Kristy Cox

March 2012:
Kristy Cox’s last album Breaking New Ground was excellent in my humble opinion, but I have no reservations in saying the newly released Miles and Timezones is world class. Ms Cox’s soaring vocals and arresting delivery mark her among an elite handful of Australia’s foremost female singers.
Primarily Bluegrass in style, abounding with trademark high lonesome harmonies Miles and Timezones is therapy for the ears. Instrumentation is wonderful, accented with lots of light and shade – giving an elegant and simply realised sound that transports every song right to the heart of the matter. The vocals issue honestly and beautifully, natural as any songbird, eloquent and expressive.
After serving Kristy a coffee courtesy of a jar of Robert Timms at the outset of our interview, I was somewhat red-faced to learn her ‘day gig’(apart from studying for a Bachelor of Business degree) is as a Barista-trainer for Gloria Jean coffee chain, training around 300 aspiring baristas at 46 stores around Melbourne and country areas. Putting that gaffe aside, I assured her the CD was certainly my ‘cup of tea’ and we proceeded.
Kristy:“I went to the IBMA (Int. Bluegrass Assoc in Nashville) in 2009 and met Jerry Salley there, and long story short, ended up asking him if he would produce an album for me. Bluegrass is his forte and his first love, although he has had over 350 songs recorded by all manner of straight country (yes, even George Strait!) acts from Garth Brooks to Brad Paisley-(and Elton John to Reba)”
“We did all the co-writing and pre-production planning online and decided on the final eleven tracks, then I went over to Nashville and spent a month doing showcases and fine-tuning the vocals. Recording and finishing the album miraculously only took four days.”
Kristy and partner Lachlan Davidson co-wrote four numbers including the jaunty ‘Find Out By Myself’ and heartsore and haunting title track ‘Miles and Timezones’, ‘Life is a Mystery’ and ‘Keep On Loving You’
Does she have a favourite song on the end product? “Has to be Miles and Timezones’ the title track. That came up when Lachie was on tour in Europe and I was home working, and we were unable to talk for the whole month or more he was gone - there were constant issues with time conflicts or non-existent phone service. It was like a bizarre conspiracy plot, or a comedy of errors! I was pretty pleased to see him when he got home I can tell you!”
“For‘Her Past Is Looking Brighter’ Jerry sent the demo with just him and guitar, insisting that he needed to record a proper demo, but I said’ No I’ll be the demo because I want that song no matter what.’
Now it’s another sleepless midnight/ in her New York city high rise/ as she rubs those swift decisions from her past/
Cos this dream that she’s been living and all the things that she’s been given just can’t compare to what she doesn’t have.
She dies a little more each day/ living with the choice she made/ when she traded love for things that shine
I saw where‘Keep On Loving You’ won the Bluegrass section of the recent TSA Awards?
“How cool was that? One of my goals was to write a traditional sounding Bluegrass track for the album, so having that validation only three days after the album is released is pretty satisfying.”
Tamara Stewart is listed as a co writer on ‘Sure As the Devil’
“Yes, Tamara wrote it with Jerry on her first trip to the US and when I contacted her to ask if she had recorded the song in the meantime, she’d forgotten all about it. Oh and also, the publishers demo was sung by Gretchen Wilson so I had to live up to her mark too.
I was immediately grabbed by the song ‘Hard Secret to Keep’. It is a new slant on a done to death cheating theme, yet it manages to sound brand new done in alternating hers ‘n his parts.
I stay up late and read a lot at night and lately he’s begun to wonder why
He dont’ know I’m scared that I’ll start talking in my sleep – you’re a hard secret to keep
One slip up of the tongue is all that it would take/ just one little note I forgot to throw away
The slightest trace of makeup/ on a shirt that won’t come clean – you’re a hard secret to keep
“Yes, I love it too. Mark Chesnutt had done a version of ‘Hard Secret’ and I wanted to record it with Jerry for the pure fact that it is my favourite Jerry song of his entire catalogue. It had never been done as a duet and Jerry was doubtful it would work, but after we recorded it he said it should have always been a duet!
Jerry Salley had a hand in no less than five songs and as we’ve come to expect they’re all memorable stalwarts – strong with a trademark hook and country to the core. Starting with ‘You Won’t Find That Here,’ a back-handed take on a break-up-sifting through the sorting and reclamation of joint possessions by ex-lovers.
“Little bit of Wonderful’ is the first single and the video clip is in the can so look for it on CMC very soon. That song just suits who I am as a person and defines the whole album. I’m in a very happy place in my life. I think it’s really important for the first single to define the package. To signify what the album is and the mood of it and who the artist is as a person. The video is a stop-motion clip with stills and its a bit like a flip book, produced by an indi guy from Melbourne called Hamish Bassett who’s done a lot of alt-country work and wanted to get into the country music scene.
On that topic, Kristy was co-incidentally Duncan Toombs’ first video clip subject.
Future objectives? ”In a dream scenario I would like to be based in both the US and here at home, and I really want to continue down the bluegrass pathway. It would be amazing to get recognition over there for my music and show people here what today’s bluegrass is. The Davidsons do a fantastic job of enhancing the image of the Bluegrass genre, and the more people that do that the sooner it will find a better acceptance.”
“I just want people to hear the music and I would love to tour with a bigger act and have access to bigger audiences. The dream is to quit my day job and make enough from music to live happily ever after!
Kristy has a return trip to the US in Sept and her album is currently being shopped to labels over there through Jerry’s contacts, and fingers crossed something good will eventuate. - Country Update - Denise Torenbeek

