Phoebe Kreutz is a singer-songwriter, primarily associated with the anti-folk scene of New York City, but also known for her theater and television work. Kreutz has been performing live since the early 2000s, and has released five independent albums, ''Pretty. Pretty Stupid.'', ''Big Lousy Moon'' (released July 2, 2007), ''Bemusement Park'' (released in 2011), "The Age of Reasonableness" (2012) and "Nightlife Sentence" (2013) On ''Big Lousy Moon'', Julie LaMendola (of fellow Anti-folk group

Ching Chong Song Ching Ching (previously known as Ching Chong Song) was a vocal duo rooted in New York City's Anti-folk scene. Their music is often experimental and off-kilter in nature, shifting from humorous to dark, serious, or thoughtful in tone, sometimes with ...

) also joined her as a guest musician., She has also performed with groups Urban Barnyard and The Phyllis Newman Health Initiative Dancers. Her songwriting was featured on the Disney Channel show ''

Johnny and the Sprites ''Johnny and the Sprites'' is an American children's musical television show that aired every weekend on the "Playhouse Disney" block on Disney Channel. The show was created by, produced by, and starred John Tartaglia (most famous for his work o ...

'', and in the theater production of

Alex Timbers Alex Timbers (born August 7, 1978) is an American writer and director and the recipient of Tony, Golden Globe, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and London Evening Standard Awards, as well as two OBIE and Lucile Lortel Awards. He is the recipie ...

' musical ''Dance Dance Revolution''. Kreutz has toured extensively in the U.S. and in Europe, sometimes supporting the Canadian band The Burning Hell in spring 2011. She was also invited to perform at the Lawnya Vawnya Art Festival in St. John's, Newfoundland, where the Burning Hell's leader Mathias Kom currently resides. She is also a cult figure in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

, Germany, where she repeatedly plays the Fourtrack on Stage concert series and is featured on the Berlin Songs compilation. A review of her songs called "Awesomer & Awesomer" was produced at the Triad Theater in 2012 and featured

Ann Harada Ann Harada (born February 3, 1964) is an American actress and singer who was first known for the musical ''Avenue Q'', in which she originated the role of Christmas Eve, the heavily accented Japanese therapist. Early life Harada was born in Ho ...

, Gwen Hollander, Carey Anderson and Travis Morin. It was directed by

Alan Muraoka Alan Muraoka (born August 10, 1962) is a Japanese American actor and director who plays Alan, the current owner of Hooper's Store, on the television show ''Sesame Street'' since 1998. He currently serves on the board of directors at thBayard Rusti ...

. Recently, she has been working on writing a new musical, ''The Dirty Hippie Jam Band Project ''. She is also a member of the pizza-themed

Velvet Underground Weave details visible on a purple-colored velvet fabric Velvet is a type of woven tufted fabric in which the cut threads are evenly distributed, with a short pile, giving it a distinctive soft feel. By extension, the word ''velvety'' means ...

parody band

The Pizza Underground The Pizza Underground was an American comedy rock band based in New York City. Mainly parodying songs by the Velvet Underground with pizza-themed song names and lyrics, the group consisted of Macaulay Culkin (kazoo, percussion and vocals) along ...

, featuring

Macaulay Culkin Macaulay Macaulay Culkin Culkin (born Macaulay Carson Culkin; ) is an American actor. Often regarded as one of the most successful child actors of the 1990s, he was placed 2nd on VH1's list of the "100 Greatest Kid-Stars". Culkin rose to prom ...

and "Two Kazoos" – a band she formed with her husband, Matt Colbourn.

Critical reception

Kreutz' musical style is often described as "joke-folk", and her songs are often inspired by diverse subjects, such as historical figures ("Oh, Elizabeth I"), literature ("A Bad Feeling About Anna Karenina"), relationships ("Disaster"), and the pitfalls of Rock'n'Roll excess ("The Ballad of Throat Culture"). About her style, the

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

wrote ''"Phoebe Kreutz’s chanteusey delivery and comic writing were genuinely funny"''.How Does It Feel, Antifolkies, to Have a Home, Not Be Unknown?
Alan Light, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', August 11, 2006. Retrieved September 13, 2010. About her Edinburgh, Scotland performance, The Skinny wrote, ''"Following this buoyant beginning is the kookily cute Phoebe Kreutz and her jovial tales of lesbian cowgirls and Viking wannabes. Adorably quirky, her voice soars over spiky strumming like a countrified Regina Spektor, using craftily contagious songs to woo the heart of the audience."''

