifer Rae Palmer
Published on April 3, 2008
In the corner of a dim-light bar a rusty voice springs into action, screaming for justice, love and peace on earth. This bellowing-blonde stops on-lookers from the street to peer inside the dark window searching for the source of this beautiful voice; and they find the culprit: Holly Kirsten. She is a soulful, 22-year-old taking the local music scene for a ride. Kirsten plays once a month at the Mad Italian and has played at the Rendezvous, as well as open mics all over town.
The tall, skinny singer boasts the voice of a woman, not a girl. At a young age her voice has already developed into a combination of Fiona Apple, Billie Holiday and Jewel. Kirsten graduated from Northern Arizona University in December with a bachelor’s degree in vocal performance and opera, but has been studying music her whole life—and it shows.
“Holly is such an amazing singer,” says Fahad Al-Jasim, a friend of Kirsten. “She is very talented, she sounds a lot like Jewel, and she’s very confident on stage. You can tell she is comfortable in her skin and she loves what she is doing.”
Kirsten writes her own songs. Her lyrics often address love, romance, peace and a longing for a beautiful and happy future.
“I always think of my first love when she sings,” Al-Jasim says. “I would like to think that my ex thinks of me in the romantic way that Holly sings, she has beautiful lyrics.”
Kirsten grew up surrounded by music. Her parents are both musicians, but Kirsten most likely inherited her voice from her father, the singer and bassist for the Western Electric Band.
He took his daughter to shows when she was just a baby. Kirsten would crawl around on stage during rehearsal, showing the first signs of her lifelong romance with the spotlight.
Kirsten grew up spending a lot of her time in a Lutheran church. She was in all the pageants, she sang in the choir and played piano. When Kirsten was 9 years old, a piano instructor recognized her talent and awarded Kirsten a piano scholarship for six months of free lessons. Kirsten’s parents did not want to push her into a life of music, so they let her decide what she wanted to do.
Kirsten ended up sticking with the lessons for 10 years. She also began taking voice lessons, and learned to play guitar.
“Everyone was so kind in showing me things and teaching me while I was growing up,” Kirsten says. “I never really asked for the help, they just saw potential in me and tried to nurture that.”
When Kirsten started college she began singing with a band called Custom Country. They played at festivals, the Museum Club, the Grand Hotel at the Grand Canyon and other places around Flagstaff. Kirsten stuck with it for about two years.
She says she felt a little disappointment when the band broke up, but also feels better playing solo. Kirsten believes that whatever is meant to be, will be.
As fate would have it, Kirsten had the chance to seize another opportunity that led her into the teaching position she holds today.
A man recognized the talent in Kirsten’s voice while she was standing outside of Collins Irish Pub, singing “The Star Spangled Banner,” a few years ago. Bryan Kuban told her he had started a school in Tempe, Music Masters Music Academy, and wanted her to teach. Kirsten says she was thrilled about the idea, but was a couple years away from graduating.
“So, two years later I graduated and sent him an e-mail,” Kirsten says. “And now I’m lucky enough to be teaching piano and voice lessons.”
Kirsten says she loves teaching because she enjoys giving back to the music community. She says all of her music teachers were such a huge inspiration to her, that it is nice to be able to be an inspiration for someone else. She thinks the most rewarding part of her job is watching a student grasp an idea or concept for the first time.
“I’m passing on what I’ve learned and what I’ve gained in my life to others,” Kirsten says. “And that’s a good feeling. I go to work happy and I always leave with a smile on my face.”
Kirsten says people have told her that her gift is special and it could really take her somewhere in life. However, she does not feel she would be missing out on anything if she did not end up as a star. In fact, she says it seems a little intimidating.
“I’ve never been the type of person to dream big, I’ve just been the type of person who’s comfortable with being happy,” Kirsten says. “I just want to be able to play music, somewhere, anywhere, and make people smile, or maybe even sing along with me.”
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See Kirsten in Flagstaff Sat, April 12 at the Mad Italian, 101 S. San Francisco, at 8 p.m. For more info, call 779-1820 or see www.myspace.com/hollykirsten.
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