Kim Wempe

Artist Information

Biography

“… When Kim opens her mouth she lets loose a powerful force pouring out her emotion with a style that has Janis Joplin written all over it….”

- Dan MacDonald, Cape Breton Post

"I hear Kim and it makes me want to listen to every word. She presents her music without apology and with an amazing amount of confidence. I like voices that are unique and are identifiable, and Kim's voice is that in spades. I hope she is making music for another hundred years."

- James Keelaghan

“Kim Wempe sings directly from the soul, and the result is incredibly powerful. She instantly draws you in with her voice, and holds you there with the strength of her performance and her songs.”

- Jill Barber


Live Performance Video at:

http://bit.ly/bvBq8J -"Oh Heart" Live at the 2010 ECMA's

http://youtu.be/P0m1y4CZIWs -"Coalition" Live at The Ironwood in Calgary, Alberta

Kim Wempe has a fight in her. From the second she opens her mouth, it’s not something that can be overlooked.

Some may call her vocals haunting and smokey, others may insist she is the child of Janis Joplin and sister of Adele, but the unique pull of her music is the quiet warrior you can hear seeping through her songs. You can hear the fearlessness in every strum. The minute her wide brown eyes fix themselves on the road ahead, there is no holding her back. Wempe is out to blaze her own trail and leave a slew of dropped jaws in her wake.

This is not the story of a fragile and sensitive singer songwriter. This is the story of a strong women with the urge to move mountains. This can be heard instantly when you listen to her LP Painting With Tides, and this is what keeps you coming back for more. The first single off the record “Chameleon” introduces you to the motto she lives by, “i felt the hard times ahead but i still sailed on” and preaches “and if you give it you better give it good… and if you take it dont take it back.”

This rare talent fueled by honesty has already turned heads from far and wide. Off the strength of her debut record, Wempe caught the attention of Joel Plaskett, Old Man Luedecke, Thom Swift, and Geoff Hilhorst of Deep Dark Woods – all of which who agreed to appear and collaborate on Painting With Tides. With producer Charles Austin (Buck 65, Jenn Grant, Tanya Davis) at the helm, the project turned in to a raw and organic affair lead by Wempe’s vision. In late 2010, GroundSwell Music released Painting With Tides for the public to hear. The album was nominated at the 2011 East Coast Music Awards for Female Recording of the Year and just earned two 2011 Music Nova Scotia Nominations.

Born in a small Saskatchewan farming town, Wempe lived for a period in Alberta before heading to Canada’s East Coast in 2007. After only three months in Nova Scotia, she realized that what once seemed a daunting and unplanned move turned out to be a blessing in disguise. She has peformed alongside Canadian favourites such as Royal Wood, Jill Barber, Jenn Grant, Amelia Curran, James Keelaghan, David Francey, Matt Andersen, Rawlins Cross, and Madison Violet. Winning both an East Coast Music Award and Music Nova Scotia Award for her 2009 release Where I Need to Be EP, it’s not hard to tell she’s on to something.

Kim’s undeniable talent has been showcased at JUNOFest, the Vancouver Olympics, Canadian Music Week and festivals across the East Coast including the Stan Rogers Folk Festival and Lunenburg Folk Harbour Festival. This Fall she will return to stages across the country, bringing her powerful live set to audiences coast to coast.


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Full Media Tools at http://kimwempe.com/media

Instrumentation

Kim Wempe - Vocals/Guitar

Discography

"Where I Need to Be" EP (2009)
Painting With Tides (September 2010 GroundSwell/Warner)

Links

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Last.fm
• MySpace

Audio

• Chameleon
  Listen  
• Painting With Tides (Live @ The Carleton)
  Listen  
• Oh Heart
  Listen  
• The Grave (Live @ The Carleton)
  Listen  
• Where I Need to Be
  Listen  
• Out of My Closet
  Listen  
• Oh Heart (Alternate Take)
  Listen  
• Warrior
  Listen  
• Painting With Tides
  Listen  

Lyrics

• Where I Need to Be
• Oh Heart
• Out of My Closet
• Chameleon
• The Grave
• Warrior

Video

The Making of Painting WIth Tides: The Recording Process

Photo Gallery

Press

• "Kim Wempe basks in a perspective of Canada like few of us have enjoyed by age 26, if ever." [+ Show ]
  

  You learn a lot about a performer by taking a quick look through their website. It provides a snapsh...You learn a lot about a performer by taking a quick look through their website. It provides a snapshot of what they’re all about – or it should.
  
  Coinciding with the theme of her full-length debut, Painting With Tides, kimwempe.com is adorned with rich graphics of the sea, ships under sail and a general feeling of the great wide open.
  
  Juxtaposed against this backdrop, brightly-coloured visuals of Saskatchewan wheat fields betray her landlubber status as a child of Huboldt – within spitting distance of Saskatoon. Yet her move to the east coast three years ago has clearly made a huge impact on her.
  
  Nobody knows better than Kim Wempe how similar a feeling you get from the expanse of the sea when compared to a never-ending crop field under a endless sky. It’s a sensation that can make you feel incredibly insignificant in the scheme of things, if not unbearably lonely. And yet the experience makes you feel incredibly alive, revitalized by all the potential it ultimately reveals.
  
  Her newfound home has only amplified her love of where she comes from. As a result, Kim Wempe basks in a perspective of Canada like few of us have enjoyed by age 26, if ever. And you can hear how deep down those roots are set across eleven heartfelt originals comprising the canvas of Painting With Tides. Some hues and shades hold more true than others while many of these impassioned compositions prove picture-perfect.
  
