Kaki King
Encyclopedia
Kaki King is an American
guitarist and composer
. King is known for her percussive and jazz-tinged melodies, energetic live shows, use of multiple tunings on acoustic
and lap steel guitar
, and her diverse range in different genre
s.
In February 2006, Rolling Stone
released a list of "The New Guitar Gods," on which King was the sole woman and youngest artist (beating Derek Trucks
in age by two months as the youngest on the list). In addition to a 10-year career that includes five LP
and two EP albums, King has also scored
music for television and film. She worked alongside Eddie Vedder
and Michael Brook
contributing music for the soundtrack
to Sean Penn
's Into the Wild
, for which the trio received nominations for a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score
.
at the age of four and played for several years, but after taking up the drums
a few years later, they became her primary instruments as an adolescent.
Convinced that her break in music would come from drumming, King played in bands in high school
with classmate Morgan Jahnig, who would later become the bassist of Old Crow Medicine Show
. On graduating from The Westminster Schools
in Atlanta in 1998, the two friends attended New York University
. While there, King picked up the guitar again, and revisited the finger-style techniques that intrigued her as a child. While at NYU she studied with Dr. Bill Rayner, an accomplished professor of guitar. From there, King played a few occasional gigs and busked
in the New York subways.
. She incorporated finger-style "fanning," with both flamenco
style percussion and fret tapping
techniques, as well as using double open tunings
, viola
tunings, and traditional Russian guitar
(7th tunings). On April 22, 2003, Everybody Loves You was released to positive reviews and feedback on King's skills as a guitarist in relation to her age. While her later work involves more of a band format, Everybody Loves You is King's only fully acoustic guitar
album, with the exception of light singing on the hidden bonus track, "The Government." To support the album, King embarked on her first major promotional tour in North America.
After King appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien
, Sony Records offered her a deal with Epic records
' Red Ink label. From there, King headed back into the studio to work on her sophomore effort, Legs to Make Us Longer
. King began to incorporate different instruments and sound effects into her album, such as looping
, light drum work on "Doing the Wrong Thing", and her first incorporation of Lap steel guitar
with "My Insect Life." Produced by David Torn
, Legs to Make Us Longer was released on Epic's Red Ink Imprint on October 5, 2004 to strong reviews. In support of the album, King performed as an opening act for Eric Johnson
during a leg of his 2005 tour, as well as completing her own nationwide and world tour.
. Released August 8, 2006 on Velour Records, the album features production work by Tortoise
's John McEntire
. With the prominence of electric guitar
, shoegazing
and effect boxes on the new record, and the addition of a full band, the music website AV Club called the sound a "post-rock makeover
." She supported the album by going on tour with Sarah Bettens
from K's Choice
.
Dave Grohl
invited King to appear as a guitarist on the track "Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners", a song penned by Grohl for the upcoming studio album by the Foo Fighters
. King agreed and is credited on the album, entitled, Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace
, released on September 25, 2007. On November 18, 2007, she joined Dave Grohl
on stage to perform the track at the O2 arena
in London. Grohl highly praised King's performance:
King toured with the Foo Fighters on the Australia
n leg of the Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace tour. While on tour, King finished recording what became the Day Sleeper (Australian tour EP). It was released in late 2007, after King had finished work on August Rush
, and with Eddie Vedder
and Sean Penn
on Into The Wild
.
to help with her newest effort, Dreaming of Revenge
, and in December 2007 wrote about it in her blog: "I finished the new album. Don't get your panties in a tangle, it won't be released until next year, but it's done. And it's amazing." Filled with more melodic pop tunes
than previous albums, Dreaming of Revenge
was released on March 11, 2008 to highly positive reviews. On March 4, 2008, iTunes
released a full version of Dreaming of Revenge featuring the bonus track "I Need A Girl Who Knows A Map". After filming a video for Pull Me Out Alive, she began her tour.
