What a joy it is to ‘discover’ an artist by seeing them live! I’d heard many good things about Katherine Priddy, and was kicking myself for missing out on seeing her last show in the city (which, tellingly, sold out), so I bought tickets for this gig as soon as it was announced, back in February. But I deliberately didn’t seek out her music beforehand.
I was rewarded. Subtly accompanied by fellow guitarist George Boomsma, she opened her set with Indigo, which, for a song so rooted in nature, feels unsettlingly unearthly. It was a confident way to begin, Priddy’s lower-case singing and the song’s woozy chord changes forcing the audience to lean in and concentrate.
Alongside her impressive vocal control and classy guitar-playing, it turns out Priddy is a writer to get excited about. She continued with Wolf, inspired by Brontë’s Heathcliff and full of Wuthering Heights’ dangerous passion: “He is an ocean and I know I am the rocks on which he’ll break,” she sang. Her literary credentials were further proven with two songs inspired by Greek myths – Priddy hinted that the existence of Anaïs Mitchell’s Hadestown might put her off further explorations into that world: it shouldn’t. Eurydice evoked “the sound of the underworld” differently – and effectively.
Further songs were more personal, referencing Priddy’s love life, her lockdown-deepened relationship with her dad, and – in a brand new, as-yet-untitled song – her feelings about her ‘back home’ of Birmingham, and its many canals. Each subject felt freshly approached: I loved Isle of Eigg, which reflects upon a party and understands the value of details in storytelling. Like a lot of Priddy’s music, to the casual listener it might sound washed with regret, but the delicately picked guitar and bright, precise vocal brought out its sense, delicate and tiny, of joy.
With an unexpected sidestep into bawdy song, via the trad Wayward Boy, and a couple of country-inflected duets with Boomsma (more of those, please) Priddy brought the audience, previously pin-drop respectfully silent, out of its shell. Catch her if you can.
Annoyingly for you though, reader, that was the last night of the tour – not a great time to review, eh? Keep an eye on Katherine Priddy’s gig page here, though. There are lots of festivals, and she’ll surely hit the road again soon
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