Ok, so you found me out. I love cheezy Christmas music. One day I hope to make a whole Christmas album....but for now, here's an original Christmas song that my friend and lovely songstress, Kate Klim and I wrote last year.

After we wrote it, I called my friend Jonny Bistline, bass-cello-everything-player extraordinaire to record it and add lots of pretty things to it. So, that's Jonny playing everything and singing back-ups with me, too. (Check out "Better", my song that he produced and recorded for my sister's wedding present..a new version of that song will be going on my new album, due out next year!)

We had fun writing and recording this...hope you guys like it!

Merry, Merry and a hot toddy.

~Kristin~

"Time On My Hands" is a new-ish song of mine that I wrote with my friend, Mark Erelli back in January. This is one of my favorite songs that I've co-written so far, and hope you'll love it!!
Mark is giving it away as his "Download of the Month" on his website, so get it while you can! There's also a version of him singing it, for a male perspective. ;-) http://www.markerelli.com
(go to the "Music" and then "Download" pages)

Oh- and that's Mark singing back-up vocals and playing the Lap steel. He's awesome.

xo-kristin~

Hey all,

As I'm *still* laid up on my couch recovering from a nasty sinus infection, (almost a week later) I thought I'd throw out a blog...while watching the baseball game.

Saturday my 2 friends married each other... Eliot, my guitar player and Heather, one of my best girlfriends. I was so incredibly honored that they asked me to sing my song "Over the Moon" as their first dance. wow. I'm posting a picture of me and Stu (my other guitar player) playing mandolin with me. ...and yes, I sang with a sinus infection. not my personal best, but people were sweet, and most importantly Eliot and Heather looked like they were in dreamland as they danced. yay.

I had a show in Portland, ME on Monday night, and sang the best I could given my condition. People, again, were super sweet and tried to tell me that i didn't sound sick...nice try. Anyway, the Northstar Cafe is adorable. After we (me and my dear friend, Liz Stahler) played, they were playing a mix of music including the Sundays, and Shawn Colvin...my personal fantasy playlist. So, they are now my favorite coffee shop.

On my way to and from Portland, and 2ce last night as I switched over my closet from winter to summer, I played the new Death Cab for Cutie album. WOW. The new album is just gorgeous. Not since I was 16 years old....(exactly 16 years ago...weird...)when I discovered my favorite band, The Sundays, have I been moved so much by a band. I literally never get tired of listening to them.

My beau, David, who is a live sound engineer, was working for a band who was on tour with Death Cab a couple of years ago. (D was on tour with The Cribs. They're great.) I met him in NYC for their show at Hammerstein's Ballroom and met David at the stage door. At the time, I was clueless about how amazing they are. David greeted me at the stage door, and introduced me to Ben, waiting for *his* girlfriend to arrive, too. Little did I know it was THE Ben Gibbard. I said hi as if i were saying hi to someone I didn't know, and more interested in seeing my beau, who had been on tour for a while. If I were to meet Ben now, I'd be all stupid. Even that night, I enjoyed the show, but it wasn't until about 6 months later, when I met David down in FL at his parents' house...he picked me up from the airport...in his Dad's huge caddy....blasting Transatlanticism. At first I was skeptical, but then, I kinda just "got it". I let it in and got it. I *really* listened to the lyrics and then then music made sense and then I didn't hear the words at all anymore, i just felt the vibe of the music and understood it even more. Now, I'm hopeless. ....bought their new CD at Newbury Comics and got a free pint glass with Death Cab's new logo on it.

So, currently, I'm supposed to be working on getting my shit together to go back to Nashville in a couple of weeks to write some more. Hoping I start to feel better really soon so I can focus and get some ideas flushed out.

....also plan on making a new album this year. Have really started making steps towards that already! I swear! Will keep you posted...

Gonna go back to watching the game some more, and focusing on getting better....

Kristin~

Hey Hey,

I just put up a couple of new photos that my dear friend, and *amazingly talented* photographer, Liz Linder shot of me at a show I did at the Lizard Lounge in May '07. I absoultely adore Liz's work, so please go to her website and be inspired. www.lizlinder.com

Also new on my page is a song called "Over the Moon" that I wrote back in the spring. Produced by Richard Gates, we recorded it at Tom Eaton's studio up in Newburyport (my favorite). Richard Gates on bass, John Sands on drums and Duke Levine on guitar. I have *always* wanted to work with Duke and I finally had the chance for him to work his magic on one of my songs. His nylon string guitar parts on this make me want to weep. Ok, his electric part makes me want to weep as well. Richard & John are givens, as I will die happy if I never get another bass player or drummer...and I *still* feel blessed that they *still* want to play my songs. God, I'm a lucky girl, surrounded by the best. Hope you like the song.

