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Sunday, January 5th, 2020

4:00pm

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Brian Kalinec hosts Helene Cronin at EQ Heights
About Helene:
Helene Cronin is a Texas artist who spent most of 2019 working on a new full-length record, produced by Matt King in Nashville. OLD GHOSTS & LOST CAUSES was released to high praise on Oct. 11, 2019. This comes right on the heels of being named a 2018 New Folk Winner at the prestigious Kerrville Folk Festival. Helene considers her writing style a merger between Americana and Country but she's perhaps best described simply as an acoustic storyteller. She draws comparisons to Lori McKenna, Nanci Griffith, and writers like Mary Gauthier and Travis Meadows, but her sound is uniquely her own. Audiences are drawn to her intimate, personal performances and call her raw, honest and vulnerable, saying, "her songs make me think".

"As some already know, [Helene's Cronin's] vivid lyrical abilities are without question. She’s like Leonard Cohen - writes with a good editing pen & produces tight, original tales then adds an invigorating melody." - John Apice, Americana Highways review.

"There’s some of Gretchen Peters’ darkness and incisive poetry in [Helene Cronin's] terrific debut, and that alone should be more than enough for singer-songwriter fans to give Cronin their attention. Cronin is a wordsmith who pulls no punches. Some songs may make you uncomfortable but leave you marveling at her songwriting just the same." - Jim Hynes of Elmore Magazine

"In a world of love songs, Helene Cronin’s songwriting takes unpredictable turns we can all relate to....Cronin creates utterly fresh perspectives that are immediately familiar at the same time..." - Melissa Clarke, Americana Highways, Song Premiere

Her most well-known song "Lucky Me" is based on a conversation with a soldier in the airport and has over 133,000 views on YouTube. It has led to appearances on national TV, for Medal of Honor events and many other military functions. In addition to being a performing songwriter, Helene spends time in Nashville where she co-writes, plays shows, and records. OLD GHOSTS & LOST CAUSES, as well as Helene's EPs BELONG TO THE RIVER from 2015 and RESTLESS HEART from 2014 are available on streaming services, and her STORE page.

Helene hosts rounds at Nashville's Bluebird Cafe and performs for coffeehouses, festivals and songwriter events. She often appears in Dallas, TX at Poor David's Pub, where she has headlined as well as been an opener for Kathy Mattea, Chris Hillman and Willis Alan Ramsey. She especially loves house concerts, finding that a living room or back yard is the ideal environment for connecting with people.

In fact, relating to people through the emotion of music, finding grace in the chaos of life, these are the things that motivate Helene to continue writing and pursuing the musical life that began when she first borrowed her brother's guitar and taught herself a few chords.

About Brian:
Texan Brian Kalinec has been called "a combination of Woody Guthrie, John Steinbeck, James Taylor, and Rodney Crowell in the stories he tells" in a review in music magazine Rootsy. He has also been described by Robert Bartosh of Roots Music Report "one of the most creative songwriters from the Texas music scene". Those comments perfectly sum up Brian's drive to write songs with purpose.

A native of Beaumont, he started on the guitar at the age of ten and began performing in high school. He has received a considerable recognition here and abroad, in events such as a winner of the Songwriter Serenade Competition and the Big Top Chautauqua Song Contest, and second place in the Woody Guthrie Song Contest and a finalist in the UK Songwriting Contest, to name a few. Brian is known not only for his songwriting but as a guitarist as well, having garnered nominations for both Songwriter of the Year and Musician of the Year in the Texas Music Awards in the recent past.

He has appeared at the Kerrville Folk Festival, and venues such as Uncle Calvin's in Dallas, The Bugle Boy in La Grange, and as a featured guest on Rich Warren's Folkstage on WFMT in Chicago. Brian and his wife Pam own Berkalin Records, a label which is home to a number of well-respected folk and Americana artists. He is currently on the board of Songwriter Serenade and is a board member and President of the Southwest Regional Folk Alliance. www.briankalinec.com