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Sometimes, Tuesday pitcher night at White Water Tavern is a real gamble when it comes to the musical acts featured. One week you get the excellence that is Red Collar, and the next week you get some knock off southern rock wannabe. But the beer is cheap, and the company’s good so it’s a chance I’m usually willing to take.

Now, I’d heard the name Kristy Kruger floating around Little Rock for a while. A WWT frequenter, Kruger stopped in this past Tuesday and sweetly serenaded the auspicious Tuesday night crowd.

Having taken the stage a little bit late, because she was changing clothes and applying make-up in the bathroom, I noticed Kruger doing mic checks on two different microphones. I’m not going to pretend I knew the difference between the two microphones, but one was markedly older and when she sang into it she sounded like a vinyl record version of herself.

When she started to sing, I was taken aback by her mysterious and almost ghostly voice. She wasn’t demanding or over the top, not callous or in your face, but just delicate.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the loud stuff, but after a few weeks of loud and energetic acts, (Red Collar, American Aquarium, Drunken Angels, Frown Pow’r) it was nice to listen to Kruger, sip my beer and be able to converse without fear of busting someone else’s eardrum. 

Kruger has a downright pretty voice, and demeanor as well. In a world of boring solo acoustic female acts, Kruger stands out with her 1920s-esque voice. It almost sounds like she should be broadcasted on a low frequency radio somewhere in the Ozark Mountains.

Her voice reminded me of major label songstress and Grammy nominee Adele, who is out of the U.K. Kruger’s voice has girth and fearlessness that seems to come so naturally, and is very accessible to the audience.  

Kruger’s performance was consistent, intimate and thoughtful; it was a nice easy summertime show.

Go by her Web site and pick up an album or two. “Songs from a Dead Man’s Couch” is her latest full-length release, and I highly recommend it.

http://www.kristykruger.com/

-Liz S.