1. Martha Kristin Hersh was born on August 7,1966 and is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter known for her solo work and with her rock bands Throwing Muses and 50FootWave.
24 Facts About Kristin Hersh
1. 2.
Kristin Hersh moved to Newport, Rhode Island with her family, when she was six years old.
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Kristin Hersh's father was a professor at Salve Regina University and her mother was a special educational needs teacher.
4.
Kristin Hersh was interested in music at an early age; her father gave her a guitar when she was nine.
5.
Kristin's parents separated when Hersh was 11, and her mother married the father of her best friend Tanya Donelly.
6.
Kristin Hersh talked Donelly into starting a band, then called The Muses, when they were 14.
7.
Kristin Hersh initially wrote and sang most of Throwing Muses' songs, often in changing tempos.
8.
Kristin Hersh attended Salve Regina University in Newport, majoring in archetypal psychology and philosophy, but dropped out shortly before graduating to establish the band in Boston where they had been playing on weekends.
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Kristin Hersh continued to offer her solo releases online, releasing Sky Motel in 1999.
10.
In 2001, Kristin Hersh released the Sunny Border Blue solo album, on which she again played nearly all instruments.
11.
Kristin Hersh described the album as having even more intensity than her previous works, as she continued her pursuit of songwriting as being in part a way to transform "ugly feelings" into art.
12.
Kristin Hersh collaborated further with like-minded alternative artists like Vic Chesnutt, Willard Grant Conspiracy, Grant-Lee Phillips, and John Doe.
13.
When Narcizo was unable to tour on a full-time basis due to other commitments, Kristin Hersh formed her power rock trio 50FootWave.
14.
Kristin Hersh's touring appearances and recording efforts in 2004 and 2005 centered around both 50 Foot Wave and her solo career.
15.
In 2007, Kristin Hersh released her first solo album in four years, entitled Learn to Sing Like a Star.
16.
At that point in her career, Kristin Hersh's output was independently released online.
17.
On June 12,2018, Kristin Hersh announced on her website that she has signed with Fire Records.
18.
Kristin Hersh has an occasional vibrato that punctuates some of her more dramatic phrasing.
19.
Kristin Hersh has said her parents' album collections featuring Patti Smith, the Carter Family, Stevie Wonder, Robert Johnson, Talking Heads, The Clash, Steve Miller, The Beatles, Philip Glass, and traditional music influenced her when she was growing up.
20.
Kristin Hersh's illustrated children's book Toby Snax was published in 2007 and further developed in 2011 as an interactive app for children.
21.
Kristin Hersh was married to her former manager Billy O'Connell for 25 years and they divorced in 2013.
22.
Kristin Hersh has talked openly about her bouts with mental illness and its role in her musical process.
23.
Kristin Hersh has said that hearing "pieces of songs" in her mind compelled her to take the pieces apart and craft songs from them.
24.
Kristin Hersh has had more than one diagnosis for her condition including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and most recently post-traumatic and dissociative disorders, which she says have been successfully treated with eye movement desensitization and reprocessing therapy.