MILES & TIMEZONES
I wasn’t sure what to expect when putting Kristy Cox’s Miles & Timezones into the old CD player.. Sometimes artists, when left 100% to their own devices, create hit and miss directionless albums... But this album is not any of those things. This album is more than “A Little Bit of Wonderful” with clear drive and direction almost as if it had been put together by a big name label artist – it is a beautiful and accurate representation of Kristy’s work.

This album took some “Miles & Timezones” to make, being largely recorded and produced in Nashville with producer Jerry Salley, who’s work as both a writer and artist I admire. Aside from producing, there is an amazing duet and a few co-writes with Salley, not to mention Tamara Stewart, and Lachlan Davidson (Of Davidson Brothers fame).

This is a quietly solid album that effortlessly flows from track to track oozing a warmth and genuineness not dissimilar to Kristy’s own personality.

Kristy is clearly a talented independent Australian country artist and I’m “Sure as the Devil” she will be a future country star – Watch this space!

Ben Sorensen - REAL Country
www.RealCountryMix.com
- Ben Sorensen - REAL Country

June 7, 2012

It is not often you find a fresh, new Australian talent in country music. Kristy Cox is definitely that - once listened to, her smooth tones are hard to get out of your head. She is beguiling, romancing and entrancing you with her catchy country tunes in her latest album, Miles and Timezones, which debuted on the country tracks top 30 chart at No 28 and, during March, held the No. 1 position on Airplay Direct's Top 50 Country/Alt chart.

Cox is a natural singer-songwriter, born with the itch of performance and bluegrass in her blood. ''I started singing on stage at the age of 12, although I've always been singing around the house,'' she says. ''I started singing country because that's what my pop listened to … it suited me a lot better than the '80s rock my parents liked.''

At the age of 16, for about four years, Cox went to festivals and travelled around doing talent quests. ''In that time,'' she says, ''I got to know a whole bunch of people and grew to love the music that I was playing. When it started I didn't know what I was doing exactly, but it just became a lifestyle.''

In 2010, Cox released her debut album, an acoustic record called Breaking New Ground. The album established her on the Australian country scene and gave country music critics a fresh new face to rave about. Following on from her first album's success, Miles and Timezones was released this year.

Cox was fortunate enough to record the album in Nashville, Tennessee - every Country musician's dream. Nashville has been described by many troubadours as ''the mecca of country music'' and is the home to a huge population of talent who flock there to collaborate, clamour and jam.

Cox's voice sparks with excitement as she recalls her Nashville experience. ''If you can imagine the street festivals in Melbourne, like the Sydney Road Music Festival, but that going 24-7, everywhere, 365 days a year … that's Nashville.''

Miles and Timezones showcases this very same vivacious spark, versatile vocals and instrumentation. Produced by world-famous songwriter Jerry Salley, the range of country, alternative and bluegrass tracks were recorded live in just four days. The album also features a stellar line up of experienced acoustic musicians including Cody Kilby and Andy Leftwich (who plays with Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder), Randy Kohrs (plays with Dolly Parton), Scott Vestal and fellow South Australian Kym Warner (plays with the Greencards).

Miles and Timezones has already given Cox some gold. The first track on the album, If I Keep On Loving You, won the TSA Blues, Roots and Bluegrass Award at the Tamworth Songwriters Association's National Country Songwriting Contest this year. The track was co-written with Lachlan Davidson from the Davidson Brothers and it displays the collaborative spirit of country music and some virtuosic mandolin.

Talented musicianship such as Cox's means that country music is getting more and more love these days from mainstream audiences and although this means more record sales, there is a downside for the genre: ''Country music has really turned into pop music these days,'' Cox says.

