Road Life Prepares Klein For Debut Solo Album (Sat, 16. Nov 1996)
BILLBOARD - NOVEMBER 16, 1996 By Terri Horak
NEW YORK - Ann Klein has developed a career as a dynamo guitarist/singer/ songwriter, and she is especially well known in her home base of New York. But it was an early stint as a substitute in someone else's band that helped light the way for this rising artist.
Klein filled in on the road for Joan Osborne's guitar player for much of 1993. With the September release of "Driving You Insane", Klein's first solo album, she had a chance to apply some of the knowledge she acquired on that tour.

"I learned more from that experience than from others I've had in the music business combined. It gave me ammunition to feel more comfortable being a solo performer," Klein says.

While she gained valuable insight into promotion - Osborne was just beginning to be recognized by radio and major labels at the time Klein toured with her - Klein says that what she learned most from Osborne was how to lead a band.

"She always had a stock of musicians she could call to do gigs. If she got a date, she took it, and wouldn't worry if someone couldn't make it. I used to be very insecure (about that)," she says.

But more important, Klein says, "it made me realize that every note didn't have to be perfect. Every player plays things differently, and it got me to realize that you just have to know that the overall thing is good, and if you have good musicians behind you, you're going to be fine."

While Klein has played with other artists and recorded an album several years ago with New York-based all-women band BloodSugar, she has come into her own with "Driving You Insane."

Loaded and layered with Klein's inventive guitar playing, "Driving You Insane" was co-produced by Klein and Phillip Levine and issued on their p prod music label. Levine also produced BloodSugar's album "In And Out."

"It was so much fun doing ("Driving You Insane") The songs came out easily - we had all the basics and guitars done in three days. It seemed like the album wrote itself," she says.

Imagine an intersection where the main street is early?s blues rock and the cross-street is 90s alternative rock - that's where "Driving You Insane" resides. But Klein says she made a point to maintain a mainstream accessibility.

"You have to be different, but you have to be palatable, and it's really hard to find that equilibrium within pop's limitations, but that's what I strive for," Klein says.

The album's balance between hard rock and blues rock has provided dual promotional opportunities, and the set has won acceptance at alternative and college stations.

Nic Harcourt, music director at commercial alternative station WDST Poughkeepsie, N.Y., has been playing cuts from "Driving You Insane" on his weekly independent artist showcase "Indie Flux." Klein has also been the featured guest on the station's live on-air program, "Live Lunch."

She's real talented, and we're obviously very supportive of her," Harcourt says, adding that Klein's radio play coupled with her live performances at local clubs have generated a small following for her in the area.

The live dates and airplay have driven sales. "Driving You Insane" is in stock at select New York Tower Records, Sam Goody, and Disco Rama stores, according to Klein's manager, Jonas Goldstein. Though a distributor has yet to pick up the record, Goldstein is working on getting it into stores in each of the markets in which Klein is receiving airplay, including Boise, Idaho, and Oneonta, N.Y. He is also aiming to secure space in larger Northeast markets.

Klein is booked with her band to tape a segment of public radio's syndicated "World Cafe," tentatively set to air in December.

Says show producer Bruce Warren, "(Her) kind of rock is a little more aggressive than what we normally do, but she's an incredible talent and an astounding guitarist, and I want to showcase that."

Assistance in preparing this story was provided by Ed Christman.