Kris Delmhorst has the kind of voice that makes you lean forward because you don’t want to miss anything.  It’s warm and relaxed, a little husky, and she sings with tenderness and a complete commitment to the essence of each song.  Her music is influenced by folk and country, gospel and rock and roll.  She takes her inspiration from sources as diverse as Walt Whitman, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and The Cars—yes, her latest album, Cars, is a tribute to the new wave band out of Boston that had big hits with “Best Friend’s Girl” and “Just What I Needed” in the late 1970s, when Kris was an impressionable kid.  The Telegraph describes the album as alternately “playful, fun, and bouncy” and “gorgeous.”

Kris grew up in Brooklyn, studied cello, and played with local jazz bands and folk singers. After spending a long winter in Maine and learning to play guitar and fiddle,  she moved to Boston joined the folk scene.  She won first place in the Telluride Bluegrass Festival’s Troubadour Competition in 2001.  Whether she’s singing a delicate ballad or a new wave romp, her music radiates wit, intelligence, and charm.

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photos by Desdemona Burgin and Jon Strymish