Kristin Mueller Trio

By Andrew Ferguson aferguson@hbsp.harvard.edu

[site editor's note: the beauty of the Ghosts section is that it offers a balance between the globally-touring bands of yesteryear- like the Scandinavian psychedelic groups that Mary seems to enjoy, as well as more persona essays on local groups that moved listeners. This month's essay falls into the latter category. Next month who knows, but I sure wish someone would submit a piece on Todd Rundgren's original Utopia...

OK, let me start this by coming clean about my intentions. If anyone out there has or knows of a tape or cd of this band playing live, please get in touch with me. I haven't seen Kristin Mueller playing live in about three years, and I am desperate to hear her singing again. With that said, let me tell you a little bit about one of my favorite bands.

I first heard Kristin Mueller when I went to catch a Groovechild show at the Toast in Vermont. Groovechild was this crazy band from New Hampshire that their manager described as Biker Jazz. Sort of a heavy, dark jam band (if Black Sabbath is a heavy metal blues band, Groovechild was a heavy metal jazz band). Anyway, at the Toast, the opening band didn't show. Didn't seem like that big of a deal, but then the bassist for Groovechild, John Leccese, brought his friend out of the audience to play. This beautiful girl rather timidly came to the stage and plugged her guitar in. The rest of Groovechild stayed up on stage to back her up.

Basically, I've been in love ever since. Kristin plays a lefty jazz guitar. Her solos can be sublime and understated and at other times they blister and crackle like Neil Young in full blown sustain. I don't remember too much about what they played that first night, but I do remember that they played "Groove is in the Heart." Whatever else they played that night was great though. Right away, I knew that this was music that could get to me. The worst part about the whole experience is that I had a DAT set up and ready to record Groovechild, but I didn't record her set. I was young and I didn't want to record her without her permission.

What I would give for a copy of that show right now.

As time went on, in addition to his Groovechild gigs, John began to play regularly with Kristin. They played around with different band names. I think at one point they went by the name Mulch or maybe it was Mung. Finally, they settled on the simple Kristin Mueller Trio. The two of them formed the band with Scott Kinnison the drummer. The band was a University of New Hampshire band. You could catch them around New England but especially at the Stone Church in New Market, NH.

Scott's drumming style really gelled the bands jazz leanings. Where as John could get funky and Kristin could rock out, Scott kept jazz as the focus. It was great. John is one of my all time favorite bass players. I've seen him playing with a bunch of different bands and he is always impressive. Currently, he's playing bass for Percy Hill, but KMT was my favorite band that he played in. Being a jazz trio, there was plenty of space for John to get funky. At times, it was more like he was the lead guitarist than the bassist. With KMT, John also had a lot more opportunity to bust out his acoustic stand up bass.

In 1996, the band released their cd "Breast Belly Monster." It's a great disc of mostly original music (it may still be available on the Homegrown Network and I think that they may sell copies at Percy Hill shows). Perhaps the greatest thing about the Kristin Mueller Trio was the lyrics. Every song was heartfelt, intelligent, and powerful. The album doesn't capture the wild energy of a KMT live show, but what studio albums do? The band was obviously excited by the material when it came out. Their shows were simply fantastic at this point in time. They also began to make more frequent appearances outside of New Hampshire.

One time, I showed up at a Tuesday night show at Harper's Ferry in Boston. After driving out there, I found out that the bar manager cancelled the show after he heard their music. The bartender told me that the manager considered his bar a blues bar and he didn't want some jazz band annoying his customers. I still hold a grudge against that bar.

The band started fooling around with acoustic shows. In an acoustic setting, their jazz ability really shined, but the shows themselves didn't have the hectic energy of the electric shows. Still I went whenever possible. At some point, though, Kristin began to strain her vocal chords. The shows became fewer and less often. Then all of a sudden it seemed to be all over. It was like a giant sea storm that came in destroyed houses, boats and docks, and then left quietly with birds singing in the trees. A couple of years later, John turned up in Percy Hill.

I miss John getting dirty and funky. I like Percy Hill but they are kind of tame compared to some of the monster jams that KMT could produce. I miss Scott and his rhythm. I miss Kristin and the whole band. I don't care if she can't sing, I hope she's out there somewhere wailing away on her guitar.