Kaia Kater
Album: Sorrow Bound
Label: Kingswood
Tracks: 11
Website: http://www.kiakater.com

OK, it’s not often you come across a dreadlocked female banjo player, but Kaia’s one such. And her music proves as startlingly individual as her appearance. Born in Quebec of mixed Afro-Caribbean ancestry, Kaia now resides in Toronto and spends much of her time in West Virginia studying balladry and traditional dance. Her original songwriting, though musically steeped in the ancient Appalachian traditions, seeks to incorporate her perspective as one of the few people of colour in roots music (outwith Carolina Chocolate Drops, of course) into the complex racial history of those very traditions. Even so, 21-year-old Kaia’s music has a decidedly individual sound, one which I’m sure is destined to take the roots music scene by storm – it certainly blew my mind on just one hearing, much in the way that the Anna & Elizabeth album did a few months back (and coincidentally, Kaia also performs their Sun To Sun on this her debut CD).

Not only is Kaia an alarmingly adept banjo-picker, but she’s also an unbelievably fine singer, with a spirited and unusually assured delivery that’s already been compared favourably to Ola Belle Reed (I can sure hear what the guy meant – such is Kaia’s passion and dynamic control). Her a cappella version of Moonshiner (with Mélanie Brûlée and Jadea Kelly joining in on harmonies) is outstanding, and her take on the French-Canadian En Filant Ma Quenouille (remember this one from the McGarrigles’ French Record?) is pure enchantment, while the spectral harmonies of closing track Come And Rest really do stop you in your tracks.

I mentioned the unusual sound that Kaia conjures for this record; much of this is down to the presence of some instrumentation that’s not exactly customary in Appalachian-derived music – Chris Bartos introduces drones through the moog as well as contributing baritone electric guitar, six-string electric violin and five-string fiddle to the mix, imparting an eerie atmosphere to songs like West Virginia Boys and When Sorrows Encompass Me Round. On the latter, Kaia has taken that line from an old-time song as a springboard for a new lyric dealing powerfully with the themes of slavery and longing (Kaia really does have a special gift for this kind of writing and contextualising). Finally, in addition to the disc’s four original songs and Kaia’s individual arrangements of traditional songs, Kaia delivers three enticing instrumental tracks. All adding up to a special, and highly distinctive, record that’s proving real hard to wrestle off the CD machine right now.

David Kidman