In the first half of King's tour, she headlined at The Roxy and toured with The Mountain Goats
, which led to the exclusive release of Kaki King and The Mountain Goats EP Black Pear Tree EP
. While touring Australia in 2008, King filmed part of the music video Can Anyone Who Has Heard This Music Really Be A Bad Person? in Sydney. Directed by Michael Ebner, the rest of the video was completed in New York in 2009. After completing the last leg of her world tour, King decided to tour once again with a strictly acoustic show. Dubbed 'The "No Bullshit" Tour', King did smaller shows throughout the US and UK that were specifically focused on acoustic works from her first albums along with stripped-down versions of her newer songs.
After completing her "No Bullshit Tour," King scored work on the independent film How I Got Lost
, and started to record her next EP, titled Mexican Teenagers EP
. Recruiting her band that she used from Dreaming of Revenge
, King cut five new tracks for her new album.
to start work on the scoring for The Twilight movies, and completing work on Timbaland
's Shock Value II
, (which became Miley Cyrus
' "We Belong To The Music") King began to outline her ideals for her 5th record. King's interest in Cold War
novels, Russian spies and espionage
themes, particularly that of double spies living in a double life, became the basis for her new album, Junior
. Ranging from "lyrically from exuberance and anger to heartbreaking melancholy, and sonically from experimental pieces to accessible pop," Junior showcases her further maturation as a well-rounded artist that continues to defy categorization and expectations.
As with her previous album, 2008's Dreaming of Revenge, Junior
was produced by Malcolm Burn
and recorded at his studio in Kingston, New York. But in contrast to that record, which was marked by deep textures and layers as well as unusual instrumentation, Junior was specifically made with only three musicians in mind—in this case, King, multi-instrumentalist
Dan Brantigan and drummer Jordan Perlson. The result was something more direct. "Prior to this I would have written a lot in the studio and played all the instruments myself," King says. "This time, I really leaned on Dan and Jordan to help shape the songs and help me get the record written."
King toured for five weeks in Europe in support of her LP Junior, on the Cooking Vinyl label
. She later appeared as the musical guest on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
, sitting in with The Roots
as a part of the house band
, and began a US-based tour.
When asked by Premier Guitar Magazine what her plans were after completing her tour, King responded "I've been on the road for four months straight. In another three weeks, we’ll be done with this tour. Honestly, that's about as far as I can see."
, dojo
, a custom 7-string nylon string guitar with fanned fret board, and a hybrid between a guitar and koto
that King made herself. Before beginning the tour, King performed with some of these instruments at the opening of an exhibit of Picasso's guitar paintings at the Museum of Modern Art
in New York. The tour began on February 24 in Mexico City and ended on July 23, 2011 in Italy
's The Con
.
King's fingerstyle playing combines fret-tapping
with slap bass
techniques, using the guitar for percussive beats, as well as sound layering and looping
. Her playing style has been compared to Michael Hedges
and Preston Reed
, the latter of whom she explicitly cites as an influence.
King uses Elixir Strings
, particularly the Acoustic Light Guitar Strings on her custom Ovation Adamas guitar, and is a featured artist on the company's website.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
guitarist and composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
. King is known for her percussive and jazz-tinged melodies, energetic live shows, use of multiple tunings on acoustic
Acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
and lap steel guitar
Lap steel guitar
The lap steel guitar is a type of steel guitar, an instrument derived from and similar to the guitar. The player changes pitch by pressing a metal or glass bar against the strings instead of by pressing strings against the fingerboard....
, and her diverse range in different genre
Genre
Genre , Greek: genos, γένος) is the term for any category of literature or other forms of art or culture, e.g. music, and in general, any type of discourse, whether written or spoken, audial or visual, based on some set of stylistic criteria. Genres are formed by conventions that change over time...
s.
