Kat La Key

Listening to this brilliant new album from Brisbane-based singer/songwriter KAT LA KEY is like a breath of fresh air. It’s a collection of 16 well-written, beautifully produced songs that you want to hear more than once, simply because they inspire you to do so. Edgy and rocky yet with distinctive country influences, it’s a pot-pourri of genres but it works superbly, all the while drawn together by Kat’s distinctive and stunning vocals. In The City was produced by renowned Canadian producer Tim Feswick and is set to stamp Kat la Key’s name strongly in the hearts of a legion of new fans. Tradin’ In My Old Man, the album’s first release, is a highlight along with Sure Do, Done My Dough, Turn Up The Sound and Dog House. Kat la Key has been described as the new cutting edge sound of Alternative Country, a sound that’s a pleasant experience indeed.
Review by Daryl Kirkup - Capital News January 2011 (Vol 36 No. 1)

KAT LA KEY
In The City album sampler
self released 2010 Posted by Mr H - Zeitgeist Edinburgh UK

It's been a whiles since we last heard from Australian country singer / songwriter Kat La Key. In fact, a quick trawl through the archives shows that it was the 2005 release "How Ya Like It..." that had me tapping my feet with pleasure.

This is album number five, and I've got five tracks to have a listen to. The opener, 'I'm City, He's Country' is an exteremely commercial, audience friendly tune with a great hook. It sets you up for a very enjoyable listen as Ms La Key aims straight for the Gretchen Wilson audience with her listenable voice, and way with a melody. She's held on to some rough edges, which keeps at bay the dreaded world of pop-country, and songs like 'Tradin' In My Old Man' and 'Done My Dough' will be spinning in your head for days.

For some reason, Ms La Key abandoned the Antipodes, and headed off to the land of my cousins, Nova Scotia, to record this album with producer Tim Feswick, and between them they've done a bang up job on the songs I've heard. The full album has 16 tracks, and if they're as good as the ones on the sampler, then country fans are in for a rare treat. http://www.the-rocker.co.uk/ - Mr H - Zeitgeist Edinburgh UK

KAT LA KEY : In The City
Kat se produit depuis 20 ans et a parcourul‘Europe, les USA et récemment le Canada.
Elle dit destiner ses 16 compositions dece 5ème album à ses fans en vue de les égayer et les sortir de leur torpeur. Elle yva donc de sa musique alternative et parmoments frénétique qui donne l‘impressiond‘être en discothèque. Aucun doute la-dessus en écoutant le rythme infernal et martelé de Sure Do (les mille façons de dire je t‘aime) et de Tradin‘ My Old Man (j‘échangerais bien mon pantoufl ard contre un actif !). Done My Dough (mieux vautêtre riche) est du même calibre sauf que par moments le violon de Ray Legere lui donne une sonorité cajun. Les pops et les pop rock
ne manquent pas, il portent des titres comme Leave You With A
Smile (on s‘aime mais on se quitte avec le sourire), This Kind Of
Love (“un amour comme le nôtre il n‘en existe pas deux“), Take The
Chance On Love (ne te décourage pas) et Dog House (je te taillerai,
toi mon diamant brut). Avec Terminal (impossible de t‘oublier) et
la chanson titre on entre carrément dans la techno. C‘est aussi le
cas de Damn (que tu es belle !) sauf que l‘atmosphère est si électrique
qu‘on a l‘impression d‘être sous une pluie d‘étincelles. Viennent
ensuite les musiques plus habituelles : le boogie dans Turn Up The
Sound, les rockabillies : He‘s The Man (mon père est l‘homme le
plus riche et le plus puissant d‘ici) et dans le genre sautillant I Don‘t
Give Up Easy. On commence à se calmer dans Chasing A Perfect
Day (bluesy rock) et on accède enfi n à la douceur dans Still Dream
Of You (les aiguilles tournent, les souvenirs reviennent et dans mon
sommeil je rêve de toi). L‘album contient néanmoins une très belle
country trottante, I‘m City, He‘s Country qui décrit l‘amour entre une
citadine et un rural mal dégrossi. Pour en savoir plus sur Kat consultez
son site www.katlakey.com ou écrivez lui :
PO Box 5248, Daisy Hill, Qld 4127
- Le Cri du Coyote Magazine - reviewed by Roland Lanzarone

“Although Kat’s music weaves and crosses over specific genres within the same album, it remains musically consistent.  This is because the common thread is her unmistakable voice and unique songwriting ability” - Tim Feswick (music producer)
- Tim Feswick

Brisbane-based singer/songwriter KAT LA KEY is refreshingly honest.

“It’s a risky thing to set out to go totally original, but having the attitude of ‘that’s the done thing’ and ‘that’s what works so don’t try anything new’ is not creative at all to me,” admits this talented artist. “That’s not what music should be about.”
Kat has just released her fifth album, In The City, featuring 16 self-penned tracks, and as the album’s producer Tim Feswick explains, “Kat’s music weaves and crosses over specific genres within the same album, it remains musically consistent. This is because the common thread is her unmistakeable voice and unique songwriting ability.”
Kat started writing and recording her original material as a child after moving to Perth from New South Wales as an eight year old. The spark to begin songwriting was ignited at school when, as a 14 year old, Kat penned a song for an environmental essay.
“I actually asked if I could write a song instead of an essay because I didn’t like writing essays!” laughs Kat, “So I wrote an environmental rap song called Battle Of Survival. The Principal loved it and it turned out that her son had friends who were in a band in Perth and they recorded it for me. It’s from that moment on I realised this is what I was meant to do.”
Kat’s musical dream has seen her travel throughout Europe, the USA and, most recently, Canada where her latest album was produced and recorded by renowned producer Tim Feswick.
“I’d heard a few albums that Tim had produced and had to get in touch with him,” Kat explains. “He works with every genre of music so, after 10 years of searching, he was the only producer who embraced my thoughts and ideas about my own music.”
Kat’s previous releases were very country orientated, but the direction towards country crossover began in the last five years. In The City has distinct country overtones, but with drum loops on some tracks, they are already being played on the nightclub scene in Halifax in Canada.
Her introduction to country music grew through an interesting avenue. “Country bands were actually the first to let me come up on stage and sing with them, even though I was a passionate lover of Rock n Roll,” said Kat “I loved ELVIS, ROY ORBISON and BUDDY HOLLY, but the chance to sing on stage only came about through the country bands at the time.”
Kat’s first release off the new album, Tradin’ In My Old Man, has received positive attention in various parts of the world, being described as the new cutting edge sound of Alternative Country.
One listen to In The City endorses this perfectly with tracks such as Sure Do, Done My Dough (her first single release in Canada), Turn Up The Sound, I’m City, He’s Country and Dog House being standout tracks.
Like so many songs before it, Dog House grew through an interesting tale. “The track Dog House was originally titled Dark Horse,” explains Kat, “but because of my Aussie accent when I sent the demo versions over to Tim, he heard it as Dog House, coming up with the solo to feature a stand-up Dog House bass, so I changed the title and just two words in the chorus. The song worked out better than I could have hoped with some great PINK FLOYD guitar on the track. In fact, all the members of Pink Floyd have signed the guitar that was used to play on Dog House!”
It’s been an amazing musical and personal journey for Kat la Key and, after honing her songwriting skills over the last decade, she is now in a position to place her name strongly in the hearts of a legion of new fans with In The City, and that is something this extremely talented lady richly deserves.
- Capital News Magazine Nov 2010 by Daryl Kirkup

Kat La Key proves Keith Urban isn't the only one down under with a country flare. One listen through In The City and listeners are bound to pick up that Kat's no one trick pony. Her sound's an array of styles from the rock of “He’s the Man” to the dance vibe of “Damn! (you’re so beautiful),” but all have country at heart. Speaking of dance, “Leave You with a Smile” is a duet that sounds like a song straight out of a John Hughes classic prom scene. Kat's heart definitely beats to its own drum time after time throughout and fans of Gretchen Wilson and Jo Dee Messina will love Kat's country girl with rough edges sound.

Track 1: “Sure Do” kicks things into gear on “In The City” A long, drawn out intro is absent and allows listeners to be hooked from the start when Kat's natural gift takes charge. This catchy country tune will have fans singing and clapping along in an instant.

Track 8: “I’m City, He’s Country” like “Sure Do,” starts things off right as it begins. It's a ladies anthem with amazing choruses that will set up camp in listeners’ minds.

Track 10: “In The City” is the title track tucked towards the end to remind listeners why they came on the Kat La Key journey. It's got a pop beat and country attitude fans of Carrie Underwood will enjoy.



- Reviewed by Kendra Beltran of Bryan Farrish Radio Promotions