Sue Draheim, Chad Manning, Mary Pitchford, Irene Sazer: Fiddles
Tim Hart: Irish Whistle
Joe Bagale, Adam Rossi: Percussion
Adam Theis: Trombone
Mike Schiavaro: Electric Bass
Eric Chaffin, Jeanne Foss, Mary Pitchford, Kate Northcott, Tim Reagan: Background Vocals
Ken Lee: Mastering
Influences
Tom Waits (who is one of my heroes), Gillian Welch, Counting Crows, Radiohead, Lucinda Williams, Peter Gabriel, The Beatles, John Prine, Chabela Vargas, Ben Harper, Tom Petty, Leon Redbone, Transparent Knives, Danny Kaye, Rilke, Kerouac, Shakespeare, Keats, Johnny Cash. Those great live open mic folks at the Hotel Utah who put so much heart in their songs. Also, the bird that poured her silvery song into my childhood woods.
Sounds Like
Think of Joni Mitchell with a sometimes Tom Waits edge and Gillian Welch leanings.
HERE'S WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT KATHLEEN'S MUSIC
------- "Musical purity rarely found these days,” says Skott Freedman, reviewer for Indie-Music.Com. He writes, “There’s a purity in singer-songwriter Kathleen Dunbar’s voice rarely found these days . . . Reminiscent of Joni Mitchell’s early work, Dunbar’s Finally Home is a beautiful collection of 17 songs woven within the genres of folk, jazz, celtic, and country. . . You can tell she’s not just singing words here, she’s sharing a spiritual experience. That’s one of the reasons this album is so enjoyable, nothing’s put on here for show; it’s all believable. . . Dunbar’s debut album is to be applauded for its originality, cohesiveness, and polished musicianship. If this album were a book, I'd read it again and again from start to finish, each chapter introducing yet another dimension of Dunbar’s musical vision.”
------- Kris Larsen, reviewer for OnlineRock writes, "Kathleen Dunbar sings in a staccato falsetto that eerily recalls Joni Mitchell’s best work. Her voice is high, sweet and thin like a reed instrument, subsuming the sharper edges of words into a breathy trill. But unlike Mitchell, Dunbar doesn’t just stick to folk music on her new album, Finally Home. Her outstanding accompanists play all kinds of instruments: guitar, mandola, banjo, fiddle, Irish whistle, trombone. One track even features a theramin. Using their fierce and apparently endless instrumental talents as a backdrop, Dunbar travels from lilting Celtic-inspired tunes, to New Age-ish wailings, to chatty folk songs. . . . This is a great album by a talented musician who, like the heroine in 'Red Boots,' is going places fast."
------- “Kathleen is a bit of a conjurer when she sings – she's got some rich characters walking around in her brain and when she sings out they come and I don't usually get into the hocus pocus, but it’s kind of a magical thing. She's got such a beautiful voice and she's got a bit of the vibrato and she's equally adept whether she's singing a cappella or with her band.” – JJ Schultz, MC, Hotel Utah Open Mic.
RADIO STATIONS THAT PLAY KATHLEEN'S MUSIC:
Radio ZRO + Radio FM GOUD -- Belgium
Alooga Media -- Germany
TO PURCHASE THIS CD - ORDER FROM CD BABY:
OR ORDER THROUGH ITUNES.
ABOUT KATHLEEN The Gods of Music decided to have some fun one day, so they threw some Tom Waits, Jack Kerouac, Shelley and a little Gogol into a clay pot and set it bubblin’ away. From those mystical melodic vapors they conjured up a tall, lithesome muse named Kathleen Dunbar.
Known to audiences at the old Hotel Utah in San Francisco since 2003, as a child she started talking and composing poetry almost simultaneously. She would put on concerts in the attic of her house. Singing into the innards of an old coffee pot – a microphone, you see – she cooed songs like “Whisky, gin and wine, lost that gal of mine” to old 38s played on an ancient record player. The beginnings of a great songstress had laid their first seeds.
Years later, while still continuing to write poetry, she went on a walkabout through the Death Valley desert beseeching the spirits to help her “find her voice.” Her hope had been to find inspiration for a novel, instead the aforementioned Gods sent her two songs which she immediately sang and wrote down. They are on her new CD, Finally Home.
A collection unlike any other, Kathleen has combined in this CD elements of Folk, Bluegrass, Jazz, Cowboy, Celtic and Otherworldly chants and some just plain damn funny songs along with sometimes quirky – and always insightful – lyrics. Gawain Mathews, a celestial, magical being, helped her give birth to her CD. He produced it, and plays awesome guitar, mandola and banjo. There’s also some amazing, fiddle, irish whistle, bass and trombone playing – and even drumming on antique Griswold frying pans.
All original, all unique and all Kathleen Dunbar, your soul will glow and your funny bone will be tickled - guaranteed!
Hey Kathleen, I really like your songs. Very classy, and especially love your voice. A bit Patty Griffin I thought at first, but then it's a bit more subtle. Very beautiful, Eric
