Wary + Strange - Amythyst Kiah (2021)

Kiah has a great voice as well as playing a mean guitar (and banjo, though you don’t hear much of that here). I’d first heard of her playing with Rhiannon Giddens in Our Native Daughters, though she’d already been recording before that.

This is a blues record, but not a traditional one. The vulnerable and heartfelt lyrics stop you in your tracks in places, while the music seethes and burns. A really great accomplishment.

Tracks I Liked

Black Myself - a great tune. This is the same song on the Native Daughters record, but turned from that record’s banjo jam to an electric blues stomper here.

Wild Turkey - intimate and emotional

Tender Organs - almost psychedelic, with great organ, horn, and string parts.