~kc

I'm so excited to present this new recording of "Big Grey Cloud"....recorded and produced by the wonderful Tom Dube. We recorded this at Hi & Dry Studio in Cambridge, MA. The cast of characters is Richard Gates on bass, John Sands on drums, Shayne Fontaine on guitars, Peter Adams on keys and Tom Dube on a back-up vocal of you listen closely. ;-) I am so lucky and grateful to have these AMAZING heavy hitters on this song. We recorded 2 others, and they'll come out in time. Promise.

I mentioned in the last blog that I also posted "The Middle of Nowhere", which is a song I co-write with former Bostonian, now Nashvillian, Jabe Beyer. A rough, but fun demo of it. ....and I added "Benefit of the Doubt" from my album, "So Long My Love". I forgot how much I like this song. You should hear John Sands sing back- up to this one at the top of his lungs from behind the drum kit, un-mic-ed. It's inspiring. ;-)

Lots and lots of new stuff coming...a little at a time as to not overwhelm y'all.

oh! and I finally got my camera back from my sis's car in NJ, and I posted the rest of my June tour photos on my website. Check it out here

Right now, I'm O.D.ing on HGTV. "Design on a Dime"...."Color Splash", etc. guilty pleasure.

Hey There!

I'm back home after a month away...I have more pictures to post, but I left my camera in my sister's car. Grrrrr. I'll get it back in a week or so and will post the rest of my tour then on my website (http://www.kristincifelli.com)

I wrote lots of songs during my 2 weeks in Nashville. It was such a blissful trip. To wake up and write songs all day...quite a dream job for me. The one I've posted here is one that I absolutely *LOVE* that I wrote with my friend, Jabe. (myspace.com/jabemusic) He just moved to Nashville a couple of months ago from Boston, so it was nice to connect with a little New England familiarity while I was there. Hope you like the song...

More new stuff to come...

Kristin~

PS- Listening to Trent Dabbs who I discovered in Nashville. So freakin' good.

Hey Everyone!

I'm travelling through June and am updating my journal on my website with pictures! So, check back often, especially through June.

Click here...

Kristin's Tour Diary

...taken from Kristin's Journal page on http://www.kristincifelli.com



I feel compelled to start my March journal in tribute to Brad Delp. I saw in horror on the news on Friday night,the report of his passing. What a talent this world lost. A few years ago, I had the honor of working with Brad on a song of mine. He actually sang background vocals for ME. Wow. When I met him, the first impression I got was, "wow...i think I may have met one of the most humble gentle souls on this planet". He invited me to see his Beatles tribute band called Beatlejuice one night and I was completely blown away. He managed to sound more like Paul McCartney than Paul McCartney! He also managed to do a perfect John, George and Ringo, all while still sounding like Brad. He was an AMAZING singer and musician. I regret not getting back in touch with him over the years, as I have thought about doing so recently.

So, in honor of Brad, I'm posting the song that he sang on with me on my myspace page.

May love and peace be with Brad's family and friends, and may we all continue to be inspired by Brad and the gift that he shared with all of us. xxoo

The song, "Take You Down" that I posted is an acoustic demo that I recorded at my friend, Tom Dube's this past August. We're actually getting ready to go into the studio to record a 3 or 4 song demo with my band, and this will probably be one of the songs. I'm so excited to start work on new stuff! The plan is to record a few songs with the band and shop it around for some financial backing to make a full length. My well has run dry.

A little background on this song...I wrote it a couple of summers ago when I was feeling really really burnt out and jaded about my career and trying to move it ahead and how difficult it is as an indie artist who does all her own "managing", booking, etc, while still trying to be an artist and write. Yes, I might be whining right now. Sorry.
Anyway, I was questioning a lot of things, and I was talking about it all to my 2 good friends, Amy & Brian when I was visiting them for the day at their adorable house on the beach in Rhode Island. They talked me down off of the proverbial ledge and reminded me that a career in music is still what I want, hard as it may be to juggle it all myself. That I will try to "take down" my protective wall I put up in order to be the business woman I am forced to be right now to get back to that vulnerable, writing artist underneath. It's also a message to club owners who turn me down. I will take you down so eventually YOU'RE begging ME to play at your club! So there.

I'll put up the full band version once we record it. Hope you like it.

~kristin