Kim Richey

小簡介
俄亥俄州并不像是音樂的溫床，可是，如果你有個嬸嬸之類的在那里經營一家唱片店，你當然會得到幫助。這就是Kim Rickey如何走上這條路的——在一箱一箱的45轉唱片里盡力地挖掘，從Janis Joplin到Lovin' Spoonful。在高中時她開始玩吉他，到了大學開始較多地上臺演出。那個時候，她組建了一個樂隊，唱了很多和聲歌曲。大學畢業(yè)后，她到處游走，到過科羅拉多、華盛頓、南美、波士頓、歐洲，還偶爾到了納什維爾。在藍鳥咖啡館當廚師打零工并沒有對她結識那些自創(chuàng)作歌手的同好們有什么阻礙。
1988年，Richey在Nashville扎下根，開始磨練自己的創(chuàng)作技巧。她獲得了很好的聲譽，因為作為一個歌手，她能解釋歌詞，并給它們配上最棒的曲調，還一直帶著一種少有的誘人的樂觀的憂郁寫著歌。很快她與PolyGram公司簽了約，并與1995年發(fā)行了首張同名專輯《Kim Richey》（AMG 4.0）。
1997年，發(fā)行Bitter Sweet（AMG 4.0）；1999年發(fā)行Glimmer（AMG 3.0）。這三張專輯被標記為當代鄉(xiāng)村，但實際上卻是走著John Hiatt的那種音樂路線。由于Kim Rickey扭曲的抒情歌詞與節(jié)奏，與當年人們過多的拿她與Shawn Colvin相比。
直到1999年與制作人Hugh Padgham完成專輯Glimmer之時，她的聲音更偏向于流行音樂。2002年發(fā)行專輯Rise。與制作人Bill Bottrell一起，Rickey用受到普遍好評的配器使自己的聲音得到了充實，而這樣的配器對一個所謂的當代鄉(xiāng)村藝人來說則是不多見的；結果便是這張令人驚奇的精湛作品。
by Kelly McCartneyOhio might not seem like a hotbed of music, but when you have an aunt who owns a record shop, youve certainly got a leg up. Thats how Kim Richey got hooked on what would become her chosen path — digging through bins of 45s and listening to everything she could, from Janis Joplin to the Lovin Spoonful. In high school, she started playing guitar but didnt rack up much stage time until in college. That was when she started a band and sang a lot of harmony. After college, she did a lot of moving, to and through Colorado, Washington, South America, Boston, Europe, and occasionally Nashville. Serving a stint as a cook at the Bluebird Café didnt do much harm to pull her into the singer/songwriter fold. In 1988, Richey planted her roots in Nashville to really test that fold and hone her own songwriting craft. She built a reputation as a singer who could interpret a lyric and harmonize with the best of them, all the while writing songs with an optimistic melancholy quality that is unusual and alluring. Before too long, Richey was signed to PolyGram Records, releasing her eponymous debut in 1995. Bitter Sweet and Glimmer followed in two-year increments. All three albums were tagged as contemporary country but actually fall in step pretty close to John Hiatts brand of music making. Comparisons to Shawn Colvin have also run rampant over the years, due to Richeys cleverly twisting lyrical phrases and beats. By the time she made 1999s Glimmer with producer Hugh Padgham, her sound leaned even further toward the pop end of the spectrum. Cut to 2002 and the release of Rise. Teaming up with producer Bill Bottrell, Richey fleshed out her sound with worldly flavors of instrumentation, atypical for a so-called contemporary country artist. The result was mesmerizing and her most masterful work to date. A greatest-hits Collection arrived in 2004, followed by Chinese Boxes in the summer of 2007.