In February 2006, Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
released a list of "The New Guitar Gods," on which King was the sole woman and youngest artist (beating Derek Trucks
Derek Trucks
Derek Trucks is a Grammy Award-winning, American guitarist, songwriter, and record producer. He founded The Derek Trucks Band and worked as a session musician when he was still in his early teens. Throughout those teenage years, he toured with The Allman Brothers Band primarily as a slide...
in age by two months as the youngest on the list). In addition to a 10-year career that includes five LP
LP record
The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...
and two EP albums, King has also scored
Film score
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film, forming part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects...
music for television and film. She worked alongside Eddie Vedder
Eddie Vedder
Eddie Vedder is an American musician and singer-songwriter who is best known for being the lead singer and one of three guitarists of the alternative rock band Pearl Jam. He is widely considered a cultural icon of alternative rock.He is also involved in soundtrack work and contributes to albums...
and Michael Brook
Michael Brook
Michael Brook is a Canadian guitarist, inventor, producer, and film music composer. He plays in many genres, including rock, electronica, world music, minimalism and film scores....
contributing music for the soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
to Sean Penn
Sean Penn
Sean Justin Penn is an American actor, screenwriter and film director, also known for his political and social activism...
's Into the Wild
Into the Wild (film)
Into the Wild is a 2007 American biographical drama film directed by Sean Penn. It is an adaptation of 1996 non-fiction book of the same name by Jon Krakauer based on the travels of Christopher McCandless across North America in the early 1990s. The film stars Emile Hirsch as McCandless with...
, for which the trio received nominations for a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score
Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score
The Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score is one of several categories presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association , an organization of journalists who cover the United States film industry, but are affiliated with publications outside North America, since its institution in 1947...
.
Childhood and early life
King was born the first of two daughters. While still a small child, her father noticed her natural musical ability, and encouraged her interest in music. She was introduced to the guitarGuitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
at the age of four and played for several years, but after taking up the drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
a few years later, they became her primary instruments as an adolescent.
Convinced that her break in music would come from drumming, King played in bands in high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
with classmate Morgan Jahnig, who would later become the bassist of Old Crow Medicine Show
Old Crow Medicine Show
Old Crow Medicine Show is an old-time string band based in Nashville, Tennessee. Their music has been called bluegrass, Americana, and alt-country, in addition to old-time. Along with original songs, the band performs many pre-World War II blues and folk songs...
. On graduating from The Westminster Schools
The Westminster Schools
The Westminster Schools is a private school in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Founded in 1951 and tracing its origins to 1878, Westminster has the largest endowment of any non-boarding school in the United States...
in Atlanta in 1998, the two friends attended New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
. While there, King picked up the guitar again, and revisited the finger-style techniques that intrigued her as a child. While at NYU she studied with Dr. Bill Rayner, an accomplished professor of guitar. From there, King played a few occasional gigs and busked
Busking
Street performance or busking is the practice of performing in public places, for gratuities, which are generally in the form of money and edibles...
in the New York subways.
Career
After signing with Velour Records in 2002, King began recording her debut album, Everybody Loves YouEverybody Loves You
Everybody Loves You is the debut album by American guitarist Kaki King, released in 2003 .-Track listing:All tracks written by Kaki King#"Kewpie Station" – 2:14#"Steamed Juicy Little Bun" – 2:01#"Carmine St." – 3:15...
. She incorporated finger-style "fanning," with both flamenco
Flamenco
Flamenco is a genre of music and dance which has its foundation in Andalusian music and dance and in whose evolution Andalusian Gypsies played an important part....
style percussion and fret tapping
Tapping
Tapping is a guitar playing technique, where a string is fretted and set into vibration as part of a single motion of being pushed onto the fretboard, as opposed to the standard technique being fretted with one hand and picked with the other...
techniques, as well as using double open tunings
Guitar tunings
Guitar tunings almost always refers to the pitch of the open string, though some tunings may only realistically be attained by the use of a capo on an unmodified instrument....
, viola
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
tunings, and traditional Russian guitar
Russian guitar
The Russian guitar is a seven-string acoustic guitar that arrived in Russia toward the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 19th century, most probably as an evolution of the cittern, kobza, and torban...
(7th tunings). On April 22, 2003, Everybody Loves You was released to positive reviews and feedback on King's skills as a guitarist in relation to her age. While her later work involves more of a band format, Everybody Loves You is King's only fully acoustic guitar
Acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
album, with the exception of light singing on the hidden bonus track, "The Government." To support the album, King embarked on her first major promotional tour in North America.
