Influenced and inspired by artists like Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, and Joni Mitchell, Crystal's brand of vintage pop has been accepted as a breathe of fresh air. "A lot of people say that my songs are new and different, but the songs are nothing an

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POP: Quirky, POP: Folky Pop



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Crystal comes from a long line of musical women. "The women in my family are gifted musicians and voracious lovers of life. I am the fifth generation to carry on this tradition and feel it is my sacred duty ot sing." Crystal began composing songs at age four and seriously began developing her craft at age thirteen in 1997.

Influenced and inspired by artists like Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, and Joni Mitchell, Crystal's brand of vintage pop has been accepted as a breathe of fresh air. "A lot of people say that my songs are new and different, but the songs are nothing any of us haven't heard before. I am merely drawing from a past that is lyrically rich and melodically satiating." Crystal's approach to songwriting is not what you might expect from an up and coming artist. "Many artists want to create something new, something no one has ever heard or done before. That's not what I do. In every song I sing you'll hear a little Billie, a little Joni, a little Crystal, and a little more Crystal. I aspire to sing and write like the women who have gone before me."

In 2002, Crystal moved to Turkey, where she taught English. "The Turkish culture had a large impact on my music," Crystal says. "Though the Turkish women appear timid behind their burkas, they are fiecely feminine when they sing the Turkish folk songs. I wanted this. So I sang with them."

Upon Crystal's return to the states she co-wrote the music and script for the musical, Evermore: the life of Edgar Allan Poe. "I have always loved musical theatre and opera. This is the point at which I allowed my love for the theatre infiltrate my writing style." Crystal lists Gershwin as one of her musical influences.

In 2005, while supporting herself as a chocolatier in Franklin, Tennessee, Crystal began making plans to release her EP, A Few Confessions. A Few Confessions expresses Crystal's struggle with perfectionism. Crystal sings about a desire to be more than who she is and ultimately concludes that beauty is found in the reality of her imperfection. "There is a cry of desperation among many modern women. We think we must act and look a certain way in order to be beautiful. The reality is that we are beautiful as we are. The imperfect places are merely where grace and beauty abound. I am clumsy and I have a gut...I am still beautiful."

Crystal will release A Few Confessions EP in the fall of 2006.