Kym Pitman – Million Star Hotel

MILLION STAR HOTEL

A good ten years since the last album, ‘Million Star Hotel’ is a journey through landscapes of song and musical imagery. Funky to country to bluesy to folk – it evokes a sense of place and belonging – re-enlivening ones presence amidst colours, creatures, forms, textures and sounds of wild places – ultimately creating an inner quiet and expansiveness in connection with landscape. Along side Kym’s poetry and intimate vocal, the album features a beautiful range of instrumentation – the percussive sways of Greg Sheehan, Steve Berry on guitar, Greg Lyon on Bass, slidey bluesy lap slide with Tim Hulsman, Mandolin by Andrew Claremont, Nina Grant on Piano, Shane Nelson on Didj, Kym’s fiddle and viola and the smooth vocal harmonies of Vic Manuel, Tim Hulsman and Nina Grant.

Brief bio

Kym Pitman has a special place amongst Australian singer songwriters. Her songs and music are deeply an expression of place and ecological connection. They inspire an enlivened sense of presence and emotional recognition of human experience and wild landscape -‘a uniquely female, Australian perspective brimming with heart, spirit, experience and a love of country’.

Born in South Australia, Kym began performing as a singer songwriter in Adelaide’s Music bars and Cafes as a teenager in the late seventies and early eighties. Later moving to regional NSW she has recorded three albums and performed extensively on Australia’s festival circuit. As a multi instrumentalist playing guitar, fiddle, viola and banjo, Kym’s enchanting concerts are a poignant journey rambling evocatively between coast, desert, gorge and tableland. She inspires hope and leaves her audiences moved and uplifted.

In her home town of Bellingen, Kym is founder the Bellingen Wilderness Youth Theatre – a unique rite of passage for young people, integrating wilderness treks with theatre and music to help teenagers develop a sense of place and belonging. This work is also a great source of musical and lyrical inspiration. Her songs and stories abound with images such as camel trekking through the Northern Flinders Ranges, waking in the dawn on the banks of the Cooper, sleeping under the big sky of ‘The Million Star Hotel’ and walking for days on end through remote wilderness.

‘Trunk Road’is an innovative and exciting line up of versatile musicians creating an energetic and moving contemporary folk/roots experience. Vic Manuel, Tim Hulsman, Chris Judd, Nina Grant, Will Pregnell and Kym Pitman

Million Star Hotel – CD review by John Williams

The CD opens with the title track. It shows off Kym’s beautiful voice to great effect and is a terrific beginning to the album. Who hasn’t enjoyed a night spent sleeping away from the city and staying in the million star hotel.

‘Take Away’ is a beautiful song about how you can take away everything we have but not the Earth.

‘Fragile and Free’ is an evocative song about the peace of mind we can find in the simple things of life. I really enjoyed it.

‘Bronzewing’ is another lovely track. I enjoyed it even more as I have been watching a pair of bronze wing pigeons raise their young in a tree in my front yard.

I also enjoyed ‘Spaces Between’, a song about a relationship and the need to slow down and work on it. ‘Hold you in a Circle’ is a plea to look after the world and maybe roll back some of the progress and return parts to a natural state.

Kym’s lyrics for ‘Sleeping Easy’ will strike a chord with anyone who feels stuck in the rat race and wishes for a simpler life.

‘Saltbush’ is a moving song dealing with thoughts of home.

‘Stormy Water’ is a beautiful song with Kym’s soft voice joining her meaningful lyrics to create a song to remember.

‘Big Old Tree’ is a yearning for the simple life of trees, rocks and swimming holes. I liked it a lot.

‘Every Day’ is a song of thanks for what we have in life. The CD finishes with ‘Yunnah’. I really liked the piano opening and Kym’s sensitive use of her voice.

This is a CD which is really easy to listen to, thought provoking and life affirming. I can recommend it to anyone who likes beautiful music, sensitive, well written lyrics and a lovely singing voice.