After King appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Late Night with Conan O'Brien is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien that aired 2,725 episodes on NBC between 1993 and 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and musical and comedy performances. Late Night aired weeknights at 12:37 am...
, Sony Records offered her a deal with Epic records
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...
' Red Ink label. From there, King headed back into the studio to work on her sophomore effort, Legs to Make Us Longer
Legs to Make Us Longer
Legs to Make Us Longer is the second album by American guitarist Kaki King, released in 2004 .The songs "Frame" and "Doing the Wrong Thing" were featured in the film Into the Wild .-Track listing:...
. King began to incorporate different instruments and sound effects into her album, such as looping
Music loop
In electroacoustic music, a loop is a repeating section of sound material. Short sections of material can be repeated to create ostinato patterns...
, light drum work on "Doing the Wrong Thing", and her first incorporation of Lap steel guitar
Lap steel guitar
The lap steel guitar is a type of steel guitar, an instrument derived from and similar to the guitar. The player changes pitch by pressing a metal or glass bar against the strings instead of by pressing strings against the fingerboard....
with "My Insect Life." Produced by David Torn
David Torn
David Torn is an American composer and guitarist.He is known for the organic blending/manipulation of electronic and acoustic instruments and performance techniques that have an atmospheric or textural quality and effect, along with a particular harmonic richness...
, Legs to Make Us Longer was released on Epic's Red Ink Imprint on October 5, 2004 to strong reviews. In support of the album, King performed as an opening act for Eric Johnson
Eric Johnson
Eric Johnson is an American guitarist. Though he is best known for his success in the instrumental rock format, Johnson regularly incorporates jazz, fusion, gospel and country and western music into his recordings...
during a leg of his 2005 tour, as well as completing her own nationwide and world tour.
Change in musical style and sound
At the end of her tour for Legs to Make Us Longer in 2005, King departed from her previous musical direction, out of a desire to escape being pigeonholed as a solo instrumental artist. She amicably parted ways with major label Sony/Epic and returned to her original label, Velour, to begin work on her third album ...Until We Felt Red...Until We Felt Red
-Personnel:* Kaki King – guitars, vocals and things* John McEntire – drums and things* Dan Brantigan – flugelhorn* Katie Cassidy – harp* Matt Hankle – drums* Fred Lonberg-Holm – cello* Dan Mintzer – drums...
. Released August 8, 2006 on Velour Records, the album features production work by Tortoise
Tortoise (band)
Tortoise is an American post-rock band formed in Chicago, Illinois, in 1990.-Music:Tortoise's almost entirely instrumental music defies easy categorization, and the group gained significant attention from their early career. The members have roots in Chicago's fertile music scene, playing in...
's John McEntire
John McEntire
John McEntire is an American recording engineer, drummer and multi-instrumentalist. He is best-known for being in Tortoise and The Sea and Cake, as well as being a highly in-demand producer and engineer....
. With the prominence of electric guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
, shoegazing
Shoegazing
Shoegazing is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged from the United Kingdom in the late 1980s. It lasted there until the mid 1990s, with a critical zenith reached in 1990 and 1991...
and effect boxes on the new record, and the addition of a full band, the music website AV Club called the sound a "post-rock makeover
Post-rock
Post-rock is a subgenre of rock music characterized by the influence and use of instruments commonly associated with rock, but using rhythms and "guitars as facilitators of timbre and textures" not traditionally found in rock...
." She supported the album by going on tour with Sarah Bettens
Sarah Bettens
Sarah Bettens is the lead singer of the Belgian band K's Choice. Sarah and her brother Gert Bettens are the two popular faces of the band. She is known for her enigmatic, smoky voice. The band is popular in Belgium, the Netherlands and France, and had toured in the U.S...
from K's Choice
K's Choice
K's Choice is a Belgian rock band from Antwerp, formed in the mid-1990s. The band's core members are siblings Sarah Bettens and Gert Bettens . They are joined by Eric Grossman , Thomas Vanelslander , Reinout Swinnen and Koen Liekens...
.
