 Courtesy of the Artist
Released earlier this month, Kristy Kruger's latest album, Fever of Unknown Origin, is a thirteen-song collection of incredibly personal, yet relatable tracks that deal with grief and loss. Here, Kristy answers her Essential 8 where she shares the story behind the album's title, the song "Goodbye Brother," meeting her heroes, and more.
Is there a story behind your album's title? I come from a military family. My great grandfather served in Mission, Texas in 1916 during the Mexican Punitive Expedition. My grandfather served in World War II, Army Air Corps in Wichita Falls, Texas. My brother Doug served in the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets. And three of my nephews served in the Texas A&M Corps of Cadets as well. My father is a Vietnam veteran who has impacted my life greatly. Growing up, he often told us stories of his time there. He also contracted a fever while serving in the Army, called the "Fever of Unknown Origin." A couple of times a year, he will get an extremely high fever and will shake, sweat, and shiver. There is no cure for the fever and no one knows when the fever will strike or how long it will last. After losing my brother Eric in Iraq, my mother told me about my father's fever, which I was previously unaware of. When she described it to me, it sounded exactly like what I was experiencing after losing Eric. I would suffer from long panic attacks where I would shake and shiver. I never knew what would set these attacks off or how long they would last. In honor of my father and all of his sacrifices for our country, including the loss of his son, I thought to name this album Fever of Unknown Origin, as my whole family experienced the grave loss of Eric, which felt like a fever that affected us all and came out of nowhere. After Eric died, I began learning all kinds of American music in his honor, from Bessie Smith to Lefty Frizzell and Johnny Cash, to preserve our nation's unique music history. My hope for this album is that it shows my true love of American music, especially New Orleans Jazz, and early American country, blues and folk. Why did you choose to anchor the album with the songs you did? Almost all of the songs I wrote were written after my brother’s death in Iraq. They all expressed the many faces of grief one goes through when losing someone in a sudden and traumatic way. Where do you draw inspiration from when writing? Life. Do you write about personal experience, the experience of others, observations, made-up stories, something else or a combination? I write about personal experience.
There is a song on the album, "Goodbye Brother" that is incredibly moving. Can you please share the story behind it?
My dear brother was only in Iraq for one day when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle in Baghdad, Iraq. Career military, a Lieutenant Colonel, a Deputy Brigade Commander and he was killed his second afternoon there. Needless to say, I was beyond devastated. I was on the road in NYC when my parents called to deliver the news. I remained in NY because his funeral was going to be at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia. We waited 14 days for his body to return. I wrote “Goodbye Brother” on the fourth day as I waited for his body to come home. His casket was closed of course. I sang “Goodbye Brother” at his funeral at Arlington National Cemetery. I think of “Goodbye Brother” as a spiritual, not really a “radio” song. It’s more of a song to be sung at funerals and some people have actually used it at funerals for their brothers. I gave it a joyful sound. A traveling song, for he was a joyous traveler himself. The song has no connection to the military or war, and it could relate to anyone who has lost a brother or a friend in any way. "Come and Gone” was also about my brother. Written a year later, and I see it as a funeral song as well. I toured for many years after Eric's death and donated portions of the proceeds to the Fisher House, which provides housing for the families of wounded veterans, so they may be near their veteran during a hospitalization. During this time, the Cain Foundation heard of my tour and donation $25,000 to the Fisher House in Eric's memory. What’s the best advice you have ever gotten from another musician? My engineer in New Orleans. He said at some point you “forgive yourself for the life you’ve chosen.” He was speaking of all the tribulations of being a musician and how when you reach a certain age you just accept your decision. What’s the best advice to give to a musician just starting out? Learn how to play with a metronome no matter how long it takes you! How do you kill the long hours in the van? I always toured alone. I would actually write songs while I drove. Or I would transcribe tunes I wanted to learn while driving and even learned to play the harmonica with a harmonica holder while driving a stick shift. I learned the harmonica solo for Neil Young’s “Heart of Gold” while driving. Have you met any of your heroes? If so, how did it go? Yes. I’ve met both Patty Griffin and Ani DiFranco. Ani’s husband at the time was collaborating with me on my third album in New Orleans. Ani was a super friendly, a very giving and loving person. While she was on the road, she actually let me stay in her house for a month. Then she finally came to New Orleans and I was given a VIP seat and was invited out to socialize at “Vaughan’s” in the Bywater. She wound up inviting me to a BBQ at her house and we read our birthdays from an astrology book. I was the last person to leave the party. I was beyond excited to meet her. I modeled my whole career after her (driving alone and touring solo). One night at Mimi’s in the Marigny (a local bar in New Orleans) she came right up to me and said, “Hi Kristy!” I couldn’t believe she remembered me. I remember that Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire” was playing on the juke box. Oh! One more hero. I was hired by Jack White to play pedal steel and banjo in his all female band called “The Peacocks.” I drove to Nashville, and we shook hands, and he was instantly friendly. We picked out dresses for the shows and we rehearsed. My favorite musical memory is playing “Hotel Yarba” on the banjo with him. It turned out that I wasn’t really a good fit for the project, and we parted amicably. The music was just too hard rock for me on the steel. But I would have played "Saturday Night Live" and toured Europe with him. I get mad at myself that I wasn’t able to stretch my boundaries, and who knows what would have happened if I’d been able to make the project work for me. A few years back, Patty Griffin personally selected me from YouTube videos to open four shows for her. I was floored. I couldn’t believe that all my hard work was finally paying off. Fifteen years of touring solo with no label, no agent, etc. The most amazing moment about opening for Patty was that she announced from the stage that she thought I was a “solid gold songwriter." I couldn’t believe it. So kind of her, especially when you think of how much music she has heard. At the last show on the tour, Patty came up to me and gave me her phone number and email and asked to stay in touch. Several months later, she asked me to “christen” her new piano at her home in Austin. (I am a jazz pianist) The house was packed with musicians and we had a big pickin’ party. She was a gracious hostess. I remember her first album “Living with Ghosts” when I was a junior studying Music at USC. Fever of Unknown Origin can be purchased online at www.statefairrecords.com and through Amazon.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |