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Kaki King

When Kaki King went into the studio in upstate New York to record the tracks for her fourth album, Dreaming Of Revenge, her producer, Malcolm Burn, had one condition: “He said, ‘If someone can’t be sawing a log in half and whistling along to the song, I don’t want it on the record,’” King recalls with a laugh. And so the bar was set. Burn’s mandate was just the push King needed to make her most accessible CD yet. “Even though half the tracks are instrumentals, I feel like I’m writing pop songs,” she says. “We really concentrated on the melodies. Everything I write tends to be dense and chordal, but this time the idea was to layer the challenging guitar work under very simple, beautiful melodies. I really wanted them to be memorable.” That strict attention to song craft is a logical step for King, whose previous album, 2006’s …Until We Felt Red propelled this dazzling young guitar player and composer, known to instrumental music fans for her finger-picking, fret-slapping, and percussive thumping style, into previously uncharted indie-rock territory. Produced by post-rock kingpin John McEntire (Tortoise, Sea and Cake), Red was filled with lush, ambient soundscapes that “sound like the abstract, dreamy, and hypnotic end of alternative rock,” as the New York Times noted in its review. Red found King branching out with songs that featured electric and pedal-steel guitar, horns, and, for the first time, vocals. Dreaming Of Revenge picks up that thread, continuing her evolution from acoustic instrumentalist to full-fledged, multi-faceted songwriter. Previously, her whispery, ethereal voice was used as mainly another element in her sonic arsenal. This time around, King put more effort into both her vocals and the lyrics she wrote for such deeply felt tracks as “Pull Me Out Alive,” “Saving Days In A Frozen Head,” “Life Being What It Is,” and “2 O’Clock,” the latter two of which she describes as break-up songs. “The words mean something now,” she says. “They’re actually telling stories.” Of course her instrumentals tell stories too. The intricate finger-picked melodies — which she and Burn often doubled and tripled with other instruments — on the airy, sexy “So Much for So Little,” (“a song I think people should make babies to,” King says) and the haunting “Can Anyone Who Has Heard This Music Really Be A Bad Person?” (which was inspired by the Oscar-winning German film The Lives of Others) convey a heavy-heartedness that feels more raw and emotional than anything King’s done before. Those tracks are balanced out by the upbeat, rhythmically layered “Montreal” and the flash-bang ear candy of “Bone Chaos In The Castle,” both of which feature King, who is the drummer on most of the record, supplying the tight, in-the-pocket grooves. “Making Dreaming Of Revenge was all about challenging myself,” King says. “And it was also about really letting go and opening myself up to a producer who I needed to just trust. I absolutely knew after the first day in the studio that Malcolm was the right man for the job.” Indeed Burn, a Grammy-Award winning musician and producer who is known for his work with Daniel Lanois, Peter Gabriel, and Emmylou Harris, was the perfect foil for King. “I went in with 11 demos and detailed notes about how each track should sound,” she recalls, “and Malcolm took one listen and said, ‘Throw that stuff away. I don’t care how you think it should sound. Just pick up a guitar right now and start playing.’ He was really adamant, because the way he works is totally spontaneous.” The process may not have unfolded the way she’d planned, but unpredictability has never been a problem for King. An Atlanta, GA, native who moved to New York in 1998 to attend New York University, she got her start busking in the subway where her dexterous playing style attracted the attention of Velour Music Group, which signed her to a management/recording deal and released her debut album Everybody Loves You in 2003. The following year, she released her second album, Legs to Make Us Longer on Epic Records. These releases coincided with what turned out to be years of incessant touring, and King has since notched headlining performances throughout the US, Canada, Europe, Japan and Australia. She’s also become something of a late-night TV darling, performing on the Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, and most recently, Later with Jools Holland (UK), impressing fans and critics around the world as her music explores a growing range of emotional spaces. In 2007, King branched out into film work, composing original music for several scenes in the Sean Penn-directed film Into the Wild, which also features two of her previously released songs. In addition, she recorded two tracks for the film August Rush, in which she appears as a guitar-playing hand double. Aside from Penn, King also has a fan in Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl, who asked her to duet with him on “Ballad of The Beaconsfield Miners” from the Foos’ current album Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace. “To have these kinds of opportunities has been amazing,” King says. “Just to know that I can walk into a room, pick up a guitar, and play a piece of music that I’ve never heard before without days of rehearsal — I feel good knowing that I’m being asked to do such challenging things.” For now, King is excited about the March 2008 release of Dreaming Of Revenge. “I want people to listen to it and think, ‘This sounds like something completely new, but it also sounds like something Kaki King would do,’” she says. “I am finding my own voice within the world of instrumental music at large, as opposed to just instrumental guitar. So I’d love for people to hear it and think, ‘If I had to take a guess, I think Kaki King might have written this song. That would be a dream.”

