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Born into a family of musicians, Krista picked up the guitar as a teenager. Inspired by contemporary artists like Counting Crowes and Tori Amos, the most important influence was her younger brother Corey. Seven years her junior, he quickly mastered the bass, piano and drums. “We just had the most magical music connection,” Krista says. “He was the missing piece of the puzzle for whatever I played and vice-versa.” Taking cues from progressive-rock and classical guitarists, Corey wrote complex instrumental pieces that would later inform his sister’s music. The two played together regularly in bands or as a duo, and after high school, Krista majored in jazz performance at Bucks County Community College.
Inspired by her brother’s work, she started writing instrumental pieces to complement her pop-oriented efforts and began playing with Corey and his girlfriend. The trio planned to begin performing publicly once Corey, who suffered from stage fright, felt comfortable in the spotlight. That all changed, however, when he passed away suddenly in early 2008, under circumstances Krista is still reluctant to discuss. “I was crushed, and I just stopped playing. I didn’t want anything to do with music without him,” she says.
Krista soon found inspiration again working alongside Corey’s girlfriend on the music they were crafting just before his death. “Suddenly, I wanted to play all the time,” she explains. “I started writing like crazy, two or three songs a day.” When Krista returned to the stage that summer, her instrumental work was front and center. “There’s a big part of Corey in what I write now. I feel like he had a lot left to do, and his songs are coming out of me now,” she says.
Krista began readying songs for what became “Playing With Pendulums” last year. At the time, she was performing regularly in Bucks County and Philadelphia. Still, her sights were set on having her music featured in television and film soundtracks and composing original scores for those mediums. “My ideal career would be doing film and TV and playing two shows a month,” Krista says. “I love to play out, but I think I’d get homesick if I went on tour.”
Fate struck once again, when songs she released to an internet radio site caught the ear of an entertainment lawyer. “He e-mailed me out of the blue to say he liked my music, and we just started talking from there,” Krista says. When she discovered he also managed a few bands that were on the cusp of national stardom, Krista asked if he’d be interested in working with her as well: “He said if I ever needed any help to contact him. I told him I’d really love to have someone managing me, because I don’t really know how to do it myself.”
At press time, Parrish is planning to officially sign on with her new manager at her CD release party in mid-May. But bigger plans are already in the works for the album. She’s working toward signing a deal with Velour Records, and through her soon-to-be manager, has already made contacts to license some of her songs for soundtracks.
And with more support than ever behind one of her releases, she plans to begin traveling the East Coast regularly. “It’s all kind of overwhelming,” Krista says. “I’m excited about going out and just trying not to be nervous. Whatever’s going to happen will anyway, so there’s no point in being scared.”
Even with all the changes swirling around her these days, Krista ultimately draws confidence from her new work. “When I started the project, I didn’t have any clear path. I just knew I needed to get these songs recorded and dedicate the album to my brother,” she says. “It was a really spiritual process this time around, and it was best time I’ve ever had making music.”
Go online at kristaparrish.com