Kristi Michele is like a rainbow comprised of all the colors left over from many a rainy day. British folk, Broadway show tunes, Brill-Building pop, gypsy jazz, cabaret, and psychedelia are each influences on her songs, sometimes gentle folk ditties accompanied by a plucked acoustic guitar, other times vocal melodies layered as sweetly as tiramisu and set to Ragtime piano. Whatever the package, her songs evoke a time gone by. Her voice has the nostalgic quality of a vintage chanteuse, hinting at the torch singing of Billie Holiday, the wavering folk bellow of Maddy Prior, and the theatrical alto of a turn-of-the-century vaudevillian act. Her songs are tales of misty forests, chirping birds, and creaking Viking boats woven into ornate tapestries of sound, with touches like glockenspiel and auto harp. Lyrically, her songs are reminiscent of both the droll styles of classic songwriters like Cole Porter and Blossom Dearie and the long, billowing narratives of 1960s folk artists such as Joni Mitchell. For these reasons, she has been compared to such current artists as Joanna Newsom, Regina Spektor, and Cat Power.
