About Barbara Kessler --- ca. 1995

Barbara Kessler has been garnering songwriting and performing awards since 1989 when she had only a handful of songs to her credit. Since that time her music has been included in many compilation recordings such as Grooves, Vol. 7, a current Time/Warner release also featuring Linda Ronstadt, Belly, Matthew Sweet, Jeff Buckley, John Prine and others.

In 1993 Barbara was nominated for a prestigious Boston Music Award for Outstanding New Folk/Acoustic Act, the same year that she was proclaimed "best new artist of the year" by Christine Lavin on American Public Radio's World Cafe. In the 1994 Boston Phoenix Best Music Poll Barbara was nominated for "Best Local Folk Act." So far in 1995 she was selected as an "Artist of the Year" by the L.A.-based National Academy of Songwriters and won the "New Folk Award" at the legendary Kerrville Folk Festival (former Award winners include Lyle Lovett and Nanci Griffith.)

Kessler's 1994 debut release on Eastern Front Records, Stranger To This Land, has received raves from critics, radio D.J.s, and fellow artists. The Boston Globe called her "a from-the-heart, Sheryl Crow-type singer with some jazzy edges" and a "star-of-the-future tone." The Saint Paul, Minnesota Pioneer Press says "she writes and sings with a maturity that younger performers usually lack." Stranger was also picked by the Nashville publication Performing Songwriter as one of the twelve best "indi" albums of the year and held the #1 position for weeks on both WFUV Bronx NY and WUMB Boston. This live recording continues to spin on AAA, country, college, public and cable radio stations across the country.

Barbara Kessler is a sparkling performer whose star is on the rise. With her dynamic emergence on the national scene Barbara Kessler is now poised to gain the widespread recognition she deserves. As Arista recording artist Ann Curless of "Expose" insists, Barbara Kessler is a "must-listen."

From Barbara's 1995 Press Kit

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