If the terms “Indie chick rock” had a face, Kristy Hanson would be the poster child.

With her acoustic guitar in hand, and her boyfriend Mike Chiaburu pounding on bass, the duo presents various styles of music in a stream of intimate performances that Easy Street Cafe will host tonight.

The performance will be part of the “2005 Indie Girl Tour.”

“Indie Girl” is a network of female musicians throughout the country, coming together to share and to perform their own style of music, under the radar of the mainstream music scene.

Easy Street Cafe will host two of the members of the “Indie Girl” Network, Kritsy Hanson and Dawn Xiana Moon.

Kristy Hanson, a Cleveland native, started her musical journey at the age of 10.

“I approached music in a different way,” Hanson said. She began with a vocal background and appeared in the school choir before eventually singing solos.

It wasn’t until the age of 15, that she received her first guitar.

“I immediately started writing my own songs when I got my guitar,” Hanson said.

With the Indigo Girls as an influence, she began crafting her songwriting. Hanson took guitar lessons from a jazz guitarist, but also learned from listening to other artists, mostly folk musicians.

Hanson then attended the University of Michigan, where she studied voice and English.

As she furthered her studies, she also furthered her musical development by playing music with other musicians – mostly males who admired her talents, coining her sound as “chick rock.”

“It’s kind of a tongue-in-cheek way to describe my music,” Hanson said, “It’s kind of a joke.”

With her “chick rock” sound, she ventured into the venues that surround Ann Arbor, playing all the venues in town and eventually finding a bass player to accommodate her music, her boyfriend.

The duo joined the “Indie Girl,” network and began playing with other female artists.

The “Indie Girl,” networks main purpose is to present to audiences around the world that great music sometimes lies under the surface mainstream music provides.

“I want people to know what great independent music is out there – off the beaten path, not typical pop music,” Hanson said.

Hanson said every female, independent artist out there looks at Ani DiFranco as the most successful female musician out there.

Hanson – like DiFranco – is more tuned into her acoustic performance rather than plugging in and playing electric.

“There’s just something about acoustic instruments that I love,” Hanson said. “It’s also portable, so you can play it anywhere like a friends’ living rooms. It’s an all-acoustic sound.”

Hanson will share the stage tonight with another Michigan Alumni, Dawn Xiana Moon.

Moon, who was born in Singapore, took a little different route in her musical escapade, learning piano at 5.

In high school, she earned numerous prizes for her piano, flute and voice talents.

It wasn’t until college that she picked up guitar, abandoning her classically trained roots, and began writing her own songs.

Promoter for Easy Street, Dave Harper, said the “Indie Girl Tour” will follow the cafe’s tradition of providing various styles of music to audiences.

“We like to promote all types of music, any given Friday,” Harper said.

The folk style music that Hanson and bassists Chiaburu perform is a style some students may not be familiar with.

“It is new music, and I urge people to do something different on a Friday night,” Hanson said.

It will be a night of independent music and an introduction into “chick rock.” The “Indie Girl Tour,” show is free, and the show is open to those 21 and older.