The Rhodes to singing success
Singer Kimmie Rhodes has an infectiously upbeat personality and an accent that is unmistakably Texan.
With a series of Ulster shows due to start next week, she is an easy-going conversationalist who likes to tell stories, and her country-tinged songs show a close link between the artist and the woman behind them.
Her latest record, Walls Fall Down, is a personal and intimate album which finds the dramatic moments in everyday life.
"This is the record I had in my head – it sounds like a group of friends playing music and it makes me happy listening to it," she said.
"It was a musical dream come true, and I'm very proud of it."
Recorded at home, with contributions from a range of musicians including Northern Ireland's Kieran Goss, the sessions had an easy-going feel with many songs completed in a single take.
"I've always said I'd rather have flaws and feeling, but this is perfect on every level, the planets lined up," she said.
This will be Kimmie's 14th solo record, and the one she feels is her best: "But I'm always happiest with the one I've just made," she added with a smile.
It has more of a lyrical edge than her previous records, which Kimmie said is a combination of the world around her and a growing desire to make music.
"If anything, I have more of an intensity now when it comes to songwriting, and I'm less inhibited," she said.
"I always thought it was better to stay out of politics, because it might polarise your audience, but I write about what's happening in my life."
Once of the incidents which moved her most in recent years was Hurricane Katrina.
"I watched in horror as that happened," she said.
But there's also frustration at the direction her home country is heading in, and the leadership of George W Bush.
"The song Your Majesty expresses my feeling about the current political climate, and the way America has lost the respect of the rest of the world," Kimmie said.
"It's like we have a dictatorship."
The record was a family affair, with Kimmie's husband, Joe Gracey, and her Son, Gabe, playing a role.
Kimmie's husband had his larynx removed 20 years ago and can no longer talk.
"Joe was just about to have a singing career and he got cancer from smoking and lost his voice.
"So let that be a lesson to anyone out there," she said.
Joe communicates with her on a small erasable slate – not unlike Magna Doodle, which brings its own challenges.
"When you have to put everything you say in a small space you have to edit yourself," Kimmie said, "Which can be frustrating, because Joe's a talker, like me."
Among other songs on the record is a cover of the Beatles' The Fool on the Hill, which Kimmie has recorded at her son's behest.
"It's not a song I would have thought of," she said, "but it just fell into place – I would have left it off the record if I didn't like how it sounded."
The new songs were inspired moments in time, taken from the point when the words and the melodies clicked.
Take Beautiful, for example, it's about Kimmie's grandson and happened in a moment when Kieran Goss was doodling on the guitar while she was doing the laundry at home.
"It happens when it happens," she said, adding that, while it may not be as rock and roll as the Rolling Stones, the songwriting technique definitely works for her.
Although politics and social commentary are apparent on the new record, the real goal of Kimmie's songs is to entertain.
"You can use music to send a message, but I think what people really want is to have a good time," she said.
And this philosophy continues into her live shows.
"I learned a lesson from Willie Nelson – someone asked him in an interview what he would like written on his gravestone," she said.
"He thought about it for a long time, and said: 'He gave people a great show and gave them their moneys worth'."
And that's what Kimmie is aiming to do when she performs across Northern Ireland next week.
"After people find a babysitter, get ready to go out, drive there and take the time to see you, a great show is the least they deserve."
Kimmie Rhodes will be performing at the Errigle Inn, Belfast, on April 16, The Market Place Theatre, Armagh on April 17, The Bronte Centre, Rathfriland on April 18 and the Adrhowen Theatre, Enniskillen, on April 19.
www.kimmierhodes.com
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Thursday 24 May 2012
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