Ghost Ranch

Door County, Wisconsin's Jeanne Kuhns, weaves mystical lyrics and intriguing musical patterns into a quot;bluesy progressive folkquot; mix. She is sonically and stylistically something of a mix of Laura Nyro, Joni Mitchell and an acoustically inclined Bonnie Raitt.quot; says Crow and Wolf Music. Jeanne says her lyrics often come to her in dreams or while painting. She sings about what matters to her: relationships,the earth, the magical moments we experience every day, all with passion, humor and an artists sense of description. Jeanne Kuhns is a fixture in the Door County, Wisconsin music scene, winning the best female music award from Door County Magazine in 2008. Kuhns performs weekly thruout the year and is known for conceiving of, booking and hosting the, Woodwalk Concert Series which attracts singer/songwriters from the national arena. quot;Ghost Ranchquot; ! Throughout 2007 and 2008 Jeanne Kuhns spent countless hours at Allemande Music in Sister Bay,Wisconsin recording her latest CD project, named after Georgia O'Keefe's New Mexico home. In quot;Ghost Ranch,quot; Kuhns' title track, her voice takes to new heights as she sings, quot;I want to go to Ghost Ranch, and paint the pastel sky -feel the spirit of Georgia and other painters who have died...quot; Being a painter as well as a musician Kuhns connects her visual perceptions of the world, through her own original paintings adorning the CD's cover, with her musical expressions in brand new songs full of energy, passion for life, and a deep concern for our planet. quot;Nanuk,quot; the Inuit name for the polar bear, is the title of a song entreating us to pay attention to the plight of this great bear; featuring Lynn Gudmundsen's haunting violin wrapped around Kuhns' crystal clear vocals, singing, quot;Nanuk walks, walks on frozen water....quot; Other tracks include quot;Greyhound,quot; a powerful song about letting go of our children as they step out into the world, with vocals that reach your heart, Maury Smith's empathic guitar and an achingly beautiful saxophone part played by Woody Mankowski; quot;Racing,quot; a sultry jazz/ blues song; quot;Half Way to Heaven,quot; which rocks out with a wild electric guitar solo by Tommy Burroughs; and an amazing and innovative cover of quot;The Rosequot; in which she is accompanied by George Sawyn's classical guitar and Hans Christian's cello. Kuhns' is proud to acknowledge her son, Eli Mattson, who's piano adds rich levels to several tracks, and her daughter, Mary Durlin, who sings in the mother daughter choir on quot;Wise Womenquot;. Once again Hans Christian co-produced with Kuhns, and recorded, mixed and mastered the whole project at his studio in Sister Bay. In addition he plays bass, cello and more on many of the songs. This project has a new energy and steps outside Kuhns' earlier styles and tendencies, adding percussion, several new musicians, and more complicated production. quot;It has been an imaginative and visionary project,quot; Kuhns says, quot;I owe so much to Maury Smith, my primary guitar player. Maury helped arrange most of the songs and gave me confidence in my new work. We had so much fun finding the direction of each song together.quot; This winter Kuhns has also enjoyed performing at the Café Launch open mics on Thursday nights in Sturgeon Bay,Wisconsin, where she met Adam Mackintosh. Mackintosh helped arrange quot;Vertical Hold,quot; giving the music a Santana feel and a surprise Reggae break. quot;Mackintosh and Dan Mayhew both play guitar on the song and Adam contributed a fantastic electric guitar solo,quot; says Kuhns. Jeanne Kuhns i