  Surrounded by like spirits and simpatico musical compatriots, Kim retains her authenticity and a voice all her own as she searches for the right combinations of sounds to add to her palette. She finds them on songs like the autobiographical “Roots” (strangely enough) – which fits her like a glove, joined by veterans Joel Plaskett, Geoff Arsenault and Brian Bourne; the sublime, painterly “Waves of Colour” – surely one of the best tracks – and the intimate, introspective “Warriors”.
  
  At the same time, she’s hardly shy – as “Rhythm Of The Road” underlines with its full-bodied assault and most memorable hook (co-written with Cape Breton’s Carmel Mikol). In addition to Mikol’s harmonic strengths, Rosie MacKenzie’s violin, Old Man Luedecke’s banjo and David Bradshaw’s mandolin coalesce with Thom Swift’s dobro, Dale Murray’s pedal steel and a sturdy cast of friends who contribute an undeniable east coast charm, rendering this disc a late-night friend and a Sunday morning staple.
  
  May the tides keep to their schedules, bringing us even more of their munificent bounty. Wempe has only just begun to blend her colours.

• "Wempe is an honest songwriter who sings from the soul with music that taps into the inner workings of the human condition – you can’t help but feel connected to every nuance and word...a full-length masterpiece." [+ Show ]
  

  In her bio Kim Wempe says, “The idea that by changing my view on things and choosing who I surround ...In her bio Kim Wempe says, “The idea that by changing my view on things and choosing who I surround myself with, I could become a better person and be happier. We don’t really have a lot of control over anything, but this we do”.
  
  Her first full-length, Painting With Tides, is supported by some of Canada’s best. Jill Barber and Justin Rutledge rave about her, she killed at the 2010 East Coast Music Awards and even took part at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and Juno-fest in St. John’s. Now it is time for the rest of Canada to catch-up.
  
  Opening track and first single, “Chameleon” features Joel Plaskett and fiddler Rosie MacKenzie; it is a bold way to start off the album, haunting yet simple and up-beat. What you take away from the track though is just how absorbing and powerful Wempe’s vocals are and you get a strong sense of what she is all about. With such a successful start you would expect her to follow some type of formula, not Wempe, she reveals layers and variations of roots music that are close to her heart.
  
  “Roots” begins as a solo track before blossoming like a prairie flower – full of colour and passion – as she reflects on her family, “My sisters are like mirrors/echoing the strength of my mother”. “Bring It Here” is the rocker of the bunch demanding “the kind of love that money can’t buy” while the slow barn-burner “Rhythm Of The Road” captures the spirit of a lifeline dedicated to the road.
  
  What makes Painting With Tides so enjoyable is that Wempe is an honest songwriter who sings from the soul with music that taps into the inner workings of the human condition – you can’t help but feel connected to every nuance and word. Simply put, a full-length masterpiece. (GroundSwell/Warner)
  
  Rating: 5/5 Stars

• "Her second release only solidifies that the talent captured in her first record wasn’t a fluke." [+ Show ]
  

  PAINTING WITH TIDES is an album about changes in life and how to deal with them—a subject that Kim W...PAINTING WITH TIDES is an album about changes in life and how to deal with them—a subject that Kim Wempe has explored beautifully. Her second release only solidifies that the talent captured in her first record wasn’t a fluke.
  
  The album’s opening track, “Chameleon”, paves the way for the rest of the album with its powerful lyrics and low-key melody. Each song is constructed from personal experience, which makes them all the more relatable. It can be enjoyed from start to finish as an autobiographical ballad. Wempe seems very capable of adapting her style to whatever will best portray her message. For example, “Painting With Tides” sways closer to country, while “Roots” is firmly planted in folk and “Chameleon” sings the blues.
  
  This release is for any fans of the masters who first mixed these genres, such as Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, or Janis Joplin. This is an exceptional album, and if you really love it, you can hear Wempe live at the Crowne Plaza on Oct. 15 and 16.

• "Kim Wempe sings directly from the soul." [+ Show ]
  

  “Kim Wempe sings directly from the soul, and the result is incredibly powerful. She instantly draws ...“Kim Wempe sings directly from the soul, and the result is incredibly powerful. She instantly draws you in with her voice, and holds you there with the strength of her performance and her songs.”

• "She pours out her emotion with a style that has Janice Joplin written all over it." [+ Show ]
  

  "When Wempe opens her mouth she lets loose a powerful force that DEMANDS to be listened to. She pour..."When Wempe opens her mouth she lets loose a powerful force that DEMANDS to be listened to. She pours out her emotion with a style that has Janice Joplin written all over it.”

• "Raw, honest, evocative and unique." [+ Show ]
  

  "Raw, honest, evocative, and one of those rare talents who can be called 'unique' in the true sense ..."Raw, honest, evocative, and one of those rare talents who can be called 'unique' in the true sense of the word."

• "Watch this one and expect great things!" [+ Show ]
  

  "Great songwriting meets soulful vocals. Kim Wempe's ability to deliver to an audience is refreshing..."Great songwriting meets soulful vocals. Kim Wempe's ability to deliver to an audience is refreshing and intoxicating. Watch this one and expect great things!"

• The U: Your Voice [+ Show ]
  

  "Kim Wempe is good. Seriously, she is really good and if you haven't heard of her it's because she i..."Kim Wempe is good. Seriously, she is really good and if you haven't heard of her it's because she is fresh and new and ready to blow your mind. She and friend Craig Lang are playing The Alcove Tuesday at 9pm and we suggest you check her out."

Setlist

Up to 2 x 45min. of original material including:

-songs from the 2010 East Coast Music Award Rising Star of the Year EP, "Where I Need to Be"

-songs from the 2011 East Coast Music Award Nominee for Best Female Solo Recording of the Year, "Painting With Tides"

Basic Requirements

Calendar