Kris Delmhorst Breaks Four-Year Silence

By Connect Mason Reporter Kyle Ridley
Photos courtesy of Jon Strymish and Desdemona Burgin

Indie musician Kris Delmhorst’s ambitious new CD, “Shotgun Singer,” is finally available after nearly four years in the making. The Brooklyn native hits the stage with her latest folk-rock-soul songs Friday at the Iota Club and Café in Arlington.

“It feels great; it’s really exciting,” Delmhorst said about the release of her long awaited fifth CD.

Delmhorst, 37, began writing and recording demos for “Shotgun Singer” with the intent to make an experimental disc unlike anything she’d tackled before.

“I ended up really frustrated because I felt like I was following a lot of patterns,” she said about the initial studio sessions.

In 2005, Delmhorst decided to put the CD on the back burner and began working on “Strange Conversation,” a modernized collection of poetry spanning the centuries. She toured with the project for more than a year before returning to revitalize “Shotgun Singer.”

Delmhorst “built a little world of music” in fellow folk troubadour Erin McKeown’s rural cabin in Western Massachusetts. For months she “chipped away” at the new tracks in solo, late-night sessions.

Delmhorst, who plays 14 instruments on the “Shotgun Singer,” realized she would need ample time to finish producing the CD, which meant a loss of income from live gigs.

“I know I couldn’t make it the way I wanted to make it unless I had a bunch of time,” she said. “The way it is being a songwriter at this level... our profit margin is pretty small.”

Delmhorst turned to her Web site and fan base to assist with funding the record. She offered exclusive downloads, autographed memorabilia and advanced CD material to those who donated.

“It was a hard decision,” said Delmhorst on enlisting fans for support. “But it turned out to be really amazing.”

The innovative approach to “Shotgun Singer” resulted in 12 eclectic tracks that run the gamut from ethereal, multi-layered opener “Blue Adeline” to the stripped down, guitar and vocals closer, “Brand New Sound.”

Delmhorst relates songwriting to “making a weird little collage” where she draws from personal experience and incorporates fictional elements from the same “emotional root.”

She said she constantly has new ideas, but tends to write in “intensive chunks” while alone.

“I spent a lot of times with these lyrics,” she said. “I’m not the kind of person who writes in the coffee shop and writes on the bus.”

“Shotgun Singer’s” lengthy production resulted in an abundance of material that Delmhorst found hard to narrow down. Rather than shelve leftover tracks, she created “Horses Swimming,” an six-song acoustic EP available via her Web site and concerts.

Delmhorst has spent the last few months on the road supporting the dual projects and said the heavy travel can take its toll on mind and body.

“You can really start to lose your grip a little bit,” she said, adding that three weeks is the maximum time she can tour before getting homesick.

Delmhorst said she practices yoga daily to keep physically and mentally centered.

“It’s the key to my entire survival,” she said.

She recently completed a European trek and is looking forward to playing in Northern Virginia again.

“I always feel really welcome,” she said, adding that the “enthusiastic” and “open-minded” crowds give her a “special kind of warmth.”

Delmhorst is making sure to enjoy her last month of touring before taking a break this summer to welcome her first child. The pregnant singer, due in June, plans to keep the second-half of ‘08 “low key.”

Want to go?

Indie singer-songwriter Kris Delmhorst will perform at the Iota Club & Cafe in Arlington at 9 p.m. on May 2. Tickets are $17 for the 21 and up show.