Kristie Stremel
Kristie Stremel grew up in Hays, Kansas, a small town in Kansas' western flatlands. As a child, she played and sang along with her guitar-playing father, whose favorite artists were Johnny Cash and Waylon Jennings. At 12, she got her first electric guitar and began playing songs off of the radio and from her family’s record collections. One of five children, she was always performing for her family. At 15, she saw Joan Jett at the Ellis County fair and was inspired to form her first garage band, performing hit songs at the skating rink and school dances. The summer before her senior year of high school, she moved to Kansas City and experienced an isolation that was no doubt helpful in refining her songwriting abilities. At 19, she started performing acoustic songs at the Lake of the Ozarks in central Missouri and at the Big Bang Buffet in Kansas City. By this time, her performance was comprised of half cover songs and half originals. She was constantly writing, as she does today, keeping the guitar by her bed in case she dreamed a song during the night.

At 21, she joined the Warrensburg, Missouri band Frogpond, playing rhythm guitar and singing backing vocals. In 1996, the band went on to record their album, "Count to Ten", produced by Everclear's Art Alexakis. With a few minor alternative radio hits, Frogpond toured all over the country, and Stremel came to be known for her charismatic enthusiasm and interaction with the crowd (characterized by her willingness to climb club rafters when a set reached climactic heights). In the spring of 1997, she left Frogpond and formed her own three-piece band, Exit 159, releasing a remarkable 7-song EP before the end of the year, which yielded one regional radio hit. With an outlet for her prolific songwriting, Stremel worked fast. In early 1998, Exit released a 12-song LP filled with radio-ready songs, two of which received a great deal of play on area alternative stations. The band won the Kansas City/Lawrence area regional music award, the Klammie, two years in a row, first for "Best New Band" and, the second year, for "Band of the Year." Exit 159 continuously built on a strong following, packing the toughest Kansas City houses and touring the West Coast twice. In the fall of '99, the now-4-piece band, featuring three songwriters with individual ambitions folded, and Kristie went straight back into the studio to record as a solo artist.

Kristie Stremel's solo material is a logical step forward from the work that she did with Exit 159, emphasizing the growing sophistication of her songwriting and delving more deeply into her personal struggles. Her first demo is an acoustic set, featuring inspired backing by drummer Beth Robinson, guitarist Chris Meck (formerly of Monkey Boy) and bassist Jason Magierowski. The control exhibited in this new music is a sign of the maturity of an exceptionally-talented artist, and it offers listeners a glimpse of the versatility and subtlety of Stremel's voice, which draws on both her country roots and her rock background to offer an unusually soulful and personal sound. Kristie Stremel's new work, "All I Really Want" (Slewfoot Records), was released in September of 2001. Stremel and her band are currently hard at work on the road and on the next record. More info can be found at kristiestremel.com

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