Katie & The Curleys

Artist Information

Biography

Katie & The Curleys owe their existence to the chance meeting in the summer of 2011 of co-founders harpist/singer-songwriter Katie Brennan and multi-instrumentalist Curley, two country music enthusiasts who (unbeknownst to each other) grew up within a country mile of one another in and around Tacoma, Washington. After that initial meeting, where the idea of forming a band was proposed, Katie's longtime friend and percussionist Kevin Curley (formerly Kevin Sport) joined ranks and guitarist/lap steel player Ben Curley (formerly Ben Serby) followed shortly thereafter. Katie & The Curleys are currently trying out new material at club dates in New York City and hoping to record an album soon; there's even been talk of recruiting another Curley or two to join the band as a permanent member. Could that Curley be you?

Instrumentation

Katie Brennan - autoharp, harp
Brendan Curley - Banjo, Guitar, Piano, mandolin
Ben Serby - Guitar, Lap Steel
Kevin Sport - Drums

Discography

Slowly, self-release 2008

Links

• MySpace
• Gig Masters
• CD Baby
• Brooklyn Country
• Katie Brennan

Audio

• If We Were Whiskies
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Video

Photo Gallery

Press

• Katie Brennan at Pete's Candy Store, Brooklyn NY [+ Show ]
  

  The Pacific Northwest has been a fertile breeding ground for first-class Americana chanteuses of lat...The Pacific Northwest has been a fertile breeding ground for first-class Americana chanteuses of late: Neko Case and Carolyn Mark come immediately to mind. Add Katie Brennan to the list. The recently repatriated Washington native kept the crowd at Pete’s Saturday night rapt throughout her too-short 40-minute set. She lived here in New York for a couple of years, taking a stab at playing indie rock before finding her voice as a cleverly torchy siren. Her axe is the classical concert harp. While her new cd Slowly is a treat, it was fascinating to watch her onstage, singing as she plucked the strings effortlessly, just her and the harp.
  
  “This is like riding a pony,” Brennan groused, referring to the rental she’d brought to the club to play. “It’s so small.” Which was funny because Brennan is all of about five feet and a hundred pounds, if that. As well as she played, it was her vocals that impressed the most, showing off a spectacular range and ability to belt and wail, even way, way up in the stratosphere a couple of octaves from middle C. Vocally, her most gripping number was a spot-on cover of the great Joni Mitchell song All I Want: it’s essentially a jazz tune, and Brennan fearlessly reached back and pulled out all the stops in a bravura performance. By contrast, her cover of Walking After Midnight rivaled the Patsy Cline original for stark, resigned sadness.
  
  Live, Brennan’s version of the come-hither ballad Cherry Pie – from the new cd - came across as considerably more seductive. She also played several new numbers, among them an amusing country ballad possibly titled You’re Sweet Milk Gone Sour Gone Sweet Again, and another playful song about a missing pigeon, which she prefaced by explaining that she’d been asked to contribute some songs to a documentary about pigeons, but couldn’t get excited about it. Then, after the movie was done, she suddenly found the inspiration. The crowd insisted on an encore, and Brennan finally indulged them with another one from the new album, the winsome and witty country song If We Were Whiskies.
  
  The big surprise of the night was not onstage but outside the club where a doorman was sheepishly checking IDs. While this might come as a shock – and for longtime neighborhood residents, an indication that the place is going to hell – the guy at least wasn’t being Nazi about it. Considering how many spoiled suburban children have discovered Williamsburg in recent years, perhaps the doorman could actually be an asset in keeping the yuppie puppies out. Not that there weren’t a whole bunch inside already.

Setlist

Usual set lasts 45 minutes to 1hr

Basic Requirements

Calendar