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From the Times Daily:

SMALL BUSINESS/ KRISTEN SHORES MUSIC

'Coming Home': Finding herself through song

By Chelsea Retherford

Staff Writer

For most of her life, Kristen Shores was content at the piano bench—teaching lessons, playing in church, carrying on the familiar structure of the classical music she'd been taught as child. Songwriting was something other people did.

But when she began writing her own material just a yearand-a-half ago, the experience surprised her with an unshakeable sense of recognition.

"I heard John Pual White say something recently. Something like, 'This was a dream come true that I didn't know I had,'" Shores said, quoting another local musician and personal idol. "That resonated so deeply. That's exactly how it feels to me."

It's a feeling that formed the backbone of "Coming Home," Shores' debut album and a deeply personal exploration of rage, fear, self-love, and the quiet work of becoming who she was meant to be.

With her second single, "It's Life," the project marks not only a new chapter in her artistry, but an entirely new way of understanding herself.

Shores grew up in Huntsville surrounded by music from the moment she could reach a piano. She began playing in church at four or five, dedicating her talents to classical and hymnal pieces through her teens— because classical and religious music was the only music allowed, she added.

"I've always been drawn to jazz and blues, even as a kid. I didn't get a lot of opportunity to listen to that growing up," she said. "Every time I remember hearing it, I was like, 'What's that? I want to listen to more of that.'" Still, she followed the path she knew. She taught piano lessons for a few years, played constantly, and imagined that maybe one day she could be a concert pianist. She said the dream faded before she could name it.

That changed only recently, after Shores, now 38, began studying with local musician Libby Counts, whose work with The Midnighters renewed her fascination with jazz and blues. Counts, who also teaches Shores' daughter, helped her learn to follow bass lines, trust her ear, and play in conversation with other musicians.

"It's stretching the way I think about music," Shores said. "Songs I've heard for years suddenly feel new again."

Around the same time, a spark arrived from an unexpected place when a friend encouraged her to enter a local songwriting competition.

"I was like, 'I don't know how to write a song,'" Shores said with a laugh.

Her friend insisted, "Just try."

Not knowing where to begin, Shores reached out to violinist and songwriter Lisa Silver, whom she'd met briefly at a church service months earlier. Though they hadn't talked since, Shores said she felt comfortable reaching out.

"She just texted me out of the blue," Silver recalled. "'Do you want to write a song?' And I said, 'Sure!' We just clicked instantly."

Together, they wrote Shores' first songs—raw, honest drafts shaped further by Silver's husband, Clayton Ivey, a musician and producer who was once part of the FAME Gang studio band that replaced the Swampers at FAME Studio following the establishment of Muscle Shoals Sound.

Silver and Shores say their collaboration felt natural and strangely inevitable.

When it came time to record Shores' competition submission, they booked a rush session at East Avalon Recorders. The moment she stepped inside, Shores said it felt like home.

Silver shared a similar sentiment, recalling the first time she heard Shores sing.

"She blew all of us away," she said. "Her voice is beautiful. In the studio, everyone who hears her is blown away."

As Shores continued writing, she found herself gravitating toward difficult emotions she feels she's had a history of suppressing.

"Every song is about me learning to know myself more deeply," Shores said. "What I want, what I need, and to honor myself in a world where women are very often conditioned to think about everyone else's needs first."

That conditioning, she added, often teaches women that anger is unacceptable. The album's first single, "Rage," confronts that lesson head-on.

"Women aren't allowed to be angry," Shores said. "We push it down to keep ourselves safe. 'Rage' is a pushback against that. Like, yes, you can explore that emotion, and it can be done in a safe, productive way. It can be transformative."

Other songs, like "Fear" and "To Love," continue that exploration. "To Love," she said, is a love song written not to a partner but to herself—an expression of self-acceptance she once struggled to imagine.

The emotional clarity of the album owes much to the collaboration behind it.

"We're at different stages in life, and she's experienced things I haven't yet," Shores explained. "She just gets it."

Shores said another unexpected perk of writing with Silver is benefiting from decades of songwriting experience that was honed in studios from Muscle Shoals to Nashville.

"She'll come in with lines sometimes, and I'm like, 'Oh my God! That's literally what I've been trying to say with 47 words, and you just said it with seven,'" Shores said. "I don't know how she does it."

Silver sees her role as shaping ideas Shores already brings to the table.

"She'll come in with something already quite a bit fleshed out. I just help shape it. Some lines just come out—it feels very natural," Silver said. "And Clayton brings even more perspective. Sometimes he digs his heels in, and I'll dig in mine, but it's always fun.

"The end result is that we all make it better by our contributions. I think the quality of what we're doing is unique, and I'm really proud of it."

For Shores, the three have become like family. Their chemistry not only strengthens the music but also pushes her to speak up creatively—a growth she considers part of her larger journey.

"It makes for real, honest songwriting," she said. "It pushes me to think differently."

" Coming Home" will roll out over the coming months, with new singles arriving every six to eight weeks. " It's Life," the second single from the album, released on Friday.

For Shores, the slow release mirrors the pace of her transformation.

"I love doing this so much, it's been fun, but the music we're writing really does matter," she said. "Yes, they're based on my feelings and experiences, but they resonate with people. On some level, they connect me with other people, and that is really important to me."

WANT TO LISTEN?
ABOUT: Kristen Shores is an up-and-coming Neo-Soul musician who was classically trained on piano from childhood. Singles, "Rage," and "It's Life"— each from her debut album, "Coming Home" — are out now.
WHERE TO LISTEN: Follow Kristen Shores Music on social media or Linktree. Released music is also available on Patreon, Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube.
UPCOMING SHOWS:
• Dec. 18 – Russell Barbecue in Sheffield, 11:30 a.m.
• Jan. 13 – Swampers Bar & Grill in Florence, 5 p.m.

No Bible Study with Doc Shell
this Tuesday, Sept. 30.