Biography
RECENT HIGHLIGHTS:
**Opening for Loudon Wainwright III in Nov 2009
**Winner of the 61st Annual Ozark Folk Festival Songwriting Contest, Nov 2008
**Mountain Stage New Song Contest – Southeast regional finalist, Fall 2007
**Opened for Gretchen Peters and Sara Hickman at Memphis House Concerts
**Performed in December 2008 with Hall of Fame songwriter Matraca Berg and hit songwriters Deanna Bryant and Marcia Ramirez in Nashville
SEE VIDEO at: www.myspace.com/kimrichardsonmusic
"To share my songs and stories with folks who are looking to escape for a couple of hours is pure joy. And when I get a heartfelt note from a fan relaying how important one of my songs has been to them as they celebrate/mourn/contemplate/get dressed in the morning…that’s what this is all about." -Kim Richardson
A performing songwriter, who thrives on involving the audience, Richardson encourages her fans to "experience" her shows rather than just watch and listen. Her songs live with a lot of humor and attitude, accompanied by a percussive acoustic guitar. Based in Memphis, she tours throughout the SE and recently stretched her boundaries to Chicago, playing Uncommon Ground, to Baltimore and Minneapolis performing house concerts. She has also played the Bluebird in Nashville, The Grey Eagle in Asheville, the Arkansas Heritage and Blues Festival in Helena, and Memphis In May in (you guessed it) Memphis. Richardson was nominated for Female Vocalist of the Year by the Memphis chapter of the Recording Academy and recently was a regional finalist in the Mountain Stage New Song contest performing at Eddie’s Attic in Atlanta.
Though often portrayed in pop culture as being wielded by posturing men, guitars played professionally by women is an honored tradition that goes back at least as far as two legendary pickers, Mother Maybelle Carter in country music and Memphis Minnie in the blues. The 60s folk boom was a welcome corrective, as women artists such as Joan Baez, Buffy Ste. Marie, Joni Mitchell, Janis Ian and others utilized the acoustic guitar as a powerful and nuanced instrument to express their inner feelings.
Contemporary songster Kim Richardson is rightfully staking her claim to a place in line. Born on May 22, 1975 in Little Rock Arkansas, she got her first guitar at six in order to practice Bruce Springsteen rock star moves. The country music of Conway Twitty, Ronnie Milsap and Reba McEntire was also around and she played open mic nights in college. Ever the iconoclast, the only group she ever joined was the Memphis Troubadours (Three Chords and the Truth, 2001) though she sits in and guests regularly with friends. In the same year Richardson released her debut album, Up Until Now. - Dave Rubin, Staff Writer Guitar Edge Magazine
Instrumentation
Kim plays a Santa Cruz Model D acoustic guitar with D'Addario EJ16 strings while singing catchy, clever tunes. All this comes laced with intermittent moments of humor.
Discography
Tracks from True North currently spinning on:
WTBQ Hootenanny Cafe (NY), WSDL Just Folks (MS), WBGU Folk Show (OH), WGDR Acoustic Harmony (VT), WTUL Folk Show (LA), WSLR Our Kind of Folk (FL), KGLT Americana Backroads (MT), WRFL Hard Travelin' Revue (KY), plus more in the US, Canada, UK and Austrailia!
TRUE NORTH - Kim Richardson (2008)
UP UNTIL NOW - Kim Richardson (2001)
SANTA CAUSE - Various Artists (2004)
THREE CHORDS & THE TRUTH - Memphis Troubadours (2001)
Backing vocalist on:
AFTER THE LETTERS - Creede Williams
12 SONGS - Cory Branan
THE HELL YOU SAY - Cory Branan
ROSETTA, PLEASE - Dan Montgomery
LONG HARD ROAD - Bryan Hayes & The Retrievers
Links
| http://www.kimrichardsonmusic.com |