Dave Grohl
Dave Grohl
David Eric "Dave" Grohl is an American rock musician, multi-instrumentalist, and singer-songwriter who is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter for Foo Fighters; the former drummer for Nirvana and Scream; and the current drummer for Them Crooked Vultures...
invited King to appear as a guitarist on the track "Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners", a song penned by Grohl for the upcoming studio album by the Foo Fighters
Foo Fighters
Foo Fighters is an American alternative rock band originally formed in 1994 by Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl as a one-man project following the dissolution of his previous band. The band got its name from the UFOs and various aerial phenomena that were reported by Allied aircraft pilots in World War...
. King agreed and is credited on the album, entitled, Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace
Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace
The album debuted at the top of the UK album chart, selling 135,685 albums in its first week. The album also went platinum in its first week in both Australia and New Zealand. In the U.S., it entered the Billboard 200 album chart at #3, selling 168,000 copies in its first week, and has since been...
, released on September 25, 2007. On November 18, 2007, she joined Dave Grohl
Dave Grohl
David Eric "Dave" Grohl is an American rock musician, multi-instrumentalist, and singer-songwriter who is the lead vocalist, guitarist, and primary songwriter for Foo Fighters; the former drummer for Nirvana and Scream; and the current drummer for Them Crooked Vultures...
on stage to perform the track at the O2 arena
O2 arena
O2 Arena may refer to:*The O2 Arena the arena within the O2 in London.*The O2 , an entertainment complex built within the former Millennium Dome, North Greenwich, that contains the arena.*O2 World in Berlin*O2 World in Hamburg...
in London. Grohl highly praised King's performance:
King toured with the Foo Fighters on the Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n leg of the Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace tour. While on tour, King finished recording what became the Day Sleeper (Australian tour EP). It was released in late 2007, after King had finished work on August Rush
August Rush
August Rush is a 2007 drama film directed by Kirsten Sheridan and written by Paul Castro, Nick Castle, and James V. Hart, and produced by Richard Barton Lewis.-Plot:...
, and with Eddie Vedder
Eddie Vedder
Eddie Vedder is an American musician and singer-songwriter who is best known for being the lead singer and one of three guitarists of the alternative rock band Pearl Jam. He is widely considered a cultural icon of alternative rock.He is also involved in soundtrack work and contributes to albums...
and Sean Penn
Sean Penn
Sean Justin Penn is an American actor, screenwriter and film director, also known for his political and social activism...
on Into The Wild
Into the Wild (film)
Into the Wild is a 2007 American biographical drama film directed by Sean Penn. It is an adaptation of 1996 non-fiction book of the same name by Jon Krakauer based on the travels of Christopher McCandless across North America in the early 1990s. The film stars Emile Hirsch as McCandless with...
.
Further changes in sound
King recruited Malcolm BurnMalcolm Burn
Malcolm Burn is a Canadian-born music producer, recording engineer and musician. In 2001, he won a Grammy Award with Jim Watts and Emmylou Harris for his work on Harris's Red Dirt Girl. -Biography:...
to help with her newest effort, Dreaming of Revenge
Dreaming of Revenge
Dreaming of Revenge is the fourth album by the American guitarist Kaki King, released in 2008.A recent interview regarding the album can be found here: The album was leaked on February 22, 2008, less than a month before its official release....
, and in December 2007 wrote about it in her blog: "I finished the new album. Don't get your panties in a tangle, it won't be released until next year, but it's done. And it's amazing." Filled with more melodic pop tunes
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
than previous albums, Dreaming of Revenge
Dreaming of Revenge
Dreaming of Revenge is the fourth album by the American guitarist Kaki King, released in 2008.A recent interview regarding the album can be found here: The album was leaked on February 22, 2008, less than a month before its official release....
was released on March 11, 2008 to highly positive reviews. On March 4, 2008, iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
released a full version of Dreaming of Revenge featuring the bonus track "I Need A Girl Who Knows A Map". After filming a video for Pull Me Out Alive, she began her tour.
