You might not think of Ohio as a hotbed of country music, but there’s a saying that there are more hillbillies in Ohio than people in West Virginia. I wouldn’t call Kim Richey a hillbilly, though; her take on country music leans toward the progressive and Americana end of the genre.
But Kim is as native of Ohio, as is Aaron Lee Tasjan, who accompanied her on electric guitar and backing vocals during her recent performance at Jammin’ Java, and together the duo made some fine country music.
In addition to sharing that Ohio connection, the two used to be neighbors in Nashville, and they met at a show sponsored by the legendary Bluebird Cafe. Aaron cowrote a number of songs and contributed vocals to Kim’s latest album, Every New Beginning, which was released in May on the Yep Roc label.
The duo played several of the new album’s songs at Jammin’ Java on Oct. 5. One of those songs was “Joy Rider,” a sort of theme song for a kid who rode around their neighborhood on a mini-bike, who has the exceptional name King Erwin. Introducing “Every New Beginning,” another song they wrote together (along with Brian Wright), Kim mentioned how they bonded over their love of pencils.
Watch Kim Richey perform “Joy Rider” live with Aaron Lee Tasjan on YouTube:
Richey said “Chapel Avenue,” which she wrote with Don Henry, was very dear to her because it’s “about my family and growing up.” She added, “We were free range,” which sparked memories of things I did that could never happen today, like how my next-door neighbor used to climb up on the roof of his garage and have me chuck firewood at him, which he would dodge or deflect. “
Richey began her set with “Every River,” followed by “Pin A Rose On it,” co-write (from an earlier album) with “my friend Chuck Prophet.” “Angel’s Share,” she explained is about the portion of whiskey that evaporates when it’s placed in a barrel to ferment. When she played “Take The Cake” in Britain, where she lived for a time, she learned the expression there is “take the biscuit,” but it’s “much easier to rhyme cake.” Other songs in her set included the title cut of Wreck Your Wheels, “Girl In A Car,” “This Love,” “Floating on the Surface” (which she wrote with Roger Nichols), “Chase Wild Horses,” and “That’s Exactly What I Mean.” Kim and her band eschewed leaving the stage before their final number, “I’m Alright,” on which she invited the audience to sing along, and they did.
Watch Kim Richey perform “I’m Alright” live for Eddie Owen Presents on YouTube:
Tasjan’s electric guitar work was a perfect complement to Richey’s acoustic strumming and her singing. With an acoustic guitar, the audience should be able to hear not just the notes, but the action on the strings. With an electric guitar, you don’t hear the strings the same way; the amplification makes that impossible. Unfortunately, it’s all too easy for an electric to overpower an acoustic guitar, so the audience doesn’t even hear the notes. Aaron’s playing was wonderfully restrained, so that both the notes and the plucking were audible, and it sounded lovely.
While Richey was tuning, Aaron was called on to entertain the audience with a story, and it turned out to be quite the groaner of a joke. He went on about how he asked his crush to his senior prom, and she said yes; then he went to the florist, and they had exactly one corsage left that matched her dress. When they got to the prom, Aaron asked her if she wanted some punch, and she said yes. He went to get the punch, and “there was no punch line.” “We had to hear it,” Kim said, “and we thought you should, too.” It’s not as bad as this joke I came up with: Why did the venture capitalist buy a pound of hamburger? Because he wanted to start a business from the ground up.
Richey’s new songs are as good as anything she’s done in her long career, which