Cyndi Boste is a contemporary, alternative, country singer-songwriter from Melbourne, Australia
It would be a mistake to try to pigeon hole Boste's works, not to mention the artist herself, to a specific genre. Boste's work can't be tagged conveniently. Whilst it is true to say there is a country flavour, there's also a strong blues/roots component, that combined with her singer/songwriter style, delivers a unique musical experience that skirts many boundaries.
Her rich, soulful voice can penetrate the hardest of hearts. It's raw sugar and milk... blue cotton and silk. This is country with a twist, blues with a twang, and everything in between.
To those who know her work, Cyndi Boste is more than their favourite Alt Country singer/songwriter, she’s a passionate cause. Type her name (rhymes with 'toast') into Google, and of the 600 or so results – from Australia and overseas – most will be rave reviews of Cyndi’s first three critically acclaimed CDs and her rivetting live performances to spellbound audiences from Copenhagen to Coffs Harbour via Berlin, Battersea and Bellingen.
Though it’s the smoky intimacy and bluesy musicality of Cyndi’s voice that ensnares the casual listener, it's her songs that make them lifetime fans. Read Cyndi’s lyrics and you’ll be charmed at the wit and wordplay, touched and healed by the human insights and, perhaps, strengthened in your commitment to justice and fair play.
But hear Cyndi sing them, especially live, with their unashamedly 'hooky' blend of Mississippi swamp and Texas twang interwoven with her deceptively artful guitar style, and you’ll find that telling phrases and singalong choruses stay with you forever. Growing numbers of Cyndi fans tell her that the songs have become part of their lives, and they are seeding core groups of converts from Vancouver to Western Samoa who are busily buying up Cyndi's three independently produced CDs on the Internet. There’s a consensus out there that Cyndi’s music is ... well, good for you – but don’t think 'brown rice'.
To the hype-mongers, Cyndi is something of a challenge. Her searchingly human and wryly sardonic lyrics, her country-tinged, blues-fuelled music and her intimate, heart-to-heart delivery, totally defy gimmicky, flavour-of-the-month promotion. No dreads, navel-rings or pre-War dobros here: just (just?) a gal and her guitar sharing the highs and lows of a tough life that PhD (Blues) students can only dream of.
This absence of hype and fashion is reflected in how little Cyndi's first two CDs have dated, in sound or sentiment. And what an amazingly seamless and consistent body of work they constitute: one of which any artist would be proud at the end of a long career. But, for the music world at large, this is just the beginning.
Cyndi connoisseurs love the intimacy of her unadorned solo performances, and she has intentionally crafted her songs to be complete in this setting. But she also enjoys working in a duo – often with lap steel and bottleneck virtuoso Dave Steel or pedal steel whiz Garrett Costigan – in trio with a choice of fine bassists, or in full flight fronting a full band of players – for whom playing Cyndi’s music is always an inspiration.
... please enjoy
contact Cyndi Boste | buy CDs online | subscribe to mailing list | MySpace
Warrior Music Productions
PO Box 4, Pascoe Vale South, Victoria 3044, Australia