I was reminded earlier when I posted about Mountain Stage of Kaki King. I saw her play this summer and was simply mesmerized by her playing.
There is a video on one of her CDs that I happened to copy to my laptop and I decided to play it. All the impressions of her playing came flooding back.
She’s so matter-of-fact in her video. She claims at one point to not even like guitar, although I can’t believe that.
Just one look at her playing and you just know that she’s someone who plays constantly. Plays for fun, plays to unwind, plays to think things through. She probably feels odd, or wrong, if she goes too long without a guitar. Nobody teaches guitar playing like what she does. She had to develop it by herself. That means hours and hours of just fooling around, experimenting, not practicing, but playing around…
She’s kind of a plain looking girl. Not that she couldn’t be pretty, or even isn’t in her own way, but she seems not place much importance in wardrobe or glamour. She’s more interested in being herself than what others want her to be.
You’ve got to admire that, especially in someone so young. It would be easy for a talent of her stature to get caught up by a manager/promoter who would want to “polish” her image and change her. It’s refreshing to see her go her own way and resist that. Kind of reminds me of another musician, Ani DiFranco.
If you’re not familiar with Kaki, check her out. I’m sure you might be able to find a sample of her music somewhere, I-tunes or something like that, or just pick up a CD. I guarantee, it’s something that you have never heard before. There are very few guitar players even close to this style. And by all means, if you have a chance, go see her live. The sound is only half the experience. You need to see her play to fully appreciate it.
