Hometown Musician To Debut New EP
/By Connor Beach
cbeach@longislandergroup.com
Kirsten Maxwell
A Huntington singer-songwriter is set to officially unveil tomorrow her newest, six-song EP, which she said highlights her evolution as a young musician.
Kirsten Maxwell, 25, released her first folk album at age 23. Almost three years later, her newest release, self-titled “Kirsten Maxwell,” shows how much she has changed and how much she has stayed the same, she said.
“In a short amount of time I’ve changed a lot, but also not at all,” Maxwell said. “It’s like chipping away at a sculpture and getting down to who you really are.
Still, the Huntington High School graduate said, she definitely feels more like herself.
She grew up in a musical family and began playing at a very young age. However, she didn’t consider pursuing a career as a musician until she was in college.
“I saw people a little older than me who were making it work as a singer-songwriter, so I decided to really go for it,” she said.
Since then, in addition to her new EP, Maxwell has released two full albums and been touring regularly. She recently returned from a tour that featured stops along the way from Nashville to Vermont.
She got her start with the Folk Music Society of Huntington and while she initially had trouble performing before a live audience, Maxwell said she’s since grown to enjoy the anticipation and excitement a live show brings.
“I want to transition everybody in the audience out of everyday life for an hour or two,” Maxwell said.
The music on her new EP is “kind of all over the place,” but purposefully so, she said, in order to highlight her eclectic tastes in music and the versatility of her voice.
“I wanted to treat each song individually and give it what it needed,” Maxwell said. “There’s some electronic, synth-y stuff, pop elements, folk… It’s a mixed bag.”
In addition to playing and writing music, Maxwell also updates her own website and performs other administrative duties that are necessary to make the dream work.
It’s a grind, she said, “But once I get on stage I realize how much I love it.”
Maxwell has two release shows planned to showcase her new EP: The first is July 7 at The Burren in Somerville, Massachusetts; second is July 20 at Rockville Music Hall in New York City. For more information on the upcoming shows, or to listen to the new EP, visit Kirstenmaxwell.com.
