Kristen Tivey, a singer-songwriter from Falmouth, Massachusetts, has been performing around Brooklyn and Manhattan for the past 3 years. The Indie International Songwriting Contest awarded Kristen 5th place in their folk category for her song “Soil and the Sea” in 2014. In summer 2013, she released a 4 track EP of one of her live performances at The Bitter End.

             Kristen grew up in a small coastal town on Cape Cod, playing the piano starting at age 4 and saxophone starting at age 8, and writing pop songs with her brother in the backseat of their parent’s car on summer road trips. At age 15 she added guitar to the mix, stealing her brother’s and teaching herself how to play. While piano and saxophone provided a valuable musical foundation, songwriting was Kristen’s approach to learning the guitar, and for the first year she could only play songs she had written. In college at Vassar College, she finally began sharing her songs with her community, and by the end of four years she was being booked to play the school’s festivals and music fundraisers, as well as performing once a semester for the audition-only songwriter sessions. Her senior year she recorded her first tracks in the form of a self-released 3 track EP entitled ‘Soil and the Sea.’

           Over the past nine years, Kristen’s playing style has evolved into a blend of partial capo use, finger-picking, and fuller rhythmic strumming. Her songs give a glimpse inside her personal experience, often dispensing a snippet of youthful wisdom or a careful observation. Her catchy melodies and clear voice provide an easy entrance to her deeper lyrics. Kristen’s live performances give a taste of her honesty and genuine emotion which, when combined with the stories she shares, create a wonderful connection and memorable experience.

             Shortly after moving to Brooklyn in the summer of 2012, Kristen both created her own stop-motion music video to her popular song ‘Soil and the Sea,’ but also gave herself the task of recording one of her old songs every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. This resulted in the 21 track album ‘first songs,’ which stands as an example of her extensive self-written repertoire, and gives an in depth look into her growth as a songwriter. The next summer, Kristen released her most recent work to date: a 4 track album recorded live at The Bitter End.

              Kristen is currently playing shows and recording her first full-length album.