Molly Konzen, a girl from the small town of Mattawan, MI, is a new jazz and blues artist on the scene, but her style is classic and timeless. Though mostly self-taught, she has played piano for over twenty years and has been singing as long as she can remember. She loves to write songs, sing, and play her keyboard solo and in bands. Her brand new albums, "Play Me" a bluesy jazz collection, and "It's Only Right," a country folk and blues collection, also feature very talented musicians from Chicago, IL and Kalamazoo, MI, who have helped take her compositions to the next level with that full band sound. On the album, "Play Me," she is accompanied by pianist and guitarist, Brother John Kattke and drummer, Marty Binder, of the famous Buddy Guy's Legends blues bar in Chicago. Jazz professor, Cory Biggerstaff, plays the acoustic bass and Rev. Nathan Dannison plays violin. Those same musicians play on the album, "It's Only Right," as well as Steve Yates (and Brother John Kattke) on organ, Nick Vander Vilet on mandolin, Jeremy Rilko on banjo, and Adam Ehrenpfort with back-up vocals. The professional collaboration of these musicians truly brings to life the visions Molly always had of these songs, which she has been writing over the course of the last few years. If you ask Molly what her best skill is when it comes to her music, she will tell you, "I have to admit, I'm definitely a perfectionist and I always feel like there's so much room to grow in music, but I guess I feel most confident in my song-writing. I just love sharing personal experiences from my life or making up stories that, to me, really represent emotions that all people go through." Her passion for expressing feelings of love, sadness, hope, frustration, humor and more in a way that people can relate to, is a quality she holds very dear to her heart, and it truly comes out in her music. When asked about the style she loves playing the most, she explained, "My parents and grandparents always listened to the music of the 40's, 50's, and 60's so much that I really grew to love it all. I really respect the song-writing and musicianship of the composers and artists from that era. I think I might have been born 40 years too late, but I love listening to that style of music and I want to be able to bring that quality of music back to my generation and future generations. There's just not enough artists like that around anymore." She is clearly a fan of that time period, but I asked her if she has any favorite artists from modern times. Laughing she says, "I actually call her my hero. Rachael Price, who is mainly known for her band, Lake Street Dive, and who's about my age, has the most buttery, beautiful voice I've ever heard and has inspired my vocal style so much. Someone once told me I sounded like her, and ever since then, I've studied her music and found that it has improved my vocal skills like crazy!" "I also love Michael Buble, Norah Jones, Feist, Gillian Welch, and Regina Spektor. Overall though, my music tastes are very eclectic, ranging from Funk, Blues and Jazz, to Old Time Country, Folk, Americana, and even World Music. Not big into Rock, Rap, or R&B though but I'm always willing to listen to anything at least once." I asked her what her goals are with her music. "I think my dream would be to be a song-writer and producer and have the chance to have someone like Rachael Price sing one of my songs. I would love to be a performer too, but I honestly know that it would be a long hard road to get to the point where that is a stable career option, and as much as I might hope that I have what it takes, I also know that there is a lot more that goes into being a successful performer than just loving and working hard on your music. Being in the right place at the right time and getting to know the right people are also really important. So I try to be realistic...but you never know. I guess we'll see!" Molly is hoping that there are people out there that will feel like her songs and style is exactly what they want to hear. "There is so much time, effort, money, care, and love that went into writing these songs and making these albums, but all I really want is for people to enjoy them!" If you like supporting a musician working her way from the ground up, please consider buying her albums and participating in making this small town girl's dreams come true. Molly signed off with, "This is all I've ever felt really good about doing with my life. No matter how many other directions I've thought I might be able to go and live happily going that way, I've always come back to music, hoping that I can share the joy I get out of it with other people too. It's exactly what I think I should be doing and I honestly don't think I could stop if I wanted to." - Anonymous Friend, December 12th, 2016