Kristen Short’s Bio
Poet, singer and songwriter Kristen Short has been writing, performing and producing heartfelt, multi-genre original music for over 20 years. Growing up in an artistic family in western Pennsylvania, Kristen enjoyed playing folk music with her sister and her 12-string acoustic guitar, singing songs in sweet harmonies. After marrying her high school sweetheart and moving to Maine in 1988, Kristen continued to write poetry and dabble in music, ever armed with a journal for writing whenever the muse presented herself. In 1991, while her sister was visiting from Pennsylvania, they penned their first co-written song, "Through It All." Short reflects, "My sister was my creative spark. Discovering the ability to sing my poetry became a moving, fulfilling and deeply personal outlet of expression for me." In November 2011 Kristen celebrated the 20 year anniversary of her first recorded original song and to date has written and produced over 50 songs.
In 1995, Kristen began work on arranging her first 12 original songs with friend composer/keyboard musician Bob Walsh. In 1996 she and Bob recorded the songs in a single take at recording engineer Dave Smith's Cellar Dweller Recording Studio for demo purposes. She took the recordings to Pennsylvania, where she and her husband lived for two years. Kristen began performing her original music there, with a heartening positive response. She was encouraged by listeners to make the recordings available, and she went back into the recording studio, this time in Fairview, Pennsylvania with engineer Tom Hitt of Cycling Troll Recording Studio. Kristen recorded a new song and added arrangements to the original 12 recordings, and in January 1998 she released her debut adult contemporary CD, Blossom in the Dust, on her own independent label, Sea Siren Records. "The songs of Blossom were a personal odyssey for me. I wrote them to try to make sense of the difficulties in life I was going through. The prevailing message in the songs of Blossom is that hope, love, courage and faith will overcome difficulties. They have for me."
In the years following the release of Blossom in the Dust, Kristen has continued live performances of her original music in Pennsylvania and New England with gifted supporting musicians. Delving deeper into the musical realm and honing her songwriting craft and vocal skills, Kristen wrote and produced 11 songs and recorded them with recording engineer Alan Bean of Baked Beans Recording Studio in Harrison, Maine. Her second CD of original folk rock music, Dove in a Hurricane, was released in 2000.
The timbre of Kristen Short's resonant voice is reminiscent of Karen Carpenter's, and her songwriting style has been likened to that of artists Sarah McLachlan, Jewel, Amy Grant, and Stevie Nicks.
Kristen released her third original folk rock/country crossover music CD, The Loan, in January 2007, featuring seven original songs by Kristen, three songs by songwriters Jeff Moxcey and Lou Sweigman, and three songs written by Pittsburgh singer/songwriter Jay Hitt. The CD was produced by Kristen Short and was recorded in Maine, Nashville, and Pennsylvania. The collection was mastered by Grammy-Award winning mastering engineer Adam Ayan of Gateway Mastering & DVD of Portland, Maine. Good Times Magazine wrote, "Fitting snugly in the singer-songwriter genre, Short crafts heartfelt music that's as lovely and thoughtful as the artist herself...this is an emerging artist with a lot to say...All in all, the future looks bright for one of Maine's most promising songwriters..."
In June 2007 Kristen Short, Kathy Gracenin and Rusty Wiltjer released the two-CD ambient Water Lily Waits - Music for Movement and Meditation, featuring Haiku lyrics (by Gracenin), ethereal vocals (arranged and performed by Short), and rich percussion (arranged and performed by percussionist/potter Wiltjer on handcrafted instruments). Volume #1 are full percussion versions of the songs for listening and for movement (i.e., to utilize with Kathy Gracenin's Energy Choreography, dance, yoga, Taijiquan, etc.). Volume #2 are meditative versions with interludes of silence (i.e., for meditation, contemplative prayer, etc.).
Despite being diagnosed with breast cancer in July 2010 and having undergone aggressive treatment and surgeries in the 17 months following, Kristen has continued to write and perform music and is currently in remission. Her cancer journey and experiences with The Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope & Healing, the caregivers of Central Maine Medical Center, and fellow patients and their families inspired her to write a song and produce a video. On October 8, 2011, Kristen premiered her new song and video "Chairs" that she dedicated to The Dempsey Center at the Dempsey Challenge Champions of Hope Banquet. The reception to the song and video was emotional and heartwarming. Listeners are describing "Chairs" as "powerful," "inspirational," "amazing," "beautiful," and "touching." Limited edition "Chairs" CD single/DVD music video is available exclusively here. Fifty percent of the proceeds of "Chairs" benefits The Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope & Healing of Lewiston, Maine. The "Chairs" video can be viewed here.
All five of the above Sea Siren Records CDs are distributed via the www.kshort.com web site and mail order. All CDs with the exception of "Chairs" is also available on CD Baby, iTunes, and Amazon.com.
Kristen Short is a dynamic performer of heartfelt, well-crafted original music. For booking information, see the Press Kit and Contact sections.