Singer from Kalispell makes mark on Nashville scene

For former Kalispell resident Kristi Neumann, the past several years she s lived in Nashville have provided an education about the music industry.

But they ve boiled down to one main point for the singer/songwriter as she s navigated the competitive scene known as Music City:

The biggest lesson I ve learned, Neumann, 28, says, is to not wait around for somebody to do it for you.

From calling clubs to making her own album, Neumann has spent the past two years aggressively pursuing a break in the tough Nashville music business.

She s made headway in the business by making things happen, instead of like the clichE of a starving artist waiting to be discovered.

Neumann already has cut her own 11-track album, Capacity for Change, a pop-rock collection that has garnered attention from CD reviewers and booking agents.

She has received praise in Nashville publications, including nationally circulated magazine Performing Songwriter. And in January, she played the MaxItOut meningitis benefit concert that featured country star Keith Urban and rocker Richard Marx on the bill.

It used to be that Neumann had to ask clubs and music venues to let her play. Now they call her.

I ve played in every crappy club there is, she said, laughing.

But those humble beginnings provided exposure, and she gained fans, she says. She isn t afraid to promote herself, but Neumann blushes when she talks about herself.

It s like high school, she said about making a name for one s self in Nashville. No one thinks you re cool until someone else does.

After graduating from Flathead High School, the singer/songwriter moved to Nashville after a few years of playing through a bout of what she calls wanderlust in Michigan and Minnesota. The wanderlust continued and took her to Nashville.

She spent several years there, working on her music before she earnestly went after a commercial career.

She recently returned to the Flathead Valley to visit her parents, Harry and Edee Neumann. They have been supportive of her choices, even if they aren t always the ones they would wish for her, she and her father say.

We agree to disagree, she said, repeating the message that she included for her family in the liner notes of her album.

I m very conservative in my ideas and feelings toward music, Harry Neumann said. Secular music isn t my first choice. Beyond that, I m supportive of her.

He and his wife are strong Christians and aren t fond of some of their daughter s songs, but they re proud of her hard work, he said. He also helped Kristi with her guitar skills when she began playing 10 years ago.

Neumann now performs with a band, which plays about once a month in Nashville (playing more than that, Neumann says, means people lose interest much as they do when a song is overplayed on the radio). They also travel outside Nashville, such as to Atlanta and Florida, to play gigs.

Neumann supplements her music income by waitressing or working temporary jobs. Capacity for Change cost about $8,000 to make, but it s helped her get noticed faster than waiting to be discovered, she said.

People in the music business often will promise deals, such as producing albums and promoting them, then won t deliver. That happened to her, and she decided not to take that chance again.

Neumann has written her second album and is pitching it to major labels, she says. She also is seeking contracts with publishing companies that would buy the rights to some of her songs.

She knows the music industry is a hard one in which to succeed, but she s willing to keep seeking major labels and publishing deals.

I figure someone s gotta make it, she said, so why not me?

For more information, visit www.kristineumann.com.

Reporter Camden Easterling can be reached at 758-4429 or by e-mail at ceasterling@dailyinterlake.com.