About
Jan Krist is a singer-songwriter with a rich catalog of recorded music, and a fine, resonant voice. Born in Detroit, Krist was raised on rock, and schooled in the folk and acoustic music of the ’60s and ’70s. Today, Krist’s work reflects the power and poetry of having matured as an artist in that place and time.
Perhaps you’ve caught her live, heard her on the radio, or streamed one of her videos on YouTube. Jan Krist has performed all over the U.S., and has released 13 solo recordings to date. Critical response to her music has been strong and effusive, and her work has been praised in the pages of Entertainment Weekly Magazine, Dirty Linen, Image Journal, and Billboard Magazine, among other publications.
“Jan Krist is a singer songwriter whose music has an uncanny way of cutting to the heart of a topic and providing the listener with food for thought,” writes Bob Darden in Billboard Magazine. “Her talent as a songwriter equals – if not surpasses – her vocal gifts.“
Darden describes Krist’s voice as being “…somewhere between Joni Mitchell and Kate Bush, but it’s all Jan Krist. Unreservedly recommended.”
Jan has twice been a finalist in the New Folk Competition, held each year at the Kerrville Folk Festival in Kerrville, Texas. She has also won four Detroit Metro Music Awards, having been nominated for that honor 13 times.
Or perhaps you’ve heard Jan Krist perform with the Yellow Room Gang, a celebrated songwriting collective based in southeast Michigan, or with her new band, Diamonds in the Rust.
Or, if you’re particularly fortunate, you may have even taken a songwriting course with Jan. She teaches a songwriting workshop at the Grunewald Guild in Leavenworth, Washington twice a year, and has taught songwriting at the Lamb’s Retreat for Songwriters in Harbor Springs, among other venues.
You may even have some of Jan’s work on one of your walls, or in a place of honor in your living room. She is a gifted visual artist, and works mostly in watercolors and clay these days.
And if you haven’t heard Jan Krist yet, you’re in for a treat.
Jan Krist has been described as “a writer whose gift as a songwriter equals – if not surpasses her vocal gifts. She has an uncanny way of cutting to the heart of a topic and providing the listener with food for thought.” — Image Journal
“Hands down one of the best women songwriters, singers, performers in Michigan.” — David Tamulevich
“…with breathtaking vocal leaps….(she) makes soul searching more enjoyable than it has a right to be.” — Entertainment Weekly
“evocative…somewhere between Joni Mitchell and Kate Bush, but it.s all Jan Krist. Unreservedly recommended.” — Billboard Magazine
“Her talent as a songwriter equals – if not surpasses her vocal gifts. She has an uncanny way of cutting to the heart of a topic and providing the listener with food for thought.” — Billboard Magazine