The Singing Doctor  

Why should anyone pay attention to Richard Krueger?  

"Because he's one of the greatest songwriters ever to make long-playing records.

It's as simple as that...He says something"

- Robert Christgau

NEWS

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The Troth Sessions: CD  (No Autograph Included)
  • The Troth Sessions: CD  (No Autograph Included)
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$15.00

These are a collection of acoustic solo demos recorded in 2002. The impetus for recording was to produce a demo of "The Ballad of Mary O'Connor" for its authors, Mark Hollmann and Greg Kotis. They had written the song for an article in The New York Times Magazine (11/11/ 2001) entitled "Songs for the City", featuring songs about 9/11. Lou Reed and Run DMC also contributed songs to that article. On the first anniversary of 9/11, J Dakota Powell produced an event in NYC called "Brave New World: American Theater's Response to 9/11". The big nights were at Town Hall. As their show "Urinetown the Musical" was still running and A HIT, Mark & Greg were asked to contribute their song. They called me up to ask if I’d like to perform it at Town Hall. I recorded the demo to give them an “out” in case I missed the mark. Apparently I hadn’t. The other songs here were recorded as I hadn’t yet demoed them & for the first time ever I was in an actual professional recording studio & hey why the hell not, eh?

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NOWThen: CD (No Autograph Included)
  • NOWThen: CD (No Autograph Included)

NOWThen: CD (No Autograph Included)

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$15.00

“Here be a literary songwriter of the first rank. A major songwriter. Thanks for making music that still makes reviewing albums worth it.” - Robert Christgau, The Dean of American Rock Critics

“I can’t remember the last time I said yes to a song out loud in its first three seconds. In the instant when I realized that Krueger … was something different. You believe him, you want to be there. He sounds like he’s been all around the world without ever leaving home.” -Greil Marcus Rolling Stone

How many albums do you know that feature Gary Lucas (Cap’n Beefheart), Robbie Fulks, Peter Stampfel, John Fulbright, Sarangi, Celtic and Mexican harps, tuba, theramin, dogs, horns, Mariachis, AND great songs? One. Rich Krueger's NOWThen.

"A Full Grade A. #14 on Christgau's 2018 Dean's List" - Robert Christgau, The Dean of American Rock Critics

“I can’t remember the last time I said yes to a song out loud in its first three seconds. In the instant when I realized that Krueger was something different, I also felt as if I’d been listening to this song half my life. Krueger catches the feel, the cadence, of ordinary talk as he jumps the waves in the sound. … You believe him, you want to be there. He sounds like he’s been all around the world without ever leaving home.” -Greil Marcus, Rolling Stone

“Here be a literary songwriter of the first rank. A major songwriter. Thanks for making music that still makes reviewing albums worth it...A major songwriter” - Robert Christgau, Expert Witness Noisey (VICE) & a personal phone call from Mr. Christgau

“A highly developed songwriter… advanced, experienced storytelling of vivid, ribald life experience/ viewpoint.”- Jack Rabid, The Big Takeover

“Staggering yet often surreal stories...articulate lyrics coupled to heavyweight tunes make this a joy. The new Randy Newman? - Tony Ives, AmericanaMusicShow.com

“Razor sharp observation...his words spill out - almost a screenplay in miniature...an incredibly talented maverick” - Paul Kerr, Blabber ‘n’ Smoke (Glasgow)

"I'm loving Rich Krueger's new CD, NowThen. He is so deserving of all the success he has been receiving! Way forward Rich!" - Melanie (Safka), singer-songwriter and legend

"Homeric" - Mary Gauthier, singer-songwriter

"Krueger reaches way down and creates his own musical paths, song after song. Paths which suck you into an altered universe in which you get lost in other peoples problems and successes for a change. So damn good. ...maybe perfect music for the moment. Rich Krueger, where have you been hiding?" - Frank Gutch, No Depression The Journal of Roots Music

Rich Krueger jumped into the spotlight in 2017, after releasing his first album, Life Ain’t That Long to worldwide critical acclaim, and non-commercial Triple A radio play around the world. Since then he has done numerous interviews in the US and UK and was a finalist in the Grassy Hill Kerrville New Folk Competition in 2017 and 2018, which he went on to win in 2018.

The 15-song NOWThen is a self-produced and self-released album with a plethora of players including Gary Lucas (Cap’n Beefheart), Robbie Fulks, Peter Stampfel, John Fulbright, Erik Frandsen (The Colbert Report), Casey McDonogh (NRBQ), Jay Ansill (acclaimed Celtic performer/composer), and Jim Becker (Iron & Wine).

NOWThen is a work of love and of hope, hard work and joy and about having open eyes. Rich Krueger’s songs are songs that could only be made by an outsider, and observer. They might make you think, they might make you laugh, and they might even trouble you, but NOWThen is full of real songs that are never ordinary.

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Life Aint That Long: CD (No Autograph Included)
  • Life Aint That Long: CD (No Autograph Included)
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$15.00

Life Aint That Long will take you somewhere you ain't never been IF you are willing to listen. It might be tell you something that you might or might not enjoy, something that might even trouble you, but it will never be ordinary. Americana/Blue-eyed Soul "A Full Grade A. #6 on Christgau's 2018 Dean's List" - Robert Christgau, The Dean of American Rock Critics "Born on a Wednesday full of woe, a 58-year-old Chicago neonatologist undertakes to show the world he's also a major songwriter, complete with wavery high baritone that hurts so much it'll make ordinary mortals wince. Although most of his evidence dates from the current century, only two selections are near new. The most recent goes on about Nero—“At night in his garden, Christian torches glow / He entertained the masses with fiddle and bow"—before observing that "a lie is a lie, and not 'fake news,'" and should you wonder what a Christian torch is, the CD comes with a useful booklet that will also make you wince. So will "The Gospel According to Carl," which re-enacts the pre-suicide ruminations of a car salesman who just discovered his conscience, and "Ain't It So Nice Outside Today?," which diagnoses suffering sinners who lust for life against all odds. Two songs praise Sid Vicious, a bunch indicate in agonizing yet generous detail why the guy's love life hasn't been everything it might, and the most memorable of all can't get over that girl he ditched so stupid when he was 17. Krueger's band accommodates horns, violin, accordion, and femme chorus. He borrows afterhooks from Bonnie Tyler and Jose Feliciano. And somehow I never mentioned that he can be pretty funny. Also nice. A"- Robert Christgau, Noisey

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What Professionals in the industry are saying

Here be a literary songwriter of the first rank. A major songwriter. Thanks for making music that still makes reviewing albums worth it.” - Robert Christgau, The Dean of American Rock Critics