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Krislyn Arthurs is most definitely not your girl-next-door type. There is nothing traditional about her save fora long family tradition of trailer park society and small-town captivity. Leather halters and cowboy boots, jet black hair, and some might think, a jet-black heart to match judging by the content of her songs…but they would be wrong about that. Oh yea, Krislyn is a bit rough around the edges, but she is also 100% female nursing her fair share of vulnerabilities. And like most songwriters of her caliber, her ability to provide a lifeboat while opening the floodgates is a mastery only devout self-reflection can foster. Songs about bootleggin,’ killin’, crooked politicians, dirty preachers, cheatin’ beauty queens and psycho girlfriends; combined it sounds like a Quentin Tarantino film, but if you ask Krislyn, she will tell you it’s all 90% autobiographical. The other 10%? Well, some of those are the “what could have beens” had a wiser head not prevailed.
Debut Album "Honky Tonk PhD," Drops April 24th.
When she talks about career highlights, not one word is said about the schmoozefest that is the music business, rather it’s all about the faces she sees when she walks on stage, and most recently, the hallowed feeling of walking into the recording studio. “It was so surreal. It felt like I entered another world. It was the smoothest process I could have imagined, and we were able to cut the whole album in 2 weeks.” Honky Tonk PhD (produced by LG Hamilton and Steven Jeffrey at the Music Group Studio) is Krislyn’s certified college dropout degree, the title-track being her personal thesis on redneck philosophy. Research and analysis include the album’s first single “Psycho,” a cautionary tale about women unhinged by love’s swingin’ doors, and the second single “Double Wide,” what Krislyn calls her theme song, one of the very first she ever wrote.
A fierce advocate for women everywhere, she writes from a place of empowerment, merciless in her perspective and delivery. Scenes from her life play out in songs like “Trauma” and “Daddy Tried,” with others more a commentary on small-town America in “Clean Hands, Dirty Money” and “The Sin.” Now living a life with her husband and daughter far removed from the landscape of her adolescence, Krislyn Arthurs’ grit and fortitude remain permanent endowments from that long ago life. “My roots are still in that double wide, it’s a frame of mind. I will never outrun the trailer park.”
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Krislyn Arthurs band is Clayton Ray (guitar), Steve Miller (bass), and Greyson Williams (drums).
Growing up in Medford, Oklahoma, population 1,000, there’s not a whole lot to do when you’re young besides running wild, running from the cops and running with the rumor mill that is always a small town’s biggest industry. By the time she fell in love with creative writing in high school, she already had a deep well briming with real life inspiration to draw from. By the time she was 20, she tried her hand at songwriting after a sharp nudge from a Sony music rep and found out quickly just how naturally it came to her. For years now she has cut her teeth on the touring circuit, carving herself a path that often feels choked with roadblocks. “When I first started in Oklahoma, there were hardly any women out there playing country music. I’ve even had venues tell me that females ‘don’t do well here.’ I think society has trained a lot of people to believe that women are boring on stage and they belong in coffee shops, but that’s starting to change now.” That summation is proving to be spot on. Krislyn’s moxie on stage has landed her in some pretty impressive company opening shows for the likes of Braxton Keith, Josh Meloy, William Beckmann and Jerrod Niemann, not to mention her appeal as a headliner in her own right having just celebrated her first sold-out show at the Mercury Lounge in Tulsa.
As a songwriter, Krislyn’s take on life is very honest and very raw with story lines that draw blood before you even realize you’ve been hit. Until now, she has released a slew of singles that hit the Texas charts, and several viral music videos that have snagged her a quarter of a million views and thousands of followers. With those tracks laid it was high time to send for the train in the form of her debut album Honky Tonk PhD, and on April 24th it will arrive with whistles blaring.