The Daily Barometer ''The Daily Barometer'' is an independent campus newspaper of Oregon State University, in Corvallis, Oregon. It is published weekly during the fall, winter, and spring quarters, and monthly during the summer. Also known as The Baro, the news tea ...

wrote: ''"Kreutz is a hilarious songstress, demonstrating the broad-base and sense of humor inherent to the genre. Citing Tiny Tim as inspiration, she sings about wanting to be a pirate, falling in love with a Taco Bell worker (specifically Gary) and a less-than faithful boyfriend."''

The Stanford Daily ''The Stanford Daily'' is the student-run, independent daily newspaper serving Stanford University. ''The Daily'' is distributed throughout campus and the surrounding community of Palo Alto, California, United States. It has published since the ...

wrote: ''"It has been said that the third member, Phoebe Kreutz, sings like a lovechild of Joan Baez and Weird Al Yankovic. To me, she sounds like a female version of Adam Sandler, only more focused on the quality of her music than that renowned comedian-turned-songwriter. Working well within the Antifolk community, Kreutz also keeps true to her promise to never write about her feelings."''

Discography

Albums and EPs

*''Pretty. Pretty Stupid'' (2003) *''Big Lousy Moon'' (2007) *''Bemusement Park'' (2011) *''The Age of Reasonableness'' (2012) *''Nightlife Sentence'' (2013) *Leaky Canoe (2021)

Guest Appearances

*''African Dance Class'' (2006) by Don Lennon on the album ''Radical'' by Don Lennon *''Autumn, Winter, Spring'' (2010) by Boo Hoo on the album ''Afgahn Hounds''

Additional projects

Kreutz worked on the Broadway and Hallway (and off-Broadway) productions of the popular musical Avenue Q until 2007. She mainly worked as Puppet Wrangler, and was responsible for quickly changing the puppets in and out of their wardrobe between scenes. She also co-wrote a song (with

Michael Patrick Walker Michael Patrick Walker is a composer, lyricist, writer, and musician. Life Walker was born in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, and raised in New Freedom, Pennsylvania. He lived in Pittsburgh for several years while earning his bachelor's degree from Car ...

) for the cast/company recording, "The Holi-daze", found on the

Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS (BC/EFA) is an American nonprofit organization that raises funds for AIDS-related causes across the United States, headquartered in New York City. It is the theatre community's response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. ...

CD, ''Broadway's Greatest Gifts: Carols for a Cure, Vol. 8''. She is also joined by Avenue Q alumni (

Gary Adler Gary Adler is an American composer and musical director based in New York. He received two 2005 Drama Desk nominations (along with Michael Patrick Walker) for his music and lyrics for the off-Broadway show ''Altar Boyz'', which had its premiere in ...

, Michael Croiter, Mark Hartman, and Jen Barnhart) in the group, The Phyllis Newman Health Initiative Dancers, suitably named after The Phyllis Newman Women's Health Initiative. Kreutz also contributed the songs "Francine" and "Fairyland" (both inspired by the

Kurt Vonnegut, Jr Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (November 11, 1922 – April 11, 2007) was an American writer known for his satirical and darkly humorous novels. In a career spanning over 50 years, he published fourteen novels, three short-story collections, five plays, and ...

book,

Breakfast of Champions ''Breakfast of Champions, or Goodbye Blue Monday'' is a 1973 novel by the American author Kurt Vonnegut. His seventh novel, it is set predominantly in the fictional town of Midland City, Ohio, and focuses on two characters: Dwayne Hoover, a Midl ...

) and the song "Straight Edge Kids" to the first Bushwick Book Club compilation. Kreutz also contributed with

cover band, The Pizza Underground, using a pizza box as instrument and supporting vocals.

References

External links

Official Phoebe Kreutz SitePhoebe Kreutz MySpace pageThe Dirty Hippie Jam Band ProjectBushwick Book Club
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kreutz, Phoebe Singers from New York (state) Living people Traditional pop music singers Anti-folk musicians 21st-century American women guitarists 21st-century American guitarists Guitarists from New York (state) 21st-century American women singers Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American singers Women punk rock singers