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About Cecilia Kirtland

With the best singer-songwriters, there is always some element of those who have gone before, combined with elements so innovative, the result is clearly their own. Cecilia Kirtland’s latest release, “Heart Like a Buick”, proves her to be such an artist, (for those who didn’t already know!) Her previous solo release, “Small Comfort”, and a duo holiday album “Songs of the Season” with Robin Greenstein, garnered critical acclaim, as well as local and global airplay.

The musical odyssey begins in early childhood with the sounds of Mozart, and Bach that filled the family home, along with Latin American folk music, a few popular Broadway shows and a smattering of other things. It finds itself at maturity in music with a much more obvious connection to blues, soul and pop music, but owes something to everything that came before, including an adolescent interest in the traditional music of the Appalachians, Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, Mississippi John Hurt, all the folk singers and singer-songwriters of the day, British Invasion, classic blues and r & b, and the influences will probably never end. The result is music that is unique and personal, and comes first from the heart and personal experience, and secondarily from all the musical heroes.

Born in Manhattan, and raised on Long Island, Cecilia expressed an interest in playing music at the tender age of four. She started with piano lessons at five, but succumbed to the lure of the guitar at age ten. A Chilean friend of her mother's, (her Mom being also from Chile), first showed her a few chords on the guitar and taught her a couple of Hispanic songs. Left to her own devices, the repertoire expanded to include Baez, Beatles, etc. She eventually got formal training at The Guitar Workshop in Roslyn, NY, and studied with its founder, the late Kent Sidon, who taught her classical guitar technique and its application to other kinds of music. A decade or so later, she had the great good fortune to find Jim Carson, who helped her develop her vocal gifts.

While in high school, she appeared on CBS-TV's "Camera 3" with folk legend Jean Ritchie, later contributing background vocals to Ritchie's "None But One" (Sire Records), which was awarded "Best Folk Album of the Year" by Rolling Stone Magazine. She played at NYC's bicentennial celebrations at South Street Seaport, and opened shows for Buzzy Linhart, Dr. John, Kenny Rankin, and Tom Paxton among others. For upcoming shows, see CALENDAR page; for what the critics have to say, see REVIEWS.

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