WILDSANG • Sky Dirt Speak Out Truth (Wildsang 4.5 flowers, out of a possible five)
When I commented a while back on the scarcity of young black roots musicians, I fully expected, indeed hoped, to get jumped on by people saying “Shows how little you know if you’ve never heard of . . .” Didn’t happen, and it’s taken that long for me to flush out another, but on the other hand, she was worth the wait. Hillary Kay, whose grand uncle was King Oliver, father a classical composer and mother a one-time Freedom Rider, with her partner, harmonica player Kate Freeman, brings such a raw intensity to Delta and Piedmont blues that, willy nilly, she reignites the endless debate over blues authenticity. The fuel here is Ain’t No Strange Fruit, Kay’s radical reworking of the Billie Holiday classic, which could not possibly be performed by a white woman, and while rape and revenge (Josie), a young mother cast out by her family (Biscuits), or a woman abandoned by the father of her three children (My Baby), may sound race-neutral, Kay is quite clearly speaking from the black experience. A formidable guitarist, she and Freeman, who are in the process of moving to the Bay Area (I’m guessing there’s not a lot of call for a female blues duo in Coyote, New Mexico), stake out their territory with two covers, Howlin’ Wolf’s Smokestack Lightnin’ and Willie Dixon’s Spoonful, but it’s Kay’s originals, her passionate vocals and Freeman’s spot on dirty harp playing that make this a real find for anyone who’s given up on bar blues.
