Little Blue, the latest album from Nashville artist Kristina Murray, was recorded with producers Misa Arriaga and Rachael Moore. The collection grapples with loneliness, desperation, and existential crises through a series of cinematic snapshots of small-town burnouts and last call lovers. Murray is a country artist in the truest sense, a genuine craftswoman with a keen eye and ear for the little details that bring her working-class characters to life, and her delivery is timeless, blurring the lines between the old school honky-tonk, swampy Americana, and R&B-infused southern rock she grew up on in her home state of Georgia. If Murray sounds like a seasoned vet on Little Blue, that’s because she is. While the album marks her Normaltown debut, Murray’s spent the last decade since moving to Nashville paying her dues in an endless series of dive bars and juke joints, and the result is an electrifying introduction to an artist only just beginning to get the kind of wider recognition her talent has long warranted.
“I’ve been to some pretty low places these last ten years,” Kristina Murray confesses. “Faced a lot of heartbreak and loss and grief, but you have to learn to live with those things if you’re going to survive. You have to persevere.” That spirit of perseverance forms the bedrock of Little Blue.
Tracks 1, 6, 8, 9 produced and engineered by Rachael Moore at East Avalon Recorders, Muscle Shoals
Assistant engineer: Colin Lott
Tracks 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 produced and engineered by Misa Arriaga at Music City Studio B, Nashville
Assistant engineer: Ryan A. Keith
Mastered by Raelynn Janicke at Infrasonic Sound, Nashville
Booking: Atomic Music Group
Photography: Schuyler Howie
Hand-drawn Titling: Amanda R Visger / Ramblin Arts
Design & Layout: Matt Etgen
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Thank you Rachael Moore for your vision for and endless advocacy of me and my art; thanks for your friendship, putting up with me, taking a chance with me, and for believing in me. Thank you Misa Arriaga for your wisdom, lightness, dreaming, ease, and effortless guidance to bring these songs to life; eternally grateful for you and the way you love and create art and put it into the world and thanks for the beers! This record would not exist without you two; thank you.
All of the musicians who played and sang on this record: Dominic Billet, Eddy Dunlap, Erin Rae McKaskle, Ethan Ballinger, Frank Rische, Hank Long, Ilya Portnov, James Paul Mitchell, Jamie Dick, John Mailander, Jonathan Beam, Laura Lamb, Logan Ledger, Mike Fried, Miss Tess, Ryan A. Keith, Sean Thompson, Tim Kuras. Thank you also to my band for sticking with me and playing my songs so good.
Thank you Corey Parsons for listening to demos and keeping me going. I love you! Thank you: Momma, Adi & Bob; Kent Wolfenbarger, George Jr., Katie Keller and all the fine folks at New West; Schulyer Howie, Alex Jensen, Justin Ryan Francis, Mike Venatta, Robby Moore, Kate & Ashley, Josh Shoemaker, Mary Richardson, Elle Long, JP Harris, Randy & Hannah, Meredith Watson, Carter Brallier, Mattman & Steph, Charles Holloman at East Avalon Recorders. All my friends and music community in Nashville and Atlanta, Honky Tonk Tuesday and Santa’s Pub, thank you.
Georgia-bred, Nashville-based artist Kristina Murray plays Americana and country music rooted and steeped in troubadour
storytelling and southern-rock grit.
Kristina currently lives in Nashville, active in the independent country and Americana music scene. One listen and you’ll believe every word that drips from her honky-tonk hewn, yet honeyed vocal style....more
Since her Strays album, I have been a big Margo head. I love her attitude and music. She is a modern day Outlaw and would fit right in w Willie, Waylon, Kris, Billie Joe & the Boys. vinkyul07
I was put off by the bigger arrangments, and I still have mixed feelings about the INCREDIBLE songwriting and lyrics of "What We Had" drowning in strings... but there's no denying their craft. These two are masterful, and if you already love them, you'll find new favs on this one.... they continue to prove that "old-time" songwriting can be applied to modern problems/issues just as beautifully and poignantly. redreds
Kelsey Waldon’s latest is full of gritty, gutsy country-rock that draws on the genre’s traditions but adds razor-edged attitude. Bandcamp New & Notable Jul 20, 2019
Margo Price's latest album tackles loss, failure, and freedom over lush pop, psychedelic country, and rock arrangements. Bandcamp New & Notable Jan 13, 2023
Nashville Americana artist Stephen Simmons reaches deep into his own family tree for an album of clear-eyed, open-hearted storytelling. Bandcamp New & Notable Jul 28, 2020
When (in 2040 maybe) an indie rom-com set in 2024 uses this song for the moment when two rugged protagonists come back together in an uneasy but comfortable third act reunion, we will all nod our heads and say "Yes. This is what it was to be alive in 2024--we were so beautiful and so rugged and we loved this song." tmausy