kimo

Local Favorite Captures Pure Essence in Solo CD
There are many reasons why local singer/songwriter Kimo didn't have a CD until now, the least of which was having the music.
Kimo said recently that the release tonight of her self-titled CD is something that was a long time coming.
"I'm just getting my life together now, both personally and professionally," she said. "I had been waiting for (a recording) that was too perfect. That's never gonna happen. Finally I decided 'Let's do it raw.' ''
The sound Kimo and local engineer/producer Andy Fietek captured isn't what you normally associate with "raw." It's clear and clean, but does capture the pure essence of what you might hear if you saw Kimo live with just her guitar and her voice.
It's a change for Kimo, who said she decided to ditch the full band sound she had been experimenting with for the past few years in favor of a stripped-down approach.
The 12-song disc, released by local label Socyermom Records, shows the full spectrum of Kimo's songwriting over the past 10 years, from her beginnings in her home state of Texas to her most recent efforts.
"I was hoping to capture the rawness of my shows," she said. "Some songs were orchestrated in a way you wouldn't find at a show, but the intensity of vocals is there. It's raw in a sense, emotionally raw."
Songs like "Cross My Heart," "Excuse Me" and "Speak to Me" all capture a certain strength while being expressive, which is something Kimo said she wants to do with her music over all other things.
"I say what people don't want to say," she said with a laugh. "It's like where angels fear to tread. I'll say what's on your mind or I try."
- By Kenn Rodríguez -
Friday, January 12, 2001
- Albuquerque Journal

Kimo's debut folksy, suave
Bands come and bands go, but every town has a staple performer, one who stands the test of time with quality work and unyielding persistence. The local musician known simply as Kimo has outlasted many local bands and, after more than a decade of writing and performing, has completed her full-length debut CD Those Crazy Fallin' Down Things.
Kimo, a 28-year-old who grew up in Brady, Texas, started playing guitar and writing songs at around the age of 12. She began performing publicly after moving to Las Cruces, N.M., 10 years ago, and continued when she settled in Albuquerque a few years later. She has always worked as a soloist, with the exception of her involvement with the local band the Drag Kings, which only played one show, and a stint working with the members of now-dissolved The Meek in the project Kimo's Trousers.
Through the years Kimo has gained a dedicated fan following and her appeal was evident at her CD release party Friday night at the Launchpad. Fans turned out in droves to hear her set and the sets of local bands Nitrous Burning Cactus Tractor, Ileana and acoustic artist Jason Daniello.
Those Crazy Fallin' Down Things is the ninth official release by local label, Socyermom Records. Co-producer Leonard Apodaca, who is a co-founder of Socyermom Records, said working with Kimo was an easy job.
"Most of the songs she did in one take," Apodaca said.
The CD's 12 contemporary folk tracks are honed, suave and sharp with an emotional human aspect that anyone who has ever known love and the loss of it will find familiar. Her vocals flow, yet are exact and engaging, and her harmonies on the CD give a beautiful, somewhat haunting sensation to the songs.
Kimo reaches her audience by not only using pleasing melodies, but with intelligently-told accounts of events in her life. It's impossible to miss her intent and passion as the love songs are gripping and poignant in their simplicity and honesty. "Now my courage seems so far away, and I muster it up, I muster it up and I muster enough to say Baby it's me and I am scared I think I'm in the middle of what I most fear," she sings on the song "Baby It's Me."
"They (the songs) pretty much write themselves," Kimo said.
Interestingly, the song "Gravensteins," is her musical adaptation of the e.e. cummings poem of the same name.
"I had been in a writing slump for several months, and I opened the book and wrote what I saw," she said of her take on cummings' work.
Kimo recruited Albuquerque musicians to play on the song "Cross My Heart," which includes bass guitar by Bob Beckley, violin by Jennifer Rabie and drums and keyboards by Jonathan Washburn. Washburn is also featured on guitar, percussion and keyboards on the song "Excuse Me," and is the CD's second producer.
"(Kimo) writes solid songs; they're so good," Washburn said . . .
This CD is a striking package that validates Kimo's years of practice. Hearing her play live is always great, but this grouping of songs somehow makes Kimo seem less like the girl next door and more like a creative presence next door.
- Rachel Heisler; Culture Section, - 1/16/01
- Daily Lobo

The first time I heard Kimo, I couldn't believe that voice - that much unbridled passion and raw energy - came from such a gracious, unassuming source. Since then, Kimo has proved herself an inexhaustible wellspring of talent and artistry personified.

- Michael Henningsen; Music Editor,
- Weekly Alibi