There
is only one Krista Muir. She lives in a world of surrealism, of
cuckoo clocks and antique lampshades, of ukuleles with varying
dispositions and lace collars, of the classic bob haircut of a
not-so-folk singer, and a sailor uniform that has taken her on a
melodic ship around the
world.
Krista
grew up on a diet of classical piano and suzuki violin
but began composing original music when she went electric
with her first bass. She then performed for six years as alter
ego Lederhosen Lucil, playing vintage keyboard electro pop.
As Lucil she released a number of independent singles and two
full-length albums - "Hosemusik" (2002) and "Tales
From The Pantry" (2003) - and spent much of 2003-2005 on tour
throughout North America, Australia, New Zealand, and Europe with
friend and co-conspirator DJ Kid Koala. Then - BOOM - she was struck
with ukulele fever!
After
falling for the baritone uke in 2006, Krista composed a
collection of whimsical tunes that she recorded with Toronto's
Fembots and Montreal producer Shane Watt. “Leave Alight” (2007)
led to “Accidental Railway,” (2008) an imaginary city that is
also her first concept album. Picking and strumming, Muir reflects
the rich tradition of folk artists such as Joni Mitchell and Bobbie
Gentry while being inspired by Greek Rembetika and French Chanson
styles.
Muir's
multidisciplinary
approach to life has led her down many beautiful paths between
records. She has had the pleasure of working with director Kara Blake
on three videos, including the recent Bravo!Fact stop-motion
animation
for "Concrete Lovesong." (2009) She also composed
music for Canadian filmmakers
Sarah Galea-Davis ("I Made A Girlfriend" - 2006) and Sophie
Deraspe (“Signes Vitaux” - 2009), and the upcoming doc. series
"Into The Blue" (DeepQuest2 Expeditions - 2011).
During
her recent tours
throughout France and Greece
she enjoyed many a local dish while enlightening the natives with her
multilingual Canadian pop culture references. Strange
Fruit Prod.
and Kormoranos,
both non-profit arts organizations, have hosted her three times since
2005 and claim to need a "Krista Fix" biennially. Rumour
has it that some European doctors are prescribing her music as a
remedy for everything from apathy to the common cold.
As a
proud uke evangelist Krista founded the Montreal
Ukulele Bizarro Festival
in May 2009 and will continue this annual tradition of showcasing
uke
enthusiasts
from all walks of life. She also teaches private uke lessons and
programs a monthly ukulele
play-in
at a local cafe where it's mandatory to bring a uke and enjoy the
good company of those who love to play, sing, sip hot bevvies and eat
comfort foods on cold winter afternoons. Apathetic people will not
enjoy this event!
In short, Krista has emerged as one of the
more engaging
and innovative
artists of this era. She experiments,
creates,
entertains,
and most of all communicates.
A bio can only stand so many bells and whistles without becoming
tiresome. So I will stop here. It only remains for you to extract her
album carefully from its case, play it, and then see if what you have
just read resonates. And if it does ring true, then you're not only
going to enjoy this album, you're going to be saving your toonies for
her next visit to your home town!
"Accidental
Railway is a mostly acoustic multilingual pop gem, the culmination of
recent travels and explorations of the world around us, the music
difficult to pin down, having absorbed myriad instrumentations,
cultures and peoples." Montreal Hour
"Accidental
Railway
entraîne l'auditeur dans un monde à la fois zen et psychédélique.
Chaque chanson est un micro-univers."
Voir Montreal
"En fait, j’aurais envie de dire que ce
disque est une sorte d’abécédaire de l’écriture musicale.
Simple, sans prétention aucune. J'ai déjà hâte d’entendre la
suite." CBC Bande à part
"Keeping
us guessing at every turn, the breadth of styles showcased is
impressive, as is her multilingualism – Greek on the superb album
highlight ‘The Ride’ and French on ‘Les Ouaouarons’, a song
that sounds like it could have been taught at Sunday school but
remains hard to resist...She even provides ukulele charts...just in
case you wanted to play along at home.” Wears The Trousers