Wednesday September 28 2005

KIMYA DAWSON / STRAND OF OAKS / CHIHIRO / T-BONE STEAK @ the marquee

Wonderful singer-songwriter Kimya Dawson returns to Norwich on Wednesday September 28. When she last played for MQP in January 2004 she had everyone enthralled with her touching songs. Expect another intimate show that should be every bit as good.

While acclaimed New York anti-folk duo Moldy Peaches take a hiatus, founder member Kimya has been busier than ever, releasing four solo albums and touring constantly "in a mission to embrace the whole world" and connect with as many people as possible.

(Adam Green, former frontman of the Moldy Peaches was due to play Norwich Arts Centre only a few days later - but his tour has been postponed to next year as he is called back to finish work on his next LP — so you can't collect set in a week)

Kimya's tender and often heart-breaking songs, are performed so simply and intimately, sung through a smoker-toned tongue, that you feel as though they are being whispered into your ear by your best friend, like a dream, and your mother is singing you asleep.

Before she left America, Kimya initiated Relief Through Music — a scheme to help teens displaced by Hurricane Katerina cope with life a little easier. She wants CDs and mixtapes to distribute to those who lost everything, and while in the UK is collecting anything suitable you wish to pass on to be sent across the Atlantic.

Tour support is Strand of Oaks, a trio from Philadelphia, who take the simplicity of a folk song as a starting point and build it into a larger moment — an idea rich in musical and emotional complexities, yet sparse enough to allow breathing space for genuine tenderness (featuring guitar, banjo, bass, keys, drums). This is their first UK tour.

Local support comes from Chihiro, winners of UEA campus radio station competition Livewire:Unsigned earlier this year, whose experimental vocals, electronic effects and sedate approach contribute to their unique sound. T-Bone Steak opens the show.

* The Marquee, Cattle Market Street. Doors 8pm, admission £5.

www.kimyadawson.com
www.strandofoaks.com