Amythyst Kiah & Her Chest Of Glass- Amythyst Kiah & Her Chest Of Glass

Originally posted on Instagram, June 17th 2020.

A couple months ago, my songwriter friend Maiga Vidal opened my eyes to a major weakness in my record collection: a lack of blues records by female artists. As I've mentioned before, blues music as a genre was originally popularized by women, so this was a massive oversight. I decided to make a concerted effort to seek out more music by female blues artists, and I LOVE what I have found. This is one of my new favorites- 'Amythyst Kiah And Her Chest Of Glass'.

Amythyst Kiah comes from East Tennessee, and has a degree in bluegrass and old-time music. She started out as more of a traditional folk singer, and she's most recently been nominated for Grammys and Americana Awards for her work in the all-Black, all-female banjo supergroup Our Native Daughters. In between, in 2017, she made this EP, an electric blues record with backing band Her Chest Of Glass.

The hype sticker on this EP describes Kiah as having "a voice that will capture your heart and punch you in the mouth". I understood as soon as I heard the first notes of the opening song, "Trouble So Hard". Her voice is a powerful and beautiful contralto unlike any other I've heard sing the blues, and it enhances covers and original songs alike. (This record is about half and half.) Her choice to cover folk and country blues songs by Vera Hall, Rev. Gary Davis, and Precious Bryant reveals her interest in traditional music, but her modern, full-band arrangements make the songs her own. Her version of Vera Hall's "Another Man Done Gone" features a horn section and a verse where "when she feelin' alone, she take a shot of Patrón and put her high heels on."

The original songs on this EP are a similar mix of tradition and transformation. "Wildebeest" has a Kingfish-esque modern electric blues vibe and lyrics about a breakup that brings out the wild animals in people. The defiant, distorted electric guitar of "Hangover Blues" emphasizes Kiah's refrain of "If I could do it all over again, I'd do the same damn thing anyhow". "Myth" has the delicate, mystical quality of many Appalachian folk songs, but the expansive, string-laden production gives it a grander, cinematic scale. Pure mountain magic.