Kramies
| Kramies | |
|---|---|
 On tour in Europe | |
| Background information | |
| Born | 1974 |
| Origin | Ohio, USA |
| Genres | Indie folk, indie rock, space rock |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter, musician |
| Instruments | Vocalist, guitar, piano, synths, keyboards |
| Years active | 1992–present |
| Labels | Hidden Shoal Recordings |
| Website |
www |
Kramies (pronounced Kraim-iss) is a Dutch American singer-songwriter and recording artist based in Colorado, USA. Kramies' style is haunting and romantic, with an aura of dreams and fairy tales, striking a balance between whimsy and melancholia. His unique vocal style has been described as eerie and soothing. In 2011 Kramies signed with Australia's Hidden Shoal Recordings and released to much critical acclaim The European EP. In 2013 Kramies teamed up with Jason Lytle of Grandaddy and Todd Tobias to record his much anticipated new EP "The Wooden Heart" on Hidden Shoal Recordings. "The Wooden Heart" was voted the #1 Fan Favorite Album/EP of 2013. Kramies also has older albums and EP's other various labels(see discography below), co-produced by Todd Tobias (Robert Pollard, Guided by Voices).[1] In 2014 with the success of "The Wooden Heart", Kramies decided to go back into the studio and re-record a few of his past songs just the way he wrote them, cut back, live and on acoustic. He teamed up with Grant Wilson from the Syfy hit TV show Ghost Hunters. Grant, a brilliant music composer, wrote and recorded piano on a few of the tracks. On May 22, 2014 this small collection of acoustic songs was released as a free EP titled The Folklore Sessions and has received much acclaim and notice in the press. The Wooden Heart has gone on to receive many awards including EP of the Year, Song of the Year, BBC top 10, as well as others. In 2015 after many glowing international reviews, interviews and mentions Kramies teamed up once again with producer Jason Lytle of Grandaddy to release The Fate That Never Favored Us. The single has received much attention and was named "Song Of The Day" by French music magazine Les Inrockuptibles. In the Spring of 2015 Kramies left the States for a small tour in France. There he played a sold out show at the famous Le Grand Théâtre in Angers, France which led to the release of his "forêts antiques" live EP in October 2015. Kramies's live EP "forêts antiques" was listed as Top Albums of 2015 by Paris magazine Pop Cultures & Co. After three successful years of releasing albums, reviews, interviews and small bits of touring, in a recent interview at the end of 2015 Kramies mentioned that he was going to use 2016 to focus on writing and recording his new album.
In 2016 while Kramies worked on writing his new album to be released late 2017, he wrote and recorded a new single/duet which features the wonderful French singer-songwriter Alma Forrer. Released on May 18th 2016 the duet "Into The Sparks" has once again received much acclaim from all around Europe.
Discography for Kramies
- Golden Like a New Thing (2008)
- Castle of Ghosts (2009)
- The European the autumn sessions Ireland release (2010)
- Coal Miners Executive Club Single (2011)
- The European official EP Release (2011)
- The Wooden Heart Single (2013)
- The Wooden Heart Official EP Release (2013)
- Sea Otter Cottage Single (2013)
- The Folklore Sessions EP Release (2014)
- The Fate That Never Favored Us Single (2015)
- forêts antiques EP Live at The Grand Théâtre (2015)
- Into The Sparks Single featuring Alma Forrer (2016)
Reaction
"Kramies Windt is on to something here. The songwriter's debut five-track EP for Hidden Shoal marries wafting synth textures and an acoustic guitar bedrock to well-honed direct songcraft, making every cut a keeper."
-PopMatters[2]
"Dutch- American songwriter based in Denver, Colorado, Kramies Windt is far one of the best kept secrets in American indie -pop . We 're willing to bet that the five title EP will emerge from the shadows for good."
-POPnews France[3]
"Kramies isn't necessarily your run-of-the-mill solo artist either. His music is one to be tackled with a mind that is willing to be taken on a trip; one that is as instrumentally engaging as it is deeply pensive in regards to its lyrical content. He delivers at such a high caliber that exceeds the title of "solo artist," and leaves it in the dust as nothing more than a misnomer."
-402 Productions[4]
"The Wooden Heart is enjoyed by delectable atmospheric music that can remind us at times of some old knowledge's. Quickly, we can firstly think of Mercury Rev, Slowdive and Sparklehorse"
– Indie Pop Rock – France[5]
" Pressed upon celestial arcs that usher in distant memories of the mercurial melodic musings of slowdive and chapterhouse at their most fragile and angelic peaks, 'the wooden heart' is wrapped longingly in snow bursting showers of dream dipped porcelain signatures so intricately woven, airless and frail that you fear they will shatter just by your closeness in earshot of them, a beautified aural apparition teased in yearning introspection and sweetly glazed in the kind of unworldly rapture that suggests Kramies is well versed in the songbook craft of the crimea and mirror mirror."
-The Sunday Experience[6]
"It s rare to find dream-pop that resolves with such assured optimism, in which you can sense experience shifting into its proper place... Kramies seems to have mastered the talent of simply breathing it into shape"
– Misfit City[7]