In the first half of King's tour, she headlined at The Roxy and toured with The Mountain Goats
The Mountain Goats
The Mountain Goats is an American indie rock band formed in Claremont, CA by singer-songwriter John Darnielle. For many years, the sole member of the Mountain Goats was Darnielle himself, despite the plural moniker....
, which led to the exclusive release of Kaki King and The Mountain Goats EP Black Pear Tree EP
Black Pear Tree EP
Black Pear Tree is an EP by The Mountain Goats and Kaki King, released in 2008 as a vinyl only and tour only EP. Track 6's title is a reference to Super Mario Bros.-Track listing:#"Black Pear Tree" – 3:46#"Mosquito Repellent" – 2:49...
. While touring Australia in 2008, King filmed part of the music video Can Anyone Who Has Heard This Music Really Be A Bad Person? in Sydney. Directed by Michael Ebner, the rest of the video was completed in New York in 2009. After completing the last leg of her world tour, King decided to tour once again with a strictly acoustic show. Dubbed 'The "No Bullshit" Tour', King did smaller shows throughout the US and UK that were specifically focused on acoustic works from her first albums along with stripped-down versions of her newer songs.
After completing her "No Bullshit Tour," King scored work on the independent film How I Got Lost
How I Got Lost
How I Got Lost is a 2009 American film that premiered at the Newport Beach Film Festival, the St. Louis International Film Festival and Austin Film Festival. It was written and directed by Joe Leonard, and stars Aaron Stanford, Jacob Fishel, and Rosemarie DeWitt. The film was scored by Golden Globe...
, and started to record her next EP, titled Mexican Teenagers EP
Mexican Teenagers EP
Mexican Teenagers is an EP by American Guitarist Kaki King released in 2009.- Track listing :- Personnel :* Kaki King: guitar* Matt Hinkle: drums* Dan Brantigan: Electronic EVI Synth...
. Recruiting her band that she used from Dreaming of Revenge
Dreaming of Revenge
Dreaming of Revenge is the fourth album by the American guitarist Kaki King, released in 2008.A recent interview regarding the album can be found here: The album was leaked on February 22, 2008, less than a month before its official release....
, King cut five new tracks for her new album.
Junior
After meeting with Carter BurwellCarter Burwell
Carter Benedict Burwell is an American composer of film scores.-Life and career:Burwell was born in New York City, the son of Natalie , a math teacher, and Charles Burwell, who founded Thaibok Fabrics, Ltd...
to start work on the scoring for The Twilight movies, and completing work on Timbaland
Timbaland
Timothy Zachery Mosley , better known by his stage name Timbaland, is an American record producer, songwriter and rapper....
's Shock Value II
Shock Value II
Shock Value II is the third solo studio album, from American record producer Timbaland serving as the second volume of the platinum-selling Shock Value which topped charts worldwide and received 16 platinum certifications....
, (which became Miley Cyrus
Miley Cyrus
Miley Ray Cyrus is an American actress and pop singer-songwriter. She achieved wide fame for her role as Miley Stewart/Hannah Montana on the Disney Channel sitcom Hannah Montana....
' "We Belong To The Music") King began to outline her ideals for her 5th record. King's interest in Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
novels, Russian spies and espionage
Espionage
Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
themes, particularly that of double spies living in a double life, became the basis for her new album, Junior
Junior (Kaki King album)
-Critical reception:-Personnel:*Kaki King – guitars, vocals*Jordan Perlson – drums*Dan Brantigan – multiple instruments...
. Ranging from "lyrically from exuberance and anger to heartbreaking melancholy, and sonically from experimental pieces to accessible pop," Junior showcases her further maturation as a well-rounded artist that continues to defy categorization and expectations.
As with her previous album, 2008's Dreaming of Revenge, Junior
Junior (Kaki King album)
-Critical reception:-Personnel:*Kaki King – guitars, vocals*Jordan Perlson – drums*Dan Brantigan – multiple instruments...
was produced by Malcolm Burn
Malcolm Burn
Malcolm Burn is a Canadian-born music producer, recording engineer and musician. In 2001, he won a Grammy Award with Jim Watts and Emmylou Harris for his work on Harris's Red Dirt Girl. -Biography:...
and recorded at his studio in Kingston, New York. But in contrast to that record, which was marked by deep textures and layers as well as unusual instrumentation, Junior was specifically made with only three musicians in mind—in this case, King, multi-instrumentalist
Multi-instrumentalist
A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays a number of different instruments.The Bachelor of Music degree usually requires a second instrument to be learned , but people who double on another instrument are not usually seen as multi-instrumentalists.-Classical music:Music written for Symphony...
