Kaki King / Joe Robinson @ The Iron Horse

Photo source unknown.

April 2nd, 2011.  The Iron Horse Music Hall in Northampton, MA is a two-story restaurant filled with natural-stained wood furniture and upholstery, and containing a small stage near the front of house.  The sound quality, atmosphere, and decent beer list more than make up for the slightly uncomfortable chairs and wobbly tables.  All in all a relaxed and intimate venue.  I owe part of my appreciation of Kaki King to my friend Megan, who recommended her to me a couple of years ago; once I checked her out I was hooked.  I first saw Kaki perform in Spring of 2010 supporting her Junior record - in top practiced form, playing many new songs and band-oriented material.  Kaki King has ditched her band for this tour with the exception of Trumpeter/EVI player-turned sound tech Dan Brantigan.  For me this show serves as the perfect complimentary counterpart to last year's show.  This year she shares the stage with only her wooden, fretted friends; a semicircle of expensive and interesting guitars set the stage, staring down the curious crowd who await these instrument's master.

While we waited for the main act, we thankfully had Joe Robinson to warm things up a bit...ok, more like set things on fire.  Joe is an acoustic shredder from Australia who employs both traditional and modern techniques, and alot of natural harmonics; once in a while he'll throw in a touch of drifting or Travis picking.  Joe's music, centered around jazz chords and progressions, was performed flawlessly and with seemingly little effort.  The crowd fueled the guitar virtuoso through his set by providing ample applause and shouts.  Joe took some time from his crammed set to share his story of participating in a world-wide talent competition, where he was picked from thousands of competitors for the first place award.  He followed his story by performing the song with which he won the competition - a highly stylized cover of Mason Williams' Classical Gas.  While Joe certainly proved to us that he is an elite guitarist and performer, he struggled a bit with cliche lyrics and missed his mark with a very awkward cover of Somewhere Over The Rainbow.  By no means am I putting him down - think of it as constructive criticism.  Joe has some serious talent and it will be quite interesting to see where he takes it.

Shortly after Robinson wrapped things up, Kaki made her way to the stage, quickly said hello as the welcoming applause died down, and tore into her first song of the evening: Bone Chaos In The Castle.  Our reply was energetic - an anxious and excited homage to our guest for the evening.  While we did expect an incredible performance and hoped for a special song selection...little did we know we'd also be getting an education.  Prior to using each guitar, Kaki took some time to explain what it was and what made it unique.  Of course, between altered versions of her songs and new on-the-spot jams, she would also take some time to remind us, with her iconic Ovation baritone, that she's still King and capable of a serious and impressive display of chops.  Meanwhile, her guitar tech would be prepping the next "mind fuck" guitar....

Photo: Rosemary Wojtas

The first example of which was a seven-string fanned fret acoustic/electric, made by Andrew White, on which she played Doing The Wrong Thing.  Fanned frets are more ergonomic and supposedly offer more accurate intonation; this option is only available from a handful of custom luthiers across the globe, but it is gaining popularity.  Shortly after, Kaki switched to a Dojo (a cross between a banjo and a Dobro) to play Life Being What It Is.
Life Being What It Is on Dojo

On the seven-string, Kaki tried her hand at Andrew York's beautiful Andecy...
Andecy

...after which she picked up a tiny high-tuned twelve string guitar by Veillette Guitars called a Gryphon, on which she performed a cover of My Girl The Horse, originally by Fences.  She later used the same guitar to play a short Celtic ditty toward the end of her set.  From one extreme to the other Kaki traded her smallest guitar for her largest - a harp guitar - which she colorfully explained as the result of crossbreeding a guitar with an elephant.  Watching her play this monstrosity was quite a treat; her left hand tapping and pulling off the notes of the melody on the guitar strings, while her right hand provided the bass rhythm on the lower-tuned harp strings.  Throughout the song she would switch to Travis picking, playing two parts simultaneously on the guitar neck.  She carefully made her way through Michael Hedges' Because It's There; a tribute to her stylistic predecessor using the same instrument on which he used to play the piece...
Because It's There

Photo: Rosemary Wojtas

Taking a break from playing the songs of her heroes, Kaki treated us to a preliminary version of what may become a new song.  For this she lay across her legs a Hawaiian lap style guitar, called a Weissenborn guitar.  The result was an energetic slide guitar jam; it contained some sour notes here and there, but ultimately affected a very cool vibe and was certainly different from anything we've heard from her thus far.  She claimed that this song hit a certain stride with this evening's performance...perhaps something clicked as she made a more intimate connection with this odd instrument.
Weissenborn Song

Nails required not a strange guitar, but an unusual modification to a standard guitar.  The strings are all loosened such that a wooden block, or other solid oblong object, can be placed on top of the 17th fret.  The strings are then tightened again over the object.  The result, when tuned appropriately and played just so, altering the pressure on either side of a particular string, is a koto-like sound.
Nails

What was so special about Kaki's performance, and indeed this tour, was her intention.  What she brought along with her strange guitars was a particular attitude and a specific goal.  She's not aiming for perfection with each piece, but rather to break the mold of her own style and songs just enough to see what comes forth from the cracks; she's trying to leave her comfort zone and breathe new life into her creativity.  You could feel her nervous energy when she was stepping out of the box a little bit - trying out different variations, and improvising fills and cadences.  Sitting with an unfamiliar guitar, a guitar in an unfamiliar position, or one with an odd modification she was nearly forced to play differently - to make old songs new.  We got the sense that we were peaking in on Kaki at home, practicing and changing things up...what works?  What doesn't?  How would this song sound on this guitar?  What about on that one?  You could see clearly that this woman is ready for change...for something new and exciting.  And it is the perfect time of year for such endeavors...
Celtic Ditty on the Gryphon

She ended her set with Zeitgeist, featuring Mr. Brantigan on Trumpet, and finally Sunnyside, the last song of Junior and the night's performance.  After the show I waited in line for an autograph.  I'd say I hadn't done this in years, but just last Thursday I did the same with William Fitzsimmons, obtaining a personalized flyer for Rosie.  These two recent experiences felt so much different that in the past, when I had waited in line an under-confident teen hoping to meet his gods.  It was a more rewarding feeling shaking someone's hand as a fellow human and artist - an exchange of creative energy for which I am very thankful.  Kaki, with a smile, signed by Everybody Loves You LP, which I bought at the show.  I said my thanks and appreciation, and she hers.  "Thanks for letting me be a dork and signing my record."  She laughed and we parted with a nod.