Album Notes

Tristen began playing music at the age of eight in the south suburbs of Chicago and since then has released two EPs, one full length record, Among the Crowd. Among the Crowd received considerable accolades among the TV and film industry. In 2005 the song “Wasting Time” was selected for the fourth season DVD release of Felicity, a WB television series. “Down” was aired on the daytime television program “One Life to Live” in January of 2006. “Wasting Time” was placed on the Disney movie, “Hello Sister, Goodbye Life” that aired on the Disney Channel and the ABC Family channel in the spring of 2006. “Honesty” was in regular rotation in AMC theatres nationwide, reaching nearly 55 million movie-goers.

After performing her songs in the Chicago-land area for 9 years, opening for acts like The Guess Who, Edwin McCain, The Proclaimers, Alana Davis, Michael McDermott, and the Waco Brothers, Tristen started traveling to Nashville to co-write with songwriter, producer, and Dualtone recording artist, Carey Ott (www.careyott.com). This new collection of songs stays true to her organic, folk/americana origins, keeping emotionally intelligent lyrics and strong pop melodies.

Tristen: Not your run-of-the-mill migrant songwriter
May 29, 2008 · by Seth Graves

Give us your poor, your tired, your huddled masses longing to get signed; the wretched refuse of lifeless music scenes across the country. Send these, the homeless notebook-carrying, starry-eyed minstrels to Nashville… we’ve got room for them all. Okay, that may have been a little dramatic, but it’s still not too far of a stretch to say that musicians are pouring into this town by the boatload. With that kind of volume, it’s easy to generalize, trivialize, and stereotype the lump sum of into a horde of quixotic wannabes with hopelessly romantic aspirations and ideas as to how the music business works. But just like anything else, you’ve got good ones, bad ones, and a whole lot of cliches in the middle that make those stereotypes hard to ignore. Occasionally, Nashville gets a migrant or two that do well at reminding us that some folks really do come here to make better music.

One such shining example is singer/songwriter Tristen who arrived recently by way of Chicago. The single-named songstress has been bandying a simple, straightforward pop influenced folk style around town for the past year now. Backed by a revolving door backing band, Tristen takes a classic approach to melody sounds neither modern nor retro, but rather takes on a timeless quality that seems it could have come about at any given year between now and 1972.

Growing up in Chicago on a steady diet of radio oldies, Tristen started writing pop songs and playing shows at the ripe age of 14. After making a few records, she landed a publishing deal in L.A. and getting a few of her tunes in placed in television and film. It’s an impressive start at such a young age, but shortly she hit what she describes as a creative “glass ceiling” and knew it was time to move on. She started traveling to Nashville to write with a friend and recorded another pop album. Says Tristen, “ I sort of fell in love with Nashville because it seemed to be a really creative environment… it was such a charming place to be. So I packed up and moved here.”

Since arriving in Music City, Tristen has long departed from her radio pop roots and done well at assembling a crew of capable musicians to accompany her new style. Work on her newest record is slated for this summer but Tristen says it feels like it’ll be her first. In the meantime, she’s been playing as often as possible around town and beginning to branch out into the regional south.

“I think Nashville has a strong character,” she explained when asked about her impression of Nashville since moving here. “It’s southern and stubborn. You can find it if you are looking in the right places. I’ve discovered and re-discovered some of my favorite country music since I’ve moved here.”

You can check Tristen out - and you are strongly encouraged to do so - next month, June 16th and 18th at the Mercy Lounge. You can find out more and listen online at www.myspace.com/tristentristen.