Dan Brantigan and drummer Jordan Perlson. The result was something more direct. "Prior to this I would have written a lot in the studio and played all the instruments myself," King says. "This time, I really leaned on Dan and Jordan to help shape the songs and help me get the record written."
King toured for five weeks in Europe in support of her LP Junior, on the Cooking Vinyl label
Cooking Vinyl
Cooking Vinyl is a UK-based independent record company, founded in 1986. Its original orientation was toward contemporary folk music—notably Billy Bragg, and Michelle Shocked's Texas Campfire Tapes, recorded on a Sony Walkman, one of its first releases...
. She later appeared as the musical guest on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jimmy Fallon on NBC. The show premiered on March 2, 2009, as the third incarnation of the Late Night franchise originated by David Letterman....
, sitting in with The Roots
The Roots
The Roots is an American hip hop/neo soul band formed in 1987 by Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. They are famed for beginning with a jazzy, eclectic approach to hip hop which still includes live instrumentals...
as a part of the house band
House band
For the British band that existed from 1984-2001, see The House BandA house band is a group of musicians, often centrally organized by a band leader, who regularly play an establishment. It is widely used to refer both to the bands who work on entertainment programs on television or radio, and to...
, and began a US-based tour.
When asked by Premier Guitar Magazine what her plans were after completing her tour, King responded "I've been on the road for four months straight. In another three weeks, we’ll be done with this tour. Honestly, that's about as far as I can see."
Traveling Freak Guitar Show
King returned to her roots as a solo acoustic performer in 2011, going on her first tour without a backing band since 2005. King planned a tour with a collection of 7 rare instruments including a harp guitarHarp guitar
]The harp guitar is a stringed instrument with a history of well over two centuries. While there are several unrelated historical stringed instruments that have appropriated the name “harp-guitar” over the centuries, the term today is understood as the accepted vernacular to refer to a particular...
, dojo
Dojo (instrument)
The dojo is a hybrid instrument designed as a cross between the Dobro-style guitar and the banjo. The body and resonator are like the Dobro, while it is strung like a five-string banjo. The tunings and fingerings are also just like a banjo...
, a custom 7-string nylon string guitar with fanned fret board, and a hybrid between a guitar and koto
Koto (musical instrument)
The koto is a traditional Japanese stringed musical instrument, similar to the Chinese guzheng, the Mongolian yatga, the Korean gayageum and the Vietnamese đàn tranh. The koto is the national instrument of Japan. Koto are about length, and made from kiri wood...
that King made herself. Before beginning the tour, King performed with some of these instruments at the opening of an exhibit of Picasso's guitar paintings at the Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
in New York. The tour began on February 24 in Mexico City and ended on July 23, 2011 in Italy
Guitar Art Show
In 2009, King conceived of an art show in which twelve different artists would be commissioned to create visual pieces themed after her songs, using the guitar as the primary artistic medium. As King described it, "What I want to do is to meet twelve amazing artists, give them each a blank guitar, and let them go wild creating anything their heart desires. The theme of each piece would be the title of one of my songs". The final total came to fifteen distinct pieces which were then put on display for a one night exhibition at The Littlefield in Brooklyn. During the exhibit, King provided her own contribution by covering her hands in pink paint and performing her song, 'Playing with Pink Noise', leaving the guitar covered in pink finger prints.Style, techniques and instruments
As a long-time Ovation player, King was invited to design her own custom guitar, the result being the Adamas 1581-KK model. Each guitar is signed by King, and she can be seeing playing it often on tour and in The DVD for Tegan And SaraTegan and Sara
Tegan and Sara are a Canadian indie band composed of identical twin sisters Tegan Rain Quin and Sara Keirsten Quin . Both Tegan and Sara play guitar and keyboard and write songs.-History:...
