Celeste Krenz
My Mother & Me
Review By Steven Stone
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  Throughout Celeste Krenz's musical career, she's never shied away from writing intimate songs. On My Mother and Me Krenz explores her relationship with her mother by co-writing most of the album's twelve songs with her mother, Jean Krenz. Armed with a collection of lyrics her mother began 20 years ago Krenz and her mother completed the songs around Celeste's kitchen table.

Born in North Dakota, Celeste Krenz moved to Denver in 1990 where she quickly became part of the Mile-High city's active musical community.  Acoustic music superstar Tim O'Brien produced her second album, Slow Burning Flame in 1994. It featured O'Brien on mandolin and fiddle, his sister Mollie on harmony vocals, and Sally Van Meter on dobro and Weissenborn guitars. This watershed release established Krenz as a singer and songwriter of rare talent, with pure sweet voice that reminded critics of "the great American plains."  After eleven years in Denver Krenz moved to Nashville. Since relocating to the music city she has continued to write powerful songs and release critically acclaimed albums.

My Mother and Me may be Krenz' most personal album to date. When asked about the music she says, "What I've realized is that although the songs are very personal, they have a universal message." But these songs were based on her mother's lyrics, the music had to fit around the pre-existing prose. The results are more seamless than you would expect. The musical styles cover a wide swath from upbeat honky-tonk blues to slow soulful ballads. Regardless of the genre, all the tunes display Krenz' innate musicality and grace.

My Mother and Me represents the first release from a new independent label, High Horse Records. Formed by Krenz, longtime AR pro Wyatt Easterling, and publicist Cash Edwards, the label is dedicated to "allowing artists to make their own creative decisions." During his career with "the majors" Easterling produced John Michael Montgomery's multi-platinum album, Life's A Dance, and he has worked with Keith Urban, Miles Copeland, and Aaron Tippin. His songwriting credits include hits for Dierks Bently and Clay Walker. Cash Edwards has been involved with Americana and roots music for over 25 years. If My Mother and Me is any indication of the quality of future High Horse releases, it will be a major player in Nashville in no time.

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