Sweet Music for a Sultry Day – Kim Richey at Basement Discs

Melbourne, over the past few days has been under the influence of a hot and sultry weather pattern, a surprise lingering of summer which we had almost given up seeing again after a cold snap in early March.

Despite the unseasonable weather, Basement Discs continued today with the second in store performance for the month, and it featured the wonderful US singer songwriter Kim Richey.

I discovered Kim Richey’s music way back in the 1990s with her sophomore disc, Bitter Sweet, a great collection of beautifully written pop songs. I have continued to collect her records ever since, though I don’t get much of an opportunity to listen to them these days.

As an aside, she also sings background vocals on Ryan Adams’ debut solo disc Heartbreaker, on the popular song Come Pick Me Up.

It was in January 2002, that I saw her live for the first time, when she toured Australia as part of a singer songwriter showcase which included Fred Eaglesmith, Audrey Auld, Jim Lauderdale and Jason McCoy.

Today however, Kim performed solo, simply accompanying herself on guitar. She has a new CD called Wreck Your Wheels, and she treated the small but appreciative audience to a snippet of it today to the tune of four songs, and also performed two from her previous album Chinese Boxes.

Kim is an excellent song writer and has collaborated with singers like Trisha Yearwood, Radney Foster, our own Felicity Urquhart and Sydney artist Karl Broadie, and her songs have been covered by many artists including the Dixie Chicks.

She has a sweet voice that is a pleasure to listen to, with a timbre that gives it character and expression.

Song List

Chinese Boxes
Careful How You Go
Not A Love Like This
Once In Your Life
A Word To The Wise
Wreck Your Wheels

Kim Richey has an attractive website where you can learn more about her music and check out her My Space page for sound clips and video

Other news…

I have written expanded reviews of the Eilen Jewell and Mary Gauthier concerts for the Nu Country website.

Check them out here (Eilen) and here (Mary) if you’re interested.