's The Con
The Con (album)
The Con is the fifth studio album by Canadian rock duo Tegan and Sara, released on July 24, 2007...
.
King's fingerstyle playing combines fret-tapping
Tapping
Tapping is a guitar playing technique, where a string is fretted and set into vibration as part of a single motion of being pushed onto the fretboard, as opposed to the standard technique being fretted with one hand and picked with the other...
with slap bass
Slapping
In music, the term slapping is often used to refer to two different playing techniques used on the double bass and on the bass guitar.-Double bass:...
techniques, using the guitar for percussive beats, as well as sound layering and looping
Music loop
In electroacoustic music, a loop is a repeating section of sound material. Short sections of material can be repeated to create ostinato patterns...
. Her playing style has been compared to Michael Hedges
Michael Hedges
Michael Alden Hedges was an American composer, Acoustic guitarist and singer-songwriter.-Background:...
and Preston Reed
Preston Reed
Preston Reed is an American fingerstyle and tapping guitarist.- Biography :Preston Reed learned guitar as a child on his father's guitar and, for a short time, classical guitar with a too-severe teacher. When he was 16 his interest was rekindled by Jorma Kaukonen's acoustic guitar-playing in Hot...
, the latter of whom she explicitly cites as an influence.
King uses Elixir Strings
Elixir Strings
Elixir Strings, manufactured by W. L. Gore & Associates, are strings for electric, acoustic, and bass guitars as well as banjo and mandolin. Elixir strings are noted for their patented coating that extends the strings' life and tone by blocking damage from elements like skin oil; however, they are...
, particularly the Acoustic Light Guitar Strings on her custom Ovation Adamas guitar, and is a featured artist on the company's website.
Discography
- Everybody Loves YouEverybody Loves YouEverybody Loves You is the debut album by American guitarist Kaki King, released in 2003 .-Track listing:All tracks written by Kaki King#"Kewpie Station" – 2:14#"Steamed Juicy Little Bun" – 2:01#"Carmine St." – 3:15...
(2003) - Legs to Make Us LongerLegs to Make Us LongerLegs to Make Us Longer is the second album by American guitarist Kaki King, released in 2004 .The songs "Frame" and "Doing the Wrong Thing" were featured in the film Into the Wild .-Track listing:...
(2004) - ...Until We Felt Red...Until We Felt Red-Personnel:* Kaki King – guitars, vocals and things* John McEntire – drums and things* Dan Brantigan – flugelhorn* Katie Cassidy – harp* Matt Hankle – drums* Fred Lonberg-Holm – cello* Dan Mintzer – drums...
(2006) - Day Sleeper (Australian tour EP) (2007)
- Dreaming of RevengeDreaming of RevengeDreaming of Revenge is the fourth album by the American guitarist Kaki King, released in 2008.A recent interview regarding the album can be found here: The album was leaked on February 22, 2008, less than a month before its official release....
(2008) - Black Pear Tree EPBlack Pear Tree EPBlack Pear Tree is an EP by The Mountain Goats and Kaki King, released in 2008 as a vinyl only and tour only EP. Track 6's title is a reference to Super Mario Bros.-Track listing:#"Black Pear Tree" – 3:46#"Mosquito Repellent" – 2:49...
(2008) (With The Mountain GoatsThe Mountain GoatsThe Mountain Goats is an American indie rock band formed in Claremont, CA by singer-songwriter John Darnielle. For many years, the sole member of the Mountain Goats was Darnielle himself, despite the plural moniker....
) - Mexican Teenagers EPMexican Teenagers EPMexican Teenagers is an EP by American Guitarist Kaki King released in 2009.- Track listing :- Personnel :* Kaki King: guitar* Matt Hinkle: drums* Dan Brantigan: Electronic EVI Synth...
(2009) - JuniorJunior (Kaki King album)-Critical reception:-Personnel:*Kaki King – guitars, vocals*Jordan Perlson – drums*Dan Brantigan – multiple instruments...
(2010)