Twitter Updates

@Born95 yes well that was written by justin timberlake. glad you like my cover of it.
08:38 AM January 06

Kaki @ LOLA Fest - 9/18 Ontario, CA + Upcoming Shows!

Kaki plays LOLA Festival in London, Ontario TOMORROW - Sept 18th!

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Sep 17, 12:25 PM

Kaki @ LOLA Fest - 9/18 Ontario, CA + Upcoming Shows!

Kaki plays LOLA Festival in London, Ontario TOMORROW - Sept 18th!
LOLA is a free Arts and Music Festival in Victoria Park - London, Ontario. Lineup includes Polar Bear, Akron/Family, Final Fantasy, Nomo, A Horse and His Boy, Bruce Peninsula, Slaraffenland, among many others!
Check out their live video stream : Lola Fest Live Stream

Upcoming Shows
Sept 21 2009 - 6pm - Kaki @ NYSEC - New York, NY

A FREE event to gain support for a strong and fair global agreement to fight global warming. Speakers from around the world as well as a performance by Judy Collins

Oct. 24 2009 - 8pm - Kaki @ Stoughton Opera House - Madison, WI

Stay tuned - more announcements to come!

Kaki is also on Facebook
And Myspace
Jul 06, 11:01 AM

Kaki Fans :: Austin, TX // Boulder, CO // Minneapolis, MN

Kaki King's Street Teamers in these three cities have some very exciting news coming their way. We appreciate all of your support and would like to express our gratitude with a very special, exclusive opportunity!

If you are a street teamer who wants more inside info, or if you're a fan and want to join up, send us an email at kakistreetteam@velourmusic.com

This is something you don't want to miss, so keep your calendars free the last week in July and send us an email if you're a true Kaki Fan from Austin, Boulder, or Minnneapolis.
Jun 01, 11:42 AM

Kaki King performs live on TED.com!

Click Here. to watch Kaki's live performance on TED.com!

AND check out their recent interview with Kaki on the TEDblog: The evolution of a guitarist .

TED.com is an innovative site and annual conference bringing together the world's most fascinating thinkers and doers, people from all around the world the particular fields Technology, Entertainment, Design.
Mar 02, 04:22 PM

Just Released :: Kaki King Video Interview on Zoom In Online

Zoom-In. com is featuring this incredible video interview with Kaki as a part of their Rehearsal Space music interview series. Check out the exclusive live clips and new photos as Kaki "talks about her introduction to music, being pigeon-holed by the press and her desire to be a musician's musician."
Watch it now: http://www.zoom-in.com/music/rehearsal-space/rehearsal-space-kaki-king

:: Kaki King ON TOUR ::
Mar 3 2009 8pm - Mardi Gras Festival Bar @ The Supper Club-Darlinghurst, New South Wales
Mar 4 2009 8pm - Brass Monkey - Cronulla, New South Wales
Mar 5 2009 8pm - Heritage Hotel - Bulli, New South Wales
Mar 6-8 2009 8pm - WOMADelaide - Adelaide, South Australia
Mar 13 2009 8pm - Circolo degli Artisti - Rome, IT
Mar 14 2009 8pm - Rising Mutiny - Naples, IT
Mar 15 2009 8pm - Groove - Potenza Picena, IT
Mar 17 2009 8pm - La Casa 139 - Milan, IT
Mar 18 2009 8pm - Bar Wolf - Bologna, IT
Mar 19 2009 8pm - La Suoneria - Settimo Torinese, IT
Mar 20 2009 8pm - Kalinka - Carpi
Mar 22 2009 8pm - Le Bourg - Lausanne
Mar 23 2009 8pm - Badd Bonn - Dudingen
Mar 24 2009 8pm - Backstage - Munich
Mar 25 2009 8pm - Magnet - Berlin
Mar 26 2009 8pm -Knust - Hamburg
Mar 27 2009 8pm - Stadtgarten - Colonge
Mar 28 2009 8pm - Gleis 22 - Muenster
Mar 30 2009 8pm - Paradiso (upstairs) - Amsterdam
Mar 31 2009 8pm - Ancienne Belgique - Brussels
Apr 1 2009 8pm - Nouveau Casino - Paris, FR
Apr 2 2009 8pm - Jazz Café - London
June 11-14 2009 8pm BONNAROO 2009 - Manchester, TN
Feb 17, 02:47 PM

