Kathryn Williams – a staggeringly brilliant songwriter

Kathryn Williams performs at Creekside Vinyl on 2nd October

“A distinctive voice which is simultaneously both fragile and hardy. Mournful songs which resonate with a life affirming quality.”

Well…Where to begin?  Kathryn, as an artist, is somewhat enigmatic…a joyous mass of incongruities. A distinctive voice which is simultaneously both fragile and hardy. Mournful songs which resonate with a life affirming quality. Serious, grown up subject matter approached with a glint in the eye. Deeply personal lyrics, and on occasion viscerally so, which speak to a wider constituency. She defies genres, the casual knee jerk classification is often ‘folk’ – but whilst she can comfortably share stages with the likes of The Unthanks, Seth Lakeman and Marry Waterson et al…she is not of that cohort.

Her records (and there are lots of them) have explored vast soundscapes and emotional landscapes with an intense love of the art of songwriting and art of the studio. From those first four raw notes on an acoustic guitar which started Dog Leap Stairs back in 1999, to the folded and refolded reverbed voices that close Hypoxia, she has taken her loyal fans (and there are lots of them) on a journey full of wonder. At once offering a feeling we’ve shared and savoured every second of this 20 years of artistic growth but bizarrely, they also feel like could be a double A side single!

Kathryn is without doubt one of the most consistent and staggeringly brilliant songwriters that this Isle of Noise of ours has had to offer the world. She should, of course, be a bigger star and bigger name than she is. However, in an age where seemingly any pretty slip of a boy or a girl, with dishwater blond hair, an acoustic guitar and fay lyrics can grab a small slice of fame pie for 15 Instagram posts, Kathryn is the real deal. An artist that has developed a substantial body of work which can be viewed as a whole. Her peers are her heroes – Leonard Cohen and John Martyn.

This body of work captured in the 10 Albums collected on her Anthology Box Set, is exceptional. Each album is accompanied with an extra disc collection of contemporary unreleased tracks, demos and live versions of her songs. As a live performer, Kathryn is wonderfully spontaneous, funny and generous. She connects with an audience in a very natural, almost self-deprecating, way whether playing for an intimate group or a full theatre.

When she sings, oh my, she sings from the soul…. her voice wraps around the lyrics and will send you into a reverie, inhabiting the world and the themes of the songs as if they were your thoughts and daydreams. On songs like Darkness Light on Crown Electric, Kathryn reaches notes and tones which are obviously cathartic and drenched in emotion, so much so that it can feel almost like voyeuristic listening, but it is a totally redemptive and euphoric experience.

We are beyond delighted to be welcoming Kathryn to our shop and looking forward to sharing her brilliance with our customers.

Kathryn Williams will be at Creekside Vinyl on Wednesday 2^nd October; 6:30 pm. We have copies of The Anthology Box Set in stock which will Kathryn will happily autograph for you.