Singer Making Strides In Musical Journey
/By Janee Law
jlaw@longislandergroup.com
Kirsten Maxwell is climbing her way up the musical ladder, working on her second album as a singer-songwriter. (Photo courtesy of Kirsten Maxwell).
Singer-songwriter Kirsten Maxwell has been making strides in her music career ever since she started singing at 5 years old. She eventually grew to, as a 23 year old, release her first album, “Crimson,” in April 2015.
Now, she’s set her sights on finishing her sophomore album, which is currently untitled. The project is shaping up to be a vehicle for the young singer to “discover” what her sound is, she said.
“My first record was a learning experience, so I don’t think I was completely developed yet as an artist,” the now 24-year-old Huntington resident said. The first record produced a folk, contemporary sound, she added.
“Now that that I’ve had almost two years go by, I’ve learned a lot,” she said. “I’m taking the time to experiment with this EP and play with some new sounds, and get a little more contemporary.”
The second album is set to feature six songs. Although Maxwell said she loves all of her songs in different ways, she singled out the song “Butterfly,” which will be on the upcoming EP, as one that’s special to her. The song was inspired by a Ray Bradbury short story called “A Sound of Thunder,” which is about the butterfly effect.
“I explore that in the song,” Maxwell said. “It’s significant on a greater playing field because that’s something that we are maybe not aware of every day.
“It’s a negative outlook, but there’s also a positive way to think about the butterfly effect and how we might brighten someone’s day without knowing it.”
For her album, Maxwell started a kickstarter page raising $15,000 in order to expand her reach with the new album. The funding includes recording and editing the songs, radio promotions, ordering the CDs and filming a music video. As of deadline Thursday, the page has garnered over $8,000 in funding.
Maxwell said that the music video will be a huge promotional push for her album since the industry is now more visual. She hopes to have the album complete in the springtime.
“I’m excited for this one because for me it feels like it’s been a long time coming,” Maxwell said. “There’s so much about this project that’s about discovering myself and discovering and learning more about myself through my art, and at the same time connecting with other people through that art.”
She continued, “There are a lot of people who have been on this journey with me and they’ve watched me grow up and they’ve heard these songs develop.
“I think it’s going to be really exciting not only for me but a lot of people to finally hear these songs, record it and produce them in a really beautiful way.”
Maxwell has a performance at Finley’s in Huntington village scheduled for Dec. 28, 8 p.m., with artist SEE.
She also plans to start touring on Jan. 21, 2017, with a performance slated for Burlap and Bean in Newtown Square, Pennsylvania. From there, she will make her way down to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where she will play the South Florida Folk Festival on Jan. 29, 2017.
