Chattanooga native and Johnson City, Tennessee-based singer/songwriter Amythyst Kiah has been noted by Rolling Stone, NPR and others as one of roots music’s most exciting breakout young talents. Kiah’s music takes inspiration from a range of traditional old-time music, indie rock, folk, country, and blues, culminating in a sound that is deeply emotive, captivating, and uniquely eclectic. Kiah’s Wary + Strange album follows up her acclaimed work with Rhiannon Giddens’ all-black female roots music collective Our Native Daughters (Rhiannon Giddens, Amythyst Kiah, Leyla McCalla, Allison Russell). Kiah co-wrote three songs with Giddens on 2019’s Songs for Our Native Daughters release, earning a Grammy nomination and Song of the Year at Folk Alliance International’s 2020 International Folk Music Awards for her solo contribution, “Black Myself”, which addresses the crushing pain of racial oppression in America and the hypocrisy of oppressors. Kiah and co-producer Dirk Powell expanded on the themes in “Black Myself” to create the 13 songs that became Wary + Strange. The LP showcases Kiah’s raw and powerful vocals with tight, gospel-tinged harmonies, acoustic guitar banjos, and Cajun accordion. Notable tracks include: the aforementioned “Black Myself”; the opening track about white privilege “Soap Box”; the heartbreaking aftermath of Kiah’s mother’s suicide chronicled in “Wild Turkey”; the somber and reflective “Firewater”; the swampy song about alcohol dependency, “Hangover Blues”; the bluesy number about self-destruction “Fancy Drones (Fracture Me)”; and the pedal-steel tinged “Ballad of the Lost.” Amythyst Kiah’s Wary + Strange is a powerful message and a very important album within America’s musical history especially in the Americana and Roots music genres. – Written by JFelton
SIMILAR | Rhiannon Giddens, Leyla McCalla, Allison Russell, Sunny War, Yola