Kaki's "Pull Me Out Alive" video to be featured at SXSW film festival

Kaki's "Pull Me Out Alive" video to be featured at SXSW film festival!
"Pull Me Out Alive" is an official selection of South by Southwest's Film Festival 2009! The festival takes place in Austin, TX March 13-21 and screens about 150-200 of the best independent films produced during the previous year as well as works from established directors who have inspired the latest generation of filmmakers.
For more information on the festival: http://www.sxsw.com/film
If you haven't seen the "Pull Me Out Alive" video, check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVYp2sgA9M0
The entire video - shot over five very long and cold days in NYC - did not use actually use video cameras but instead consists of over 5,000 still photographs taken with Nikon D30s. There are no special effects; all of the light trails were created by hand with up to eight individual "light animators" flashing LEDs and flashlights on and off over a long (8 second) shot exposure. Special thanks to Eddie & Doug at chop Wood Carry Water.
Check out the "Making of . . ." video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHTM7d9ekaY
Jul 23 2008, 08:34 AM

The Last Happy Night Of Your Life

The Mountain Goats and Kaki King present "THE LAST HAPPY NIGHT OF YOUR LIFE"
... A whirlwind tour across America.

TIMELINE (according to Kaki King)

Fall 2005:
Kaki hears that someone named John Darnielle has blogged about one of her records. According to sources, John has 'indie cred.' John's blog is possibly Kaki's first review outside of the guitar police state.

January 2006:
Kaki is making a record called "...Until We Felt Red" in Chicago. Whilst there she is told by a journalist that perhaps John should write her new bio because he is a fan. Kaki mulls this one over.

April 2006:
Kaki discovers a song entitled "the best ever death metal band in Denton" by a band called The Mountain Goats on a mix CD given to her by a fan. Continuing to be oblivious and unable to put two and two together, she listens to the song repeatedly and thinks it's good. While trying to discern one of the lyrics she googles and finds that MG and JD are one in the same. Gets excited.

March 2008:
Completely flu-stricken Kaki plays the Doug Fir in Portland, OR. Barely can even sing. Sees John's note on the wall but is unable to write more than a few words to her admirer. Does, however, download a great portion of the MG catalog and starts to see why everyone loves this band.

June 2008:
Kaki and John spend hours talking on the phone each night, planning and plotting the greatest tour that will make you so happy that any further happiness you experience in life will be entirely superfluous.

*****

TIMELINE (according to John Darnielle):

January 2005:
While recording the Babylon Springs EP in Glasgow, John reads about Kaki King in a recent issue Frets magazine and thinks: "this sounds good."

February 2005:
John buys Legs to Make Us Longer, flips completely out.

March 2005 - July 2006:
touring, hotel rooms with the headphones on, hospital waiting rooms, back of van: Kaki King all day long.

August 2006:
While recording Get Lonely, John downloads Kaki King bootlegs of shows in Atlanta and Northampton, listens obsessively to her cover of "Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want."

February 2008:
On tour, going nuts, John sees that Kaki will shortly be playing the same club he's playing in that night, writes in Sharpie on dressing room wall: "THANK YOU KAKI KING FOR YOUR WONDERFUL MUSIC." Hassles staff of Doug Fir to preserve his message.

March 2008:
Home from tour and a total basket case, John prepares for a recuperative weekend in Florida with his wife. Gets email from Kaki just as he's leaving: "John. It is Kaki. I am in Portland. I got your note."

April - August 2008:
John and Kaki retreat to underground bunker, plot tour and recording plans, eventual world domination, and funding of the KKJD Drop-D Scholarship for music students who can't suffer standard tuning even one more day.

October 13 - November 9, 2008:
Depending on where you live, one of these nights is the "Last Happy Night of Your Life."

*****

10/13/08 Chicago, IL - Park West
10/14/08 Milwaukee, WI - The Pabst
10/17/08 Denver, CO - The Bluebird
10/18/08 Salt Lake City, UT - In The Venue
10/20/08 Seattle, WA - Showbox
10/21/08 Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom
10/25/08 Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour
10/26/08 Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour
10/28/08 Solana Beach, CA - Belly Up Tavern
10/29/08 Tucson, AZ - Club Congress
11/01/08 Austin, TX - Emo's
11/02/08 New Orleans, LA - Republic
11/05/08 Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle
11/06/08 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
11/07/08 Philadelphia, PA - TLA
11/08/08 New York, NY - Webster Hall
11/09/08 New York, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg

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Kaki King

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Latest bulletin 09.17.09

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