Tag: Exterior Night

Best Practices — Kylee Phillips Shares “The Good Parts” of Her Personal Journey on New EP

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Kylee Phillips offers heartfelt tales of resilience and acceptance on “The Good Parts.” Photo – Misty Lyn Bergeron

Kylee Phillips doesn’t need to give herself daily pep talks anymore.

After some deep introspection, the Ypsilanti, Michigan singer-songwriter/keyboardist gained a fresh perspective and wanted to share “the good parts” of her journey on a new EP.

“I feel like the pep talks worked,” said Phillips about The Good Parts, her sophomore release. “It’s encouraging because it’s hard to see yourself grow when it’s happening, and it’s not until you look back that you say, ‘Oh, I made it to the other side.’”

Coming out the other side, Phillips offers heartfelt tales of resilience and acceptance across four honest tracks on her indie-folk-pop EP.

“The songs are about saying, ‘Maybe I need to try a different path,’ but they’re also saying, ‘These are the things I’ve noticed about myself that are not going to change—that I’m not letting go of,’” she said.

“It’s this funny combination of ‘I’m going to have to make some different choices, but I also know better who I actually am now.’”

That authenticity quickly resonates with listeners on The Good Parts, which features reflective lyrics and lush instrumentation.

“I had a friend reach out to me and say, ‘I feel like you wrote this song for me.’ And I said, ‘I wrote it for myself, and now I feel like you need it more than I do,’” she said. “I always write the stuff that I need to hear, but when it’s also what other people need to hear, it feels special.”

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DuPont Phillips Combines Catalogs and Influences for New ‘Big Sky Sessions’ EP

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Chris DuPont and Kylee Phillips’ new DuPont Phillips EP, “Big Sky Sessions,” features stripped-down instrumentation, emotive duets, and lush harmonies. Photo – Misty Lyn Bergeron.

Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared on the Ann Arbor District Library’s Pulp blog.

Ypsilanti’s Chris DuPont and Kylee Phillips decided a joint EP was long overdue.

After several years of performing and recording together, the singer-songwriters pooled their talents, catalogs, and influences to form DuPont Phillips and release Big Sky Sessions.

“This Big Sky Sessions EP was a very natural project. We used stuff that we have, and we used songs from our catalogs that have been out,” DuPont said.

“What feels good to me is that all of these interpretations of our songs that exist live now have a home. This project proved to me that putting out something doesn’t have to make you suffer. … We cut it in two days.”

During those two days at Ann Arbor’s Big Sky Recording, DuPont Phillips reimagined three tracks from prior solo releases and recorded two renditions of Sheryl Crow and Jason Isbell classics along with a new song.

“Sometimes it can be hard to explain to people what we’re doing because we’re playing things from our individual catalogs, but we’re supporting one another,” Phillips said. “For me, it’s fun to have something we can show people and say, ‘This is what it is. It’s this cross-pollination of what we both do.’”

Those collaborative efforts have resulted in an intimate folk-pop EP filled with stripped-down instrumentation, emotive duets, and lush harmonies. The six tracks featured on Big Sky Sessions offer vulnerable tales of love, growth, and change.

I recently spoke to the duo about revisiting and reworking older tracks, doing covers, recording a new song, spending time in the studio, preparing for an EP release show, and planning for the future.

Continue reading “DuPont Phillips Combines Catalogs and Influences for New ‘Big Sky Sessions’ EP” →

Natural Tendencies – Chris DuPont Shares Honest and Vulnerable Stories on ‘Fragile Things’ EP

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Chris DuPont explores the trajectory of relationships and the vulnerability, honesty, and wisdom that comes with them on “Fragile Things.” Photo – Robby Fisher of Dogtown Studio

Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared on the Ann Arbor District Library’s Pulp blog.

Chris DuPont didn’t go into making his new EP with a plan.

Instead, the Ypsilanti indie-folk singer-songwriter opted to write and record what came to him naturally.

“I just thought, ‘These songs are close to me.’ I didn’t have as much of an elevator pitch this time. It felt like a relief because sometimes I hide behind the elevator pitch. Sometimes I hide behind [this idea of], ‘Oh, this is what I’m about as an artist, and this is what I’m trying to say,’” said DuPont about Fragile Things.

“And instead, I just decided I’m gonna cut the crap and let people have it, and I hope they respond to it. If they don’t, then I will still know that those stories needed to get out of me for me to be OK.”

What resulted are five intimate songs about the trajectory of relationships and the vulnerability, honesty, and wisdom that come with them. On Fragile Things, DuPont shares those tales through emotive vocals, atmospheric folk-pop instrumentation, and ambient soundscapes.

“When I play them and share them, the consensus tends to be like, ‘Someone’s going to get something out of this,’” he said.

“When I play them live, they connect quickly—usually better than I expect. One thing I’m learning is that I think it’s just my job to create and not treat them like they belong to me as much.”

I recently spoke to DuPont about writing songs for his new EP, creating videos for the title track, recording the EP at multiple studios, preparing for a Nov. 17 EP release show, and collaborating with Kylee Phillips on a duet EP.

Continue reading “Natural Tendencies – Chris DuPont Shares Honest and Vulnerable Stories on ‘Fragile Things’ EP” →