Hometown: Pioneertown, CA
First recordings: 1985

Personnel:
Kristin Hersh -vocals, guitar
David Narcizo -drums, drum loops
Carlo Nuccio -drums, drum loops

Bands In The Family:
Throwing Muses, Belly

Notes:
Kristin Hersh appeared on the 80's alternative rock scene at the age of 14 as lead singer of the Throwing Muses. With Kristin's brutally honest approach to lyricism and her band-mates' ability to amplify such thoughts with a classic rock sound, The Muses quickly gained a respectably sizable audience, both in the US and abroad. They soon became the first US band to be signed to the renowned British Record Label 4AD. In 1994 Kristin released her first full-fledged solo album, a collection of acoustic ballads called Hips and Makers. After The Throwing Muses' unfortunate breakup in 1997, her solo career continued with the release of the highly acclaimed Strange Angels in 1998. Currently, Hersh resides in Southern California with her husband/manager Billy O'Connell and her children Dylan, Ryder and Wyatt.

Links:
The Other Site
The legendary non-official 4AD site.
Mark's little Home Page
A fine lil' Muses site with a bootleg section, sound, links and more.

Grab all of your Vanillaroma candles and dim the lights. Now spark up a fresh stick of Nag Champa. Maybe two. You now have just the right amount of ambiance needed to absorb Kristin Hersh's newest masterpiece.

Sky Motel, Hersh's third solo effort, is a bittersweet mixture of abrasive melody and mirth, spinning dizzily from Pop-Rocks-on-your-tongue tracks like "Echo" and "A Cleaner Light" to the cool evening lullaby of "White Trash Moon." Listening to the disc in its entirety is a bit like dancing around naked in a sunlit field somewhere, then stretching out on the lawn in a stranger's backyard and puffing smoke rings as darkness falls.

Like the more acoustic predecessor, 1998's Strange Angels, Sky Motel is full of Hersh's uninhibited lyricism, only this time she sings against a heavy backdrop of bongo beats, thunder storms and wailing guitars. "This is no time to fuck up/Scooting around the linoleum/On all fours/What for again?" she sings on "Clay Feet." It's this startling yet undeniably attractive rancor that we've come to expect from her - she sings with the conviction of a mother, a lover and a fighter, and she does it all beautifully. Sit back and listen. You'll want to pay attention to this one.

If you like Kristin Hersh, check out:
Throwing Muses The Real Ramona
Throwing Muses Hunkpapa
Juliana Hatfield Juliana's Pony: Total System Failure
Cowboy Junkies Trinity Session

-- Johanna Ravich