Kathleen Hoye
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Kathleen Hoye

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""Delilah" Kathleen Hoye - Ear X-tacy (2000) - Rating: 8"

Kathleen Hoye is a singer/songwriter who was a member of Louisville KY's "elite". She is a good songwriter and an even better singer... Her vocals are deep and powerful. She'd be a great blues singer I think.

This collection of six songs (is that an EP or an Album, you decide) features some really good poems put to music... Hoye is a good poet and is one of the few out there who's poems make good songs. I sort of expected this to be a collection of "angry chick" songs ala.. Tori Amos, but was pleasantly surprised....

Let me start by saying, I love the package.... good photography, glossy presentation, good clear liner notes, and lyrics... Indies take note: This is the way a package SHOULD be done!

"Weight" kicks off this cd. It's a slow paced tune with a little bit of an R&B feel to it. Some outstanding vocal work and nice instrumentation make this song work. Her vocals are altered electronically to good effect to really capture the mood of this piece. Nice use of strings...

Next Hoye explores "The Poet Underneath". This is a little more of an "angry chick" song but minus all the cliche's of blaming all the men in her life for her problems. It's a good tune which changes frequently from slow paced to fast without losing any power... She really stretches out vocally more than on the prevous cut... there is also some good harmony on this one.

"Stricken" is one of her best written songs. When you read the lyric sheet it seems to be a rambling poem, but when you hear it. It is well constructed and becomes a really good song. She sings it well and the music really sets the mood. However the use of the drum loop in the verses makes them sound mechanical, but when the drummer kicks in on the chorus it's a good effect. Some nice electronic effects in the background...

"Catbird" is my favorite song on this cd. It kicks off with a straight up 70's guitar intro... and then it picks up from there... Unfortunately her vocals sometime get lost in the mix when the music gets louder.... looks like the engineer dropped the ball on this one..... but it does improve as the song goes on. Good climax and a cool ending. Production problems aside, this song rocks!

On "Gratitude" Hoye starts with a really good R&B feel but then shifts gear into a more pop sound to good effect. Some interesting instrumental work on this song....

The final track "Patricia's Song" is an acoustic piece with minimal instrumentation... Acoustic guitar (played by Hoye), upright bass, and a snare drum. It's a song that is so different in the way it's performed it really stands out from the lavish productions of the other cuts. It's got a nice groove to it, sort of country/blues. It comes across as bright and bouncy as compared to the darker sound of the rest of the cd... a good finish for a good collection...

I would like to have heard a few more songs on this cd. What there was was really good, but there just wasn't enough of it. I would like to have heard a few more bright songs like "Patricia's Song" on the collection, but what I heard leaves me wanting more... Buy it!
- community-2.webtv.net


"A Sensuous Power for the New Year"

Wow. I don't understand why all the Sarahs, Natalies, and Alanises are not opening concerts for this woman. This CD is powerful in the most sensuous of ways. The voice of Kathleen Hoye is like silk, yet it has enough power behind it to tow a car.
What I found in Delilah was a captivating listening experience, not just another recording. I can't listen to it in my car while driving because it takes away too much of my attention. I could get a ticket for DUILKH (Driving Under the Influence of Listening to Kathleen Hoye).
I hear several influences in the sound, but I cannot put my finger on any one of them and say, "She sounds just like (fill in the blank). The music is almost hauntingly familiar, yet you cannot remember where and when you first heard it. The arrangements of the songs are well executed, the string accompaniments are superb. Those credits go to producer Jeffrey Smith. The warm strings layered perfectly on top of an already beautiful piece in "Gratitude" are a good example of his work. In contrast, the very next song (and final tune on the CD) is a piece entitled "Patricia's Song" that is removed from the high-quality studio techniques. It is basic and bare with Hoye on acoustic guitar and vocals, Dave Barrick on snare drum, and Jeffrey Smith on upright bass. The song boasts the phrase, "Everybody has a shadow...even you." It proves to the listeners that all the studio stuff is helpful and nice, but ultimately not necessary.
The credit belongs to Hoye, a host of musicians credited on the album, and producer Jeffrey Smith. The end result is a piece that encompasses a number of different musical elements from a wide range of musical backgrounds. All these ideas came together to create the first must-have Louisville music CD of the year. - http://www.louisvillemusicnews.net/


Discography

Delilah

Photos

Bio

Kathleen Hoye, who grew up in Louisville, KY, began her songwriting "career" in Northern Ireland, singing and playing alongside a Belfast-based acoustic duet during and toward the end of the 1996 cease-fire. She returned to the U.S., in 1999, opening for relevant artists such as Paula Cole, Leon Russel, Gillian Welch, Patti Loveless, AJ Croce, Patti Griffin, and Iris DeMent. Her music, which has been alternately described as both vibrant and somber, has taken on many faces, influences, textures, and moods over the years.

Her first album, Delilah, was a crazy project, or in more descriptive terms "a point on a broad continuum between ambient mood music, white noise, and all-out alternative rock abandon." The lyrics are impressionistic rather than narrative, relying on archetypal imagery and the logic of dreams to explore themes of artistic struggle, addiction, release, spirit, and the solace of time.

Her second project, Unbridled, is a groovy, relaxed ride through songs that "will kill you pretty" and that "linger like a sweet kiss goodbye" according to one music critic. Here the songs are about love, horses, and the value of spending time alone.

Kathleen has always been intent on making artistic expression the focus of her life. She has studied voice formally since age 13 and has performed in a variety of vocal contexts, including choral ensembles, opera, folk, jazz, blues, and (of course), rock. Kathleen is now the proud mother of a four year old girl and has directed a lot of her creative energy to raising a child who loves to make up songs, draw, sing, and dance, as well as play a mean harmonica. Her new record will be released in Fall 2013 and she is gearing up for a regional tour with her new band.