Kimberley MacGregor

With a title like I Am My Own, you might expect an album filled with anthems about inner strength. Singer/guitarist Kimberley MacGregor doesn’t disappoint with her latest soul-blues effort. It’s forceful but not intimidating — her songs tend to slowly sizzle their way into your soul. “I’m OK, I’m OK / Can’t take that away, take that away from me,” she warbles on I’m Okay, a languid number warmed by the twangy notes glinting off a slide guitar.

“I’m going to exorcise my demons and I’m going to be free,” MacGregor asserts on Building a Case, as a loping horse of a bass line guides her through a storm of percussion. “I am not here to fade away and disappear / And I am not here to live up to your desires,” she drawls on the album’s most overt girl-power track, I Am Not Here, featuring the defiant rhymes of hip-hop artist Tzadeka.

While MacGregor didn’t record I Am My Own on her own — she’s deftly assisted by slide guitarist Nathan Burns, bassist Harry Gregg, and drummer Geoffrey Hamdon O’Brien — she’s the star of this album. Her nimble voice, which helped her win two Edmonton Music Awards in June, could be a line of BBQ sauces, ranging from bittersweet (Bigger) to smokin’ (Trouble) to extra spicy (Go, Duty).

MacGregor celebrates the release of I Am My Own on Saturday, Oct. 17 at Big Al’s House of Blues, 15004 Yellowhead Trail. With openers Tzadeka and Concealer. Tickets are $12 plus service charges at yeglive.ca. - Sandra Sperounes - Edmonton Journal

A routine drive sparked a mantra that would become the focal point of Kimberley MacGregor’s new album.

The Edmonton musician was on her way home from work when “bros in trucks” cut her off and ran her out of her spot on the road several times.

The lyrics to the song I Am Not Here wrote themselves in her head while she was behind the wheel: “I’m not here to get out of your way, I’m not here to give up the space that I take.”

MacGregor will release her new album at Big Al’s House of Blues (15004 Yellowhead Tr.) Saturday night.

The track, which features hip hop artist Tzadeka, was born out of frustration and became what she deems a “women’s declaration song.”

“I sort of dug into a lot of the messages that I grew up with as a girl, and messages that I think a lot of women are inundated with in our culture about what makes them good, or what makes them valuable.

“Even today I think women are still kind of brainwashed to think their value lies in what they are to someone else, not in themselves. Not, ‘I’m going to have a great life because I’m going to do kick-ass things and make something of myself,’ but that I’m going to be great because I’m going to be such a good mom or such a good wife – these functions that I can offer someone else, versus being something great for me,” MacGregor says.

“It’s not about hating on anything, it’s just about taking your power back.”

The rest of the album, titled I Am My Own, follows a similar theme.

Just a few years ago, MacGregor was playing in six bands at once, with little time to spend on herself.

Her first solo album True was a genre-spanning effort consisting largely of break-up songs, with backing by a dozen members of her other bands. Complete with horns and organs, True won MacGregor two Edmonton Music Awards and set her on a new path.

Now she is focusing on herself, and her own work, with new-found confidence.

“I’ve been single for the last three years, I haven’t even dated, and all of the songs are just me doing me,” she says, then abruptly stops to laugh at her choice of words.

“That’s not what I meant! It’s just me reckoning with myself. Reckoning is a clean word, I can go with that.”

The bluesy rock tinge on I Am My Own shows a stripped-down – er, less bombastic approach. Driven by MacGregor’s electric guitar wailing, the album reflects her personal and musical growth with backing from Nathan Burns, Harry Gregg and Geoffrey Hamdon O’Brien.

I Am My Own Has been lighting up folk, roots and blues charts on college radio stations across Canada.

The video for the song Nicer, Gentler features MacGregor by herself in a bed, in the middle of a farmer’s field, getting visibly emotional as she sings.

She insists, however, that she’s not as great an actor as one might think.

“I got stung by a wasp while I was filming. So if it looks like I’m emotional it’s because I got stung by wasps. And also because they used mirrors to light my face – it was 31 C and they were using giant mirrors,” she laughs.

“I actually literally could not open my eyes without streams of tears pouring down my face.”

