Kiss the Tiger’s captivating frontwoman is finally feeling her power

Ten years after forming Kiss the Tiger Meghan Kreidler is certainly starting to get the hang of fronting a rock band I ve come to realize that I started out feeling without an identity as a lead singer in a band and now I feel really powerful and empowered in that role explained Kreidler who founded the band with her now husband Michael Anderson and their musical collaborators I think a big part of that is because I ve started to claim more ownership of the music that s being written and being collaborated on and I feel like more of a force in the creative part of the band Kreidler and Anderson had been dating for less than a year when they decided to start playing music together Before we even called ourselves Kiss the Tiger we were playing all of Michael s old music Kreidler recalled I d never been in a band before so I just didn t know what that felt like Over the past decade Kiss the Tiger has become a steady presence on the Twin Cities music scene known for their energetic live shows solid musicianship and Kreidler s captivating stage presence Kiss the Tiger s Meghan Kreidler left and Daisy Forester laugh as they end a song during practice on Thursday Sept in Minneapolis Minn Credit Ellen Schmidt MinnPost CatchLight Local Record for America She came into the musical project with plenty of skills She could sing had a background as a professional actor and brought a wealth of creative power It s just been really fun to grow in this band as an artist she commented In the early days it felt like Anderson was driving the musical part of the band while she was the face of it Now I feel like we ve really merged as a creative force together she revealed I feel really confident now as a songwriter and I feel like the opportunities are even more endless in that realm On Friday September the band will release its latest album Infinite Love following a concert and tour kickoff on Thursday at Icehouse Four years in the making it s their first album since the couple tied the knot a year ago The record retains the immediacy of their stage performances while expanding the band s range in the studio adding strings saxophone and layered textures to broaden the sound Kiss the Tiger band members including Michael Anderson center run through their set list at their practice space on Thursday Sept in Minneapolis Minn Their third album Infinite Love releases on Tuesday Sept Credit Ellen Schmidt MinnPost CatchLight Local Review for America Kreidler and Anderson often write music together with Kreidler writing lyrics for Anderson s compositions and the other musicians fleshing out the arrangements For four songs on the album Kreidler wrote both music and lyrics using a different process For two of her solos Kreidler drew literary inspiration from sources like Crying in H Mart a memoir by singer and songwriter Michelle Zauner about losing her mother to cancer Like Kreidler Zauner is half Korean I identified so a large number of parts of myself reflected in that book even though my mom is still living she revealed Related Oscar-nominated guitarist Rafiq Bhatia talks about his journey to a new kind of improvisation In Carry Me to Bed Kreidler explores her fears about what happens when we don t record our ancestors stories What if I forget Everything you gave me she sings Will the story end and Will it be forgotten Crawl Inside based on a short story by Jhumpa Lahiri is one of the darker songs on the album full of grief longing and loss By using the books she s reading as source material Kreidler revealed she can tap into emotions outside of herself Kiss the Tiger s Meghan Kreidler belts a song during practice left while Daisy Forester kisses a stuffed tiger When she and Anderson write together Kreidler tends to think ideas through while Anderson often starts with improvisation He ll come up with a hook or a guitar part and then he ll sort of expand on that whereas I have an easier time writing if I have written lyrics and then I assign melody and music to it she commented The title track Infinite Love acts as a kind of twangy mission announcement We are romantic partners and creative partners and all of that feels really sort of endless as long as we keep committing ourselves to making things together Kreidler declared The dual relationship a creative partnership and a marriage requires balance It s hard to kind of draw a line especially for me she commented I will talk about the band any hour of the day whereas Michael has specific stronger boundaries He ll be like Okay we re not talking about this anymore we can look at it in the next 24 hours The album follows Kiss the Tiger s reputation for feel-good classic rock banging anthems and nuanced divergences Standouts include the heartful Every Little Piece of Me and See More which shows the band leaning into playful experimentation The band s line-up for Infinite Love includes Kreidler on lead vocals Anderson on rhythm guitar Alex Sandberg on lead guitar Paul DeLong on bass and new keyboardist Isabella Dawis Drummer Alyse Emanuel also new to the band plays on seven of the album s tunes with Richard Medek playing on the other three Isabella Dawis keys and vocals for Kiss the Tiger practices in the band s space on Thursday Sept in Minneapolis Minn Credit Ellen Schmidt MinnPost CatchLight Local Account for America Guest musicians help round out the sound including saxophonist Sue Orfield who delivers a standout solo on See More In the past we were like it d be cool if there was saxophone on this but then we didn t end up hiring someone to come in Kreidler mentioned This time we brought in sax as well as violin and cello to add additional layers It felt good to just be like let s make these songs sound exactly how we want them to sound and not try to cut corners It totally paid off You can catch Kiss the Tiger performing their new material on Thursday September at p m at Icehouse Nicollet Ave Minneapolis in advance at the door Find more information here For fans looking for more local music to start the weekend the Parkway Theater hosts the fifth annual Do Re MeToo concert on Friday September featuring an all-star lineup of Twin Cities performers including saxophonist Orfield delivering kick-ass in-your-face covers of the preponderance sexist songs that we all know and love hate All proceeds benefit the reproductive rights organization Abortion Access Front Friday September p m Parkway Theater Chicago Ave Minneapolis in advance at the door Find more information here Kiss the Tiger runs through their setlist in the band s practice space on Thursday Sept in Minneapolis Minn Credit Ellen Schmidt MinnPost CatchLight Local Document for AmericaThe post Kiss the Tiger s captivating frontwoman is in the end feeling her power appeared first on MinnPost