Kris Colt
is an American Celtic vocal artist, influenced by Irish, Scots, Swamp
and Appalachian Folk, who brings with her the
historical tradition of the bardic storyteller. Her focus is on
the people of the British Isles after
they arrived in America, one of the most important movements in our
nation's past. Weaving her successfully radio charted originals,
Kris Colt will lead you through an evening of the classics as you've
always loved them and never experienced them before.
She believes that an understanding of what has gone
before gives us the strength and creativity to conquer the future.
Classically trained, her voice is strong and clear, with a lilting
lyrical style, well adapted to both the traditional and original
shamanic tales she tells. In concert, she often sings, for a
little bit of seasoning, not only in English but in Irish and Scots
Gaelic.
Kris is an accomplished songwriter--both lyricist and composer--whose
debut CD entitled
The Voyage,
A Mystical Journey
is distributed by New York's
Dara Records.
Selections from The Voyage have received national airplay across
the United States and Canada on 130 stations and reached #26
on the NAV
national music chart.
Breaking October 2010, Colt broke at #6 on the nationally most added
FMQB/ACQB, Adult Contemporary report. Tune in to over 200 small commercial radio stations, in the U.S. and in Canada, to hear Kris Colt's new single release
"Arms Of A Stranger." Coming out late Fall 2010, her newest
album also carrying the title, "Arms
of a Stranger," will
have distribution TBA.
She also appears on a Celtic Compilation album
called
Ceiltis,
produced by Am Claidheamn Soluis.
Along with her co-writer,
Brenda Thomas, original songs like Black Rose (the story of a young
black Irish immigrant street teen and her infant's struggle to survive),
and Has Anybody Seen Mary?, (the tale of lost children as they
enter the port of New Orleans), are
typical of her work. "Mary" was
chosen to be performed in conjunction with an appearance by the
San Francisco Irish Consul General.
The touching story behind "Mary" inspired Arthur Sauter to write a
large-scale new musical titled "Has Anybody Seen Mary."
Kris Colt and her writing partner, Brenda Thomas, were asked to write
all the music. The play showcased in Hollywood, May 2010 and is
currently being launched to a larger arena. Kris was cast to play
the principal role of Ma'ire McNally.
www.hasanybodyseenmary.com
"This captivating musical touched the Irish heart,"
says the Honorable Finbar Hill, Irish Consul General.
In Celtic tradition, she explores the passions of the "other world" with
mystical songs
like Spirit of the Woodland and the title track from her CD, the rockin' sea shanty,
The Voyage, inspired by family tales of her Welsh sea captain
ancestor, Nathan Gaythan Thomas. Fevered Welsh gypsy style pieces
in her live show celebrate another line of the lead singer's
Celtic roots.
Kris Colt and The Black Rose Band have
played with a number of national Irish and Scottish folk acts, with one of
her favorites being a Saturday night concert appearance, opening for the
nationally known Fenians, at the world-famous Roxy Theatre
on the Sunset Strip!
Kris brought her lyrical
folk singing style to the main stage with a concert appearance at the
very trendy Knitting Factory on Hollywood Blvd.,
next to Mann's Chinese Theatre, with her red mini kilt coming out for
this Valentine's show.
She also had a pretty exciting evening as a part of the
Girls With Guitars Show at the
Whiskey A Go
Go also on the
Sunset Strip.
Taking it on the road, performing for such
music festivals as the
Sam Hinton Folk
Festival in La
Jolla, she also
gave an Irish folk song workshop she affectionately named "Love To
Lament" and she was sponsored for a concert for the
San Diego
Folk Heritage music series.
It was here that she recently had the privilege of
performing with the legendary Kingston Trio, for a very special
day of music sponsored by the Christian League.
Once again, Kris and her band made
their stand for two days of traditional
Irish fun and frolic alongside The Young Dubliners, The
Fenians, Sligo Rag and theWhooligans, for Southern
California's premiere, Great American Irish Fair.
Black
Rose had the
thrill of being one of the five featured bands at the San
Diego Highland Games,
and were also chosen to perform in concert at the San
Diego Moonlight Amphitheater.
You
might have seen Kris Colt and her band weave their
mystical spell at one of the group's favorite haunts, such as
Hollywood's Molly Malone's,
Brennan's Irish Pub or the swanky
Lunaria,
where they have opened for a number of celebrity guests.
In addition, they had a solo appearance at the glamorous Palace Theatre at
Hollywood and Vine and several times performed on the ever popular, now
legendary, Ronnie
Mack's Barn Dance Show.
Kris and Black Rose have also been known to appear at folk pow-wows
like The Newport Folk Festival,
where they opened
the event on the fair stage at the historic Greek
Theatre in
Griffith Park.
On three different occasions Kris performed bluegrass
at the Topanga Banjo Fiddle Contest, and while in Nashville TN, Kris was a featured
guest at the songwriter's mecca, The Bluebird Cafe.
The Black Rose Band has
been sponsored in concert by Music Connection magazine and has been the sole
musical act for the Irish-American Bar Association's Saint Patrick's Day
Banquet for six years in a row
at the Dorothy
Chandler Pavilion,
entertaining some of the city's most prestigious judges, attorneys and
political figures. Kris also sang for the annual O'Connell Dinner
in November, where, once again, she had the honor to perform for the
Irish Consul General.
In March 2007, Kris performed her classical Irish repertoire
as the guest soloist for the UCLA Choir "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling"
benefit concert.
For the Celtic New Year's celebration of
Samhain, Kris Colt appears annually at
An Claidheamh Soluis
(The Celtic Arts Center),
where she was formerly a member of the performing Gaelic
Choir, as
seen on PBS under the direction of Ken O'Malley. The group has,
among its many other appearances, opened for Solas at the Anson Ford Amphitheater.
The
Robert Burns, Bard of Scotland
birthday dinners are another annual performance celebration Kris and the
band love to participate in.
They were also special guests for: the new St. Patrick's Irish Fair at the Fairplex
in Pomona; the first South Coast Celtic Festival at the
Brother's of St. Patrick in Orange County; the Universal NOHO
Arts Festival ; the first Southern California Fringe
Arts Festival and for the Weekend Celtic Concert series, sponsored by
ACS.
The band played pub concerts at the beautiful
Muldoon's Irish Restaurant,
and Kris and her Celtic harp player, Ed Lindgron, were the daily
repeated Christmas entertainment at Muldoon's for the past two years.
In association with these appearances, the two gave a full hour radio
concert and interview on the UC Irvine radio station.
Kris also sings with a trio called
An Chroi Cealteache,
who perform for such events as the star-packed annual Tyrone Power
Memorial Service at Hollywood Forever.
Kris is also working her wiles with a performance group
named A Wild Band
of Gypsies.
Kris has been featured acting, dancing and
singing in such Equity theatres as L.A.'s Dorothy Chandler Pavilion,
working with the great Gower Champion, the Shubert Theatre in
Century City, as well as both the famous Curan and
Orpheum
theatres in San Francisco, for the Legends Company in Las Vegas and with
the San Bernardino Civic Light Opera. She has also appeared
as a singer and dancer for television and film.
Kris Colt's unusual style and mystical persona is on
the cutting edge of her musical genre. She is extremely proud to
work with her extraordinary band mates,
Phil Ernst, on guitar,
Steve Ayvazian, on vocals and
percussion, and
Ed Lindgron
on the classic Irish harp, while Kris herself,
as writer and lead vocalist, also plays the guitar and ancient Irish bodhron
drum. Together they spark the stage with flames of musical
fire!
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