Kyle Craft (born January 9, 1989), is an American singer-songwriter and musician based in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

. He released his debut album, '' Dolls of Highland'' from

Sub Pop Sub Pop is a record label founded in 1986 by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman. Sub Pop achieved fame in the early 1990s for signing Seattle bands such as Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Mudhoney, central players in the grunge movement. They are often ...

records in 2016.

Biography

Craft was born in

Shreveport, Louisiana Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population of 393,406 in 2020, is t ...

. First drawn to music through the

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

church choir in his early childhood, Craft was introduced to rock music through a

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

compilation that he found in

Kmart Kmart Corporation ( , doing business as Kmart and stylized as kmart) is an American retail company that owns a chain of big box department stores. The company is headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, United States. The company was inc ...

. At the age of 15, he started playing the acoustic guitar his grandmother gave him for Christmas. He began to record songs on a laptop that he bought in 2007. Craft relocated first in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

where he formed the band Gashcat releasing the album, Reunion! in 2011 followed by the Devil Kid Demos EP. The band broke up in 2013 due in part to the persistent negative comparison to

Neutral Milk Hotel Neutral Milk Hotel was an American band formed in Ruston, Louisiana, by musician Jeff Mangum. They were active from 1989 to 1998, and again from 2013 to 2015. The band's music featured a deliberately low-quality sound, influenced by indie rock ...

. Craft moved to Portland, where he started writing his solo debut album. After recording the tracks at the laundry room of his Shreveport home with a

DIY "Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and semi ...

rig and his laptop, he reconnected with Sub Pop Records, whom he has been in touch with after previously passing over a

demo Demo, usually short for demonstration, may refer to: Music and film *Demo (music), a song typically recorded for reference rather than release * ''Demo'' (Behind Crimson Eyes), a 2004 recording by the band Behind Crimson Eyes * ''Demo'' (Deafhea ...

. The tracks were mixed by Brandon Summers and Benjamin Weikel of

The Helio Sequence The Helio Sequence is an American indie rock duo from Beaverton, Oregon, signed to Sub Pop. The band consists of Brandon Summers on vocals and guitars and Benjamin Weikel on drums and keyboards. History Summers and Weikel formed The Helio Sequ ...

, and Craft released his debut album, '' Dolls of Highland'', in April 2016. He assembled a live band following its release and embarked a tour. Craft was selected as the opening act for

Drive-By Truckers Drive-By Truckers are an American rock band based in Athens, Georgia. Two of five current members (Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley) are originally from The Shoals region of northern Alabama and met as roommates at the University of North Alabama ...

Fall 2016 tour.

Musical style and artistry

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

's James Christopher Monger described Craft as "a singer/songwriter with a robust, full-throated wail and knack for pairing

Stones In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks form the Earth's o ...

-ian hooks and Dylan-esque wordplay with glam-kissed pop swagger." ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' wrote that he sounds like "a swamp bar jukebox loaded with British glitter and Seventies

Southern rock Southern rock is a subgenre of rock music and a genre of Americana. It developed in the Southern United States from rock and roll, country music, and blues and is focused generally on electric guitars and vocals. Author Scott B. Bomar speculat ...

" and turns his tracks into a "poetic gumbo of Southern roots, electric folk and preening

glam rock Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was performed by musicians who wore outrageous costumes, makeup, and hairstyles, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists drew on diver ...

." His sound also features elements from

alternative country Alternative country, or alternative country rock (sometimes alt-country, insurgent country, Americana, or y'allternative), is a loosely defined subgenre of country music and/or country rock that includes acts that differ significantly in style ...

and

Americana Americana may refer to: *Americana (music), a genre or style of American music *Americana (culture), artifacts of the culture of the United States Film, radio and television * ''Americana'' (1992 TV series), a documentary series presented by J ...

. Craft cites Bob Dylan as an influence over his distinctive vocal style. His other influences include David Bowie,

the Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American Rock music, rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian Wilson, Brian, Dennis Wilson, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and frie ...

and

Father John Misty Joshua Michael Tillman (born May 3, 1981), better known by his stage name Father John Misty, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He has also performed and released studio albums under the name J. Tillman. Maintainin ...

Live band members

Live band members as adapted from ''

Willamette Week ''Willamette Week'' (''WW'') is an alternative weekly newspaper and a website published in Portland, Oregon, United States, since 1974. It features reports on local news, politics, sports, business, and culture. History Early history ''Willame ...

'': * Kyle Craft – vocals, various instruments * Haven Multz – drums * Austin Barone – bass * Jeremy Kale Padot – guitar * Ben Steinmetz – organ * Kevin Clark – piano

Discography

Studio albums * '' Dolls of Highland'' (2016) * '' Full Circle Nightmare'' (2018) * '' Showboat Honey'' (2019) Compilations * ''Girl Crazy'' (2017) Live Albums * ''LIVE! From A Dying Planet'' (2020) Music videos * "Eye of a Hurricane" (2016, dir. Tyler Bertram) * "The Rager" (2017) * "2 Ugly 4 NY" (2019, dir. Eleanor Petry) * "Deathwish Blue" (2019) * "Broken Mirror Pose" (2019, dir. Kyle Craft)

References

External links

Kyle Craft
on

Sub Pop Records Sub is a common abbreviation of words beginning with the prefix "sub-". Sub or SUB may also refer to Places * Juanda International Airport, Surabaya, Indonesia, IATA code SUB Computing and technology * , an HTML tag for subscript * SUB designat ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Craft, Kyle Living people 1989 births American male singer-songwriters American rock singers American rock songwriters American rock guitarists American male guitarists Musicians from Portland, Oregon Musicians from Shreveport, Louisiana Glam rock musicians Sub Pop artists Singer-songwriters from Louisiana Singer-songwriters from Oregon Guitarists from Louisiana Guitarists from Oregon 21st-century American singers 21st-century American guitarists 21st-century American male singers