Amythyst Kiah at The Freight

“She really is important in reminding people that there is a great tradition of African-American, old-time musicians.” — NPR

Singer-songwriter Amythyst Kiah taught herself how to play guitar at 13 and studied bluegrass and roots music at East Tennessee State University. Produced by Butch Walker (Taylor Swift, Green Day, Weezer) and recorded at his Nashville studio, Amythyst Kiah’s most recent album Still + Bright explores the vast expanse of her inner world: her deep-rooted affinity for Eastern philosophies and spiritual traditions, a near-mystical connection with the natural world, the life lessons learned in her formative years as a self- described “anime-nerd mall goth.” In dreaming up the backdrop to her revelatory storytelling, Kiah and Walker arrived at a darkly cinematic and exhilarating twist on the rootsy alt-rock of her 2021 breakthrough album Wary + Strange—an LP that landed on Rolling Stone’s list of the 25 Best Country and Americana Albums of 2021 and drew acclaim from major outlets like Pitchfork. With its sonic palette encompassing everything from fuzzed-out guitars and industrial- leaning beats to gilded pedal steel and Kiah’s exquisitely graceful banjo work, Still + Bright fully affirms her as an artist of both daring originality and uncompromising depth.

The latest turn in a dynamic career that’s included joining Our Native Daughters (an all-women-of- color supergroup also featuring Rhiannon Giddens, Leyla McCalla, and Allison Russell), Still + Bright emerged from a deliberate transformation of the songwriting process Kiah adopted after composing her first song on a Fender acoustic at age 13. To that end, the album marks her first time opening up her approach and working with co-writers, including punk legend Tim Armstrong, Sadler Vaden (a guitarist/vocalist for Jason Isbell’s 400 Unit), and former Pentatonix member Avi Kaplan. Although her third LP is an undeniable departure from the anguished emotionality of its predecessor (an album informed by losing her mother to suicide at age 17), Kiah imparts each track with a hypnotic intensity born from boldly stating her convictions. Revealing her rare ability to spin her fascinations into songs uncovering essential truths about human nature, Still + Bright ultimately affirms her as an artist of both daring originality and uncompromising depth.

You may also like the following events from The Freight:

• Next Monday, 28th July, 12:00 pm, Bobby McFerrin & MOTION: Circlesongs at The Freight in Berkeley
• Next Wednesday, 30th July, 08:00 pm, Skerryvore at The Freight in Berkeley
• Next Saturday, 2nd August, 08:00 pm, Third World at The Freight in Berkeley

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