KATHY & THE KILOWATTS ~ PREMONITION OF LOVE LABEL: NOLA BLUE RECORDS RELEASE DATE: APRIL 13, 2018 DISTRIBUTION: WORLDWIDE VIA CD BABY, ITUNES, AMAZON, ET AL FCC CLEAN
"Contemporaries of every hallowed name in Austin's Seventies/Eighties blues boom, Kathy & the Kilowatts understand the form's vocabulary as well as any surviving practitioners." Tim Stegall, The Austin Chronicle
Texas blues queen Kathy Murray and her band, The Kilowatts return with their fourth album, Pre monition Of Love , in a new partnership with Nola Blue Records. The ten original tracks and three inspired covers, mixed and mastered by multi-award-winning Jack Miele, explore the range of blues and roots music that their home of Austin, Texas is famous for. Fellow Nola Blue recording artist, Benny Turner, Freddie King’s younger brother and bass player, makes a special guest appearance on four tracks to help launch their label debut with extra flair.
Kathy wastes no time kicking off the album with the horn infused Boogaloo ‘First Do No Harm,’ and preaches the virtues of peace and love, while her long-time partner Bill “Monster” Jones rips a jagged lead guitar. The title track, ’Premonition Of Love,’ is a burning chunk of Texas Funk inspired by legend of the Lone Star state Freddie King. Turner leads the bump and grind blues for the smoking ‘Beggars Can’t Be Choosers,’ and spars with Kathy on the slinky horn funk ‘Always Fooling Me.’ The dance floor fills up for the jump blues ‘Grow Some,’ featuring great walking bass and honky-tonk piano from Matt Ferrell.
Kathy lays it on thick, pouring out her sex appeal, drawing comparisons to Ruth Brown and LaVern Baker on the Lowell Fulson 1965 classic ‘Black Nights,’ a brassy and sassy feel-good tune despite the sorrowful lyrics, featuring a horn section that moans and wails. The reverb soaked take of Magic Sam’s bone-cutting blues ‘What Have I Done Wrong,’ highlights more hot leads from Jones and showcases the core sound of the Kilowatts. Turner returns along with Kim Field on scorching blues harp for down and dirty, gritty blues ‘Final Verdict.’ Jones dons the accordion for a side trip to the bayou for the joyful Cajun romp, ‘Sugar Bee,’ then drummer Nina Singh delivers the authentic Bo Diddley beat for ‘Answer Yes.’ Piano man Floyd Domino jumps in on the roadhouse blues rocker ‘All These Questions,’ as Kathy plays the part of a women scorned and ready to fight for her man. The Texas-styled shuffle of ‘I Got This’ swings with a dose of boot-scootin’ boogie. Kathy concludes her sermon of empowerment, encouraging us all to embrace the freedom to love deeply and keep our eyes on the prize, on album closer ‘The Bigger Picture,’ an easy-going rhumba that sweetly sails off into the sunset.
KATHYMURRAYANDTHEKILOWATTS.COM
Betsie Brown, Blind Raccoon, betsie@blindraccoon.com, 901.268.6065
Booking:
Bill Jones, billajones57@gmail.com, 512.788.6852/512.791.1645
Label:
Sallie Bengtson, Nola Blue Records, nolablue835@gmail.com, 717.341.5172
