Kristen Hall: Peaches
[purchase]
Due to a corporate transfer, my husband, two children and I moved to Puerto Rico in early-1985 (our third was born there) – when we returned to Atlanta in mid-1989, I had lots of musical catching-up to do!
Having always had a weakness for smart lyrics and tight harmonies, I was immediately drawn to the Indigo Girls, whose Closer to Fine was emerging as an underground “hit”, on the radio and MTV - we were lucky to see them in some small venues in their early days…
But I digress – through Amy and Emily, I also became aware of the plethora of female singer-songwriters in the Atlanta area: Michelle Malone, Dede Vogt and Kristen Hall. I bought Kristen’s Fact & Fiction (cassette tape at the time), fell in love with every song… and wondered if she would have gained more recognition if her sound was not so similar to the Indigo Girls.
I was enamored with Peaches, a bouncy tune whose melody belies the poignancy of a long-distance relationship (I especially love her little sigh at the end) – one of the reasons I will *always* buy albums/tapes/CDs is for the liner notes…and this one listed vocals on Peaches by Michael Lorant (who many of us know better as Michael L. Stipe… from R.E.M.)
Footnote: Decades later, I heard about the country/pop supergroup Sugarland, a trio with Jennifer Nettles, Kristian Bush and Kristen Hall (who founded the band) – my Kristen Hall?!? Yes, indeed – although now, it seems, Kristen has left and filed a lawsuit against the remaining members…