Kit Holmes - You Took the Blues (2014)

Tracklist

01. You Said I Said
02. Short Walk to Heaven
03. That's Why We Need
04. We Shared the Night
05. You Took the Blues
06. Sci-Fi Blues
07. Can't Do
08. Looking for Love
09. Thirty Second Street
10. Breakout Blues



Kit Holmes is that welcome curiosity, a young composer and singer-songwriter with all the makings of a new British guitar heroine and a style that skips cheerfully across boundaries. She mostly plays acoustic guitar but she's certainly no folk singer; her songs are far too pop-influenced. But then she's certainly not a pop artist either, hence her ability to suddenly switch to instrumental pieces that echo anything from folk baroque to flamenco and jazz – after all, she has toured extensively with John Etheridge. The new set is dominated by her solo playing and singing, but she is backed by a trio of musicians including the great veteran double-bass player Danny Thompson, who has worked with everyone from Nick Drake to Bert Jansch and Richard Thompson. She starts with a drifting guitar instrumental, Kitty's Blues, and then she's off, mixing songs such as the easy-going and melodic Roundabout and the breathy and witty Kinda Girl – on which she adds a fiddle solo – with instrumentals that range from the slow and delicate A Time a Place to Hola, on which she demonstrates her flamenco work. Impressive, and she'll baffle those in the music industry who like everything to fit into neat, marketable categories.

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