Thomas Kivi
Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States | INDIE
Music
Press
"It’s not that often that Radio K features country, but with Thomas Kivi’s heartfelt debut full length album it’s a hard one to pass up." - Radio K
Local singer-songwriter Thomas Kivi has been compared to the likes of Bob Dylan, Townes Van Zandt, and Conor Oberst. Honest and unassuming, Kivi's lush harmonies are a largely acoustic blend of folk, bluegrass, and traditional Americana.
In 2009, after moving from his native Wisconsin to the Twin Cities, Kivi started getting attention and press by local music critics. He released his debut album, Crying Child, earlier this February. Thomas Kivi stopped by the Local Show for a live performance. - Minnesota Public Radio: 89.3 The Current
Local singer-songwriter Thomas Kivi has been compared to the likes of Bob Dylan, Townes Van Zandt, and Conor Oberst. Honest and unassuming, Kivi's lush harmonies are a largely acoustic blend of folk, bluegrass, and traditional Americana.
In 2009, after moving from his native Wisconsin to the Twin Cities, Kivi started getting attention and press by local music critics. He released his debut album, Crying Child, earlier this February. Thomas Kivi stopped by the Local Show for a live performance. - Minnesota Public Radio: 89.3 The Current
Thomas Kivi, "Bridalveil Falls":
"This is the saddest song I've heard this year and quite possibly the prettiest. A bride, a burial, a breakdown. ... Forget about happy endings because this character is still grieving. With a spare accompaniment and a confiding vocal, the tragic story pulls me in like a gloomy indie movie." - Country Music Television
Thomas Kivi, "Bridalveil Falls":
"This is the saddest song I've heard this year and quite possibly the prettiest. A bride, a burial, a breakdown. ... Forget about happy endings because this character is still grieving. With a spare accompaniment and a confiding vocal, the tragic story pulls me in like a gloomy indie movie." - Country Music Television
"The native Wisconsinite disarmingly climbed the stairs and took the spotlight in front of his mammoth-sized band. A right-handed guitar hung upside down around his neck. He appeared to be somewhat nervous, but that made him all the more charming. Kivi had nothing to hide, nor did he need to. His friendly appearance and unassuming nature made his story telling incredibly engaging. Kivi's left hand began finger picking the opening number, and the band revealed itself in layers. There is an odd familiarity in Kivi's voice. His youthful yet weathered tone falls kindly on the ear as he unravels his homespun lyrics. I couldn't help but pay close attention." - City Pages
"The native Wisconsinite disarmingly climbed the stairs and took the spotlight in front of his mammoth-sized band. A right-handed guitar hung upside down around his neck. He appeared to be somewhat nervous, but that made him all the more charming. Kivi had nothing to hide, nor did he need to. His friendly appearance and unassuming nature made his story telling incredibly engaging. Kivi's left hand began finger picking the opening number, and the band revealed itself in layers. There is an odd familiarity in Kivi's voice. His youthful yet weathered tone falls kindly on the ear as he unravels his homespun lyrics. I couldn't help but pay close attention." - City Pages
“Singer/songwriter Thomas Kivi grew up in Wisconsin but quickly found an appreciative local audience after moving to the Twin Cities in 2008. He spent the past year recording his debut album, 'Crying Child,' in St. Paul with numerous local musicians and debuts it tonight with a CD-release show at the Fine Line. Members of Gayngs, Communist Daughter, Painted Saints and Liminal Phase will back Kivi as he sings deceptively simple folk-pop songs that should appeal to fans of Bright Eyes, Bon Iver and Chris Koza's Rogue Valley. Communist Daughter, whose ' Soundtrack to the End' was one of last year's finest local albums, headlines the evening.” - St Paul Pioneer Press
“Singer/songwriter Thomas Kivi grew up in Wisconsin but quickly found an appreciative local audience after moving to the Twin Cities in 2008. He spent the past year recording his debut album, 'Crying Child,' in St. Paul with numerous local musicians and debuts it tonight with a CD-release show at the Fine Line. Members of Gayngs, Communist Daughter, Painted Saints and Liminal Phase will back Kivi as he sings deceptively simple folk-pop songs that should appeal to fans of Bright Eyes, Bon Iver and Chris Koza's Rogue Valley. Communist Daughter, whose ' Soundtrack to the End' was one of last year's finest local albums, headlines the evening.” - St Paul Pioneer Press
“Singer/songwriter Thomas Kivi grew up in Wisconsin but quickly found an appreciative local audience after moving to the Twin Cities in 2008. He spent the past year recording his debut album, 'Crying Child,' in St. Paul with numerous local musicians and debuts it tonight with a CD-release show at the Fine Line. Members of Gayngs, Communist Daughter, Painted Saints and Liminal Phase will back Kivi as he sings deceptively simple folk-pop songs that should appeal to fans of Bright Eyes, Bon Iver and Chris Koza's Rogue Valley. Communist Daughter, whose ' Soundtrack to the End' was one of last year's finest local albums, headlines the evening.” - St Paul Pioneer Press
11.17.08 "Now it's on to Thomas Kivi, a good-working-on-great songwriter who possesses a huckleberry voice that leans more toward John Denver than Conor Oberst and whaddya know? Here's another talented pal... curling up on the floor beside me and reporting that Kivi... has only been writing songs for a year. Which is fairly amazing, given that his as-yet unrecorded 'Freedom Dues' is a heartfelt mélange of complicated images and emotions that seeks to define the times, and succeeds. No mean feat."
Jim Walsh--former City Pages music editor and award-winning columnist for the Pioneer Press. He is the author of the recently released oral history "The Replacements: All Over but the Shouting.(minnpost.com/jimwalsh) - www.minnpost.com
11.17.08 "Now it's on to Thomas Kivi, a good-working-on-great songwriter who possesses a huckleberry voice that leans more toward John Denver than Conor Oberst and whaddya know? Here's another talented pal... curling up on the floor beside me and reporting that Kivi... has only been writing songs for a year. Which is fairly amazing, given that his as-yet unrecorded 'Freedom Dues' is a heartfelt mélange of complicated images and emotions that seeks to define the times, and succeeds. No mean feat."
Jim Walsh--former City Pages music editor and award-winning columnist for the Pioneer Press. He is the author of the recently released oral history "The Replacements: All Over but the Shouting.(minnpost.com/jimwalsh) - www.minnpost.com
"Thomas Kivi... has a spare, coffeehouse style, all guitar and harmonica and a tale to tell." Christa Lawler - Duluth News Tribune
Discography
Crying Child, 2011 (Greater Than Records)
Photos
Bio
THOMAS KIVI is a Wisconsin-raised songwriter whose poignant lyrics and simple melodies have given a traditional tinge to the Twin Cities indie-music scene since his arrival in 2008. With a “huckleberry voice that leans more toward John Denver than Conor Oberst”—a voice that MPR's 89.3 The Current calls “honest and unassuming”—Kivi has been compared to old poetic troubadours like Bob Dylan and Townes van Zandt as well as Midwestern indie-contemporaries Jeff Tweedy and Justin Vernon.
Thomas Kivi plays with a full-band as Thomas Kivi and the Immigrants. Catchy, energetic, and unpredictable, the four-piece made City Pages' 2011 "Picked to Click" best new bands.
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