She is adamant though, that she is not a generic country musician. ''Country-pop, is not the type of music that I like to play; it's not who I am,'' she says. And she proves it on her latest record.

Aside from writing great songs, Cox travels ''a fair bit'', touring and playing at venues all around Australia, promoting her talents and wares.

Cox hits the road this month with three-time Golden Guitar-finalist Aleyce Simmonds to promote her album and single, Little Bit of Wonderful. - The Sydney Morning Herald - Shailla Van Raad

Australian Kristy Cox has come to Nashville and also joined the folks at Pisgah Ridge Records to produce a wonderful new project produced by Jerry Salley. Salley also co-wrote six of the ten new songs on this CD, and Cox herself co-wrote five. Accompanying Cox on this effort are David Johnson (fiddle, resonator guitar), Darren Nicholson (mandolin), Steve Sutton (banjo), Stephen Mougin (guitar), Mike Bub (bass), and guest vocalists include Jerry Salley, Jennifer Nicholson, and Darren Nicholson.

Cox’s clear and pleasant voice is heard right up front and the harmony blends are tight. Instrumentally, the band is par none and the song arrangements show the Salley touch. Selections include “You’re My Kind Of Train Wreck,” “Love Builds The Bridges,” “This,” “One Heartbreak Away,” “I’m Not Gonna Sing The Blues,” “I’ll Cry Tonight,” “Widow’s Whiskey,” “My Favorite Hour,” and a Cox/Salley duet on “When It Comes To You.”

This is a very good effort. Fans who are familiar with Ms. Cox with find this new project a welcome addition, and this CD will surely introduce her to a whole host of new fans. (Crossroads Music, P.O. Box 829, Arden, NC 28704, www.crossroadsmusic.com.)BF - Bluegrass Unlimited

e hear quite a bit about country crossover artists in the bluegrass world. Marty Raybon, for instance, has had successful careers in both genres, while Rhonda Vincent recently released a dual country and bluegrass album. Kristy Cox is one of the latest artists to make the jump, although her path has been just a little different than most.

Cox has had a successful career over the past decade or so in Australia, with her music falling mostly toward the acoustic country side of things. Her last few albums have featured help from some of bluegrass music’s best, however (Bryan Sutton, Randy Kohrs, and Andy Leftwich, to name a few), and now she’s officially made the move to bluegrass, with a new album out this month from Pisgah Ridge.

On Living for the Moment, Cox has collaborated with Jerry Salley (who serves as producer, guest vocalist, and a co-writer on six of the album’s songs) to offer listeners ten tracks of contemporary country-grass. Cox has obviously been influenced by female country singers of the ’90s and early 2000s, and the majority of the songs here bring to mind artists like Patty Loveless, Kathy Mattea, and Lee Ann Womack. In fact, one of the album’s best numbers, Love Builds the Bridges (Pride Builds the Walls), was also recorded by Loveless in the early ’90s. Written by Salley and Jim McBride, this story of a couple whose relationship is disintegrating before their eyes has a great classic country feel and fits Cox’s vocal style well.

Cox is joined by Salley to duet on another classic-sounding song, When It Comes to You, a bouncy heartbreak number with a bit of a western swing feel that they also wrote together. The two also co-wrote the album’s opening track, a cleverly-worded, driving modern traditional bluegrass love song called You’re My Kind of Train Wreck. Another grassy number is the upbeat I’m Not Gonna Sing the Blues, written by Cox and Stephen Mougin, which finds the singer working through a breakup.

One Heartbreak Away has an enjoyable contemporary bluegrass arrangement, with a light, cheerful sound that is in contrast to the singer’s warning that she’s tired of “handing second chances out again and again.” I’ll Cry Tonight, on the other hand, has a haunting, melancholy feel that’s well suited to the tear in Cox’s voice and the song’s story of love gone wrong.

Cox’s clear, powerful vocals are the centerpiece here, and she also proves herself an adept songwriter, co-writing half of the tracks on the album. She’s joined by several top-notch musicians, including David Johnson (fiddle and resonator guitar), Darren Nicholson (mandolin), Steve Sutton (banjo), Stephen Mougin (guitar), and Mike Bub (bass). Johnson’s fiddle work particularly stands out, adding excellent lonesome touches to several of the country-tinged songs.

Even though her name may be new to most American fans, Cox’s musical style will surely appeal to fans of groups such as The Roys and Darin and Brooke Aldridge. While the album is, on the whole, a little more country than it is bluegrass, it’s still a great effort from an obviously talented singer.

For more information on Kristy Cox, visit her website at www.kristycox.com. Her new album can be purchased from several online music retailers. - John Goad - Bluegrass Today