Tzadeka and Concealer are also on Saturday’s bill. Advance tickets are $12 through yeglive.ca - Kevin Maimann - Edmonton Sun

Edmonton based singer-songwriter Kimberley MacGregor is preparing to release her sophomore record I Am My Own this coming fall, but to give you a taste before the full-length drops, Exclaim! has got the premiere of her brand new single "Trouble."

It's a weighty blues-rock number, replete with crunchy guitars, sturdy percussion, and MacGregor's gritty, soulful wails. The singer's bio states that the she "precariously crafts and passionately performs songs that will move your heart, change your mind and stomp your feet" — and none of that has been lost with the arrival of "Trouble."

I Am My Own is due out in October. For now, get the anticipation building with a first listen to "Trouble" in the player below.

http://exclaim.ca/music/article/kimberley_macgregor-trouble - Sarah Murphy - Exclaim.ca

It is nice to be pleasantly surprised when I go to a show.
So I was impressed for several reasons, Sept. 19. First, the Owl was packed, standing room only for a show, which seems to be happening more lately.

Secondly, I was blown away by Edmonton blues musician Kimberly MacGregor’s massive, dusky voice. Unfortunately I only caught the last few songs if her band’s set which attracted a lot of new fans.

Most of whom were there for local rock band the Silkstones, who got some attention from new Lethbridge radio station the Bridge 98.1. It’s great to see such support for local acts.

MacGregor's band played some energetic, passionate blues music enhanced by a steel guitar.

The Silkstones, who I usually know as more of an indie-rock band, also showed they have a taste for the blues, at least for the first couple of songs.
They followed that up with a solid set of earnest indie-rock.

— By Richard Amery, L.A. Beat Editor - Richard Amery - L.A. Beats

By: Amanda Hather

Album – I Am My Own
Download Link – https://kimberleymacgregor.bandcamp.com/album/i-am-my-own
Release Date – October 17th, 2015
Genre – Roots/ Soul

‘I Am My Own’ is Kimberley MacGregor’s sophomore album. The Edmonton based singer/songwriter won Female Artist of the Year as well as R&B/Soul Recording of the Year at the Edmonton Music Awards earlier this year.

The twelve track release showcases her powerful and impressive voice and song writing skills. The songs on the album go perfectly together but also
differ from each other to make them all unique. “Go” is one of the slower songs on the album and has an echo to some of the vocals that allows them to blend nicely with the music. “I’m Okay” is another favourite of mine off the album and shows off her vocal range. “Favours” is a bit more upbeat compared to “Go” and “I’m Okay” and will have your toes tapping and head nodding along.

I had not previously listened to anything by Kimberley MacGregor but after listening to this album I’m going to have to change that. Be sure to check this album out for yourself and you won’t want the twelve songs to end either.

Rating: 4/5 - Amanda Hather - Canadian Beats

Reaching the Top 10 on !earshot’s Folk/Roots/Blues charts, Kimberly MacGregor’s I Am My Own is a story of relationships gone awry. MacGregor sings like she’s had her heart broken a few times, both by lovers and friends. “I Am My Own” is the diary that recorded the heartache, told with a powerful, yet vulnerable voice.

From hearty tracks like “Go”, that are heavy on gritty riffs and dramatic crescendos, to solemn declarations like “it’s time to love the skin that I’m in” in “Be There”, she tells us how she really feels with a no-holds-barred soulful style.

On “I’m Okay” she reveals her softer side, reassuring us that she’s “going to be just fine…cause when the going gets tough sometimes the wise will get moving on to the better stuff.”

Macgregor also wears her political heart on her sleeve. With “I Am Not Here” featuring Tzadeka, she addresses the issue of violence against women, and gives victims a voice as characters in this ode to women. This track is a highlight in the album, lyrically and musically, experimenting with spoken word. “I am not here to get out of your way…for you to erase…to be the daughter you desire…”

I Am My Own is an earnest and thoughtful follow-up to her 2014 debut album, True, which earned her the Female Artist of the Year and R&B Soul Recording of the Year at the Edmonton Music Awards.

By Eileen Mendez
Dec 19, 2015 - !earshot