Kara Grainger – Grand and Green River

Grand Green River Was recorded in Los Angeles With Producer David Kalish and Barrie Maguire at the Helm and showcases a stunning line up of some of Americas most celebrated musicians.

CD REVIEW
Kara Grainger – Grand and Green River
by Jane Harding

Kara Grainger has been around in the Australian music scene since the late 1990s
– she used to sing with the Sydney-based blues band Papa Lips and she worked for a time as a guitarist/vocalist with the Steve Prestwich Band.

Grand and Green River is her debut release as a solo artist.
Recorded mostly in Los Angeles, where Kara is currently based, it was produced by David Kalish, who is best known for his work with Rickie Lee Jones and Ben Harper, and features a string of very experienced musicians supporting her, many of whom have worked with musical greats the likes of Stevie Wonder, Jackson Browne and Little Feat.
It is mostly a collection of Kara’s original songs and also contains a duet with American folk/soul/jazz singer/songwriter Amos Lee – “On My Way”.

She draws inspiration from blues, roots and gospel sources such as Ry Cooder, Mavis Staples and John Lee Hooker and her sound has been likened to that of Bonnie Rait.
Significantly, when you put this CD into the disk drive of your PC, Media Player comes up with the genre ‘Rock’ and that’s what you should expect from this recording, albeit with blues, soul/pop and contemporary folk overtones.

It has been exquisitely produced and will no doubt delight the fans of this type of music.
My pick of the tracks is “Dreamed I was the Devil” (written by Charlie Terrell).
It appeals to my darker side, the rock/blues treatment is brilliant and the trumpet and trombone will knock your socks off!
I also really liked the sentiments in the lyrics of the track “I’m Going To Live The Life I Sing About In My Song” (written by Thomas A Dorsey) – but perhaps not in literal juxtaposition with the previous track.

You can see Kara Grainger perform at the Woodford Folk Festival in Queensland and the Peats Ridge Music Festival in NSW this December.