FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


CONTACT:
Kim Leadford at 401-316-6513 or kimlead2@...



Sealed Lip Records Presents

Ravengirl

the newest release by Kristi Martel


About Ravengirl...

Kristi Martel 's former life partner, Amy Caroline "Littlebird" Nuara,
died by suicide in August 2003. Kristi and Littlebird had just made
plans to move from California back to Rhode Island, because Littlebird
liked Providence from her years at RISD (Rhode Island School of
Design) , and Kristi missed her homestate. They had also just
finalized plans for Kristi's next CD project, "The Mule."
Littlebird's death changed just about every aspect of Kristi's life,
but she managed to follow through with those two plans, moving to RI
in November 2003 and recording "The Mule" in January 2004. Although
she could not write new songs for 11 months, Kristi began a list of
song ideas that she knew would later become Ravengirl .

The first song Kristi wrote after Littlebird's death came from words
Littlebird sent to Kristi through a medium. The next answered
the hundreds of fan letters Kristi received, fearful that Kristi too
would take her own life. The next was a response to Littlebird's
family and friends who had blamed Kristi for Littlebird's death. The
next became the title track, a song expressing the miracle of healing
trauma through feeling the pain. Kristi kept noticing that she still
felt joy every day, in spite of the huge and traumatic loss and grief
she also experienced. She noted it, she counted the blessing, and she
came up with the goofy joke version that she must be some kind of
superhero to still be able to experience joy. Her superhero name is
Ravengirl. And the album, with its 7 tracks written before
Littlebird's death and its 8 tracks written after, will break open
your heart to feel your pain only to remind you that that is where
you'll heal and find your joy.


About Kristi Martel...
www.kristimartel.com

"Kristi Martel loves life, and the joy she gets out of it exudes from
her every pore. She can be singing about the darkest things in the
world -- betrayal, self-hate, death -- and yet somehow, coming from
her, it feels hopeful and uplifting." -- Marion Davis, Motif Magazine

"...love emanates from every note." - Vienna Teng

"...a fine musician...Incomparable!" - Utah Phillips

Voted Best Alt-Rock Female Vocalist of Rhode Island in 2006 by Motif
Magazine, award-winning songwriter and avant-soul piano diva Kristi
Martel grew up in New England and earned an ASCAP grant and two music
degrees (Bard and Mills College) before beginning her touring and
recording career. Her sweet presence and fearless songwriting endear
audiences nationwide. Her piano playing combines her love of blues
dissonance and syncopation with her classical training. Her powerful
voice is at once sweet and bitter, emotional and visionary,
articulating prayers and quirky autobiographical narratives in the
same breath. Through Sealed Lip Records she has released five CDs,
most recently the new studio album, Ravengirl .

Ravengirl February Tour Dates

2/16- Brooklyn, NY- Goodbye Blue Monday 1087 Broadway
Ave in Bushwick
2/17- Becket, MA- Dream Away Lodge 1342 County Road
2/21- Milton, MA- Curry College
1071Blue Hill Avenue
2/24- New London, CT- Muddy Waters 42 Bank Street
2/25- New Hope, PA- John & Peter's 96 South
Main Street
2/26- Philadelphia, PA - World Cafe Live, Upstairs 3025 Walnut
Street


About The Kristi Martel Trio...

Kristi has wanted to add a rhythm section to her live performance for
years. Nisha Purushotham is a freelance percussionist and artistic
director of Rhythm and Roots, a youth program focused on the study and
performance of Afro-Caribbean percussion. Kristi met Nisha in 2004 at
AS220's Broad Street Studio and recruited her to accompany Kristi at
RI Pride in June 2005 with such success that they agreed it was only
the beginning. Kristi met Kurt Meyer when she was searching for a
fretless and upright bass player for her forthcoming album Ravengirl ,
and the trio had so much fun working on the album that they decided to
keep playing together. Kurt loves to play bass with good people who
make great music, and says that Kristi is GOOD PEOPLE!!! The
audiences will tell you how tight the music is, and how remarkable it
is to witness the trio's apparent joy working together.


About the Kristi Martel Band...

For Ravengirl, Kristi wanted drums, cello, and guitar in addition to
the trio. Lead guitarist and long-time friend Kevin Silvia plays on
three tracks, making them a bigger party. Drummer Keith Levreault
plays on seven tracks, weaving so beautifully with Nisha's percussion
and Kristi's keyboard work. Cellist Janet Taggart Blake plays
exquisitely on five tracks. And the all-women chorus
WomanSpiritRising: a feminist chorus performs Kristi's newest
arrangement of "Give" on this album.


About Sealed Lip Records...

Kristi Martel created Sealed Lip Music in 1994 as a publisher member
of ASCAP, to maintain rights in all her scores and compositions. In
1996, she created Sealed Lip Records with the release of her first
collection of songs, a homemade cassette tape, "4-track and live
recordings," which sold out almost right away. In 1998, SLR released
a live concert tape, "With Mouth and Hands," which also sold out
within a year. In 2000, SLR released its first CD, a 4-song EP called
"Give Me a Little...," which just sold out its second printing. In
2001, SLR released Kristi's first full-length CD, "Brave Enough," to
rave reviews. In 2003, SLR released a limited edition signed and
numbered CD single, "bound," and reprinted "Brave Enough" to prevent
its selling out. SLR released Kristi"s second full-length CD, "The
Mule," in 2004. SLR released "Quaint & Curious Ravendemos," a second
limited edition signed and numbered CD, in 2005, as a fundraiser for
her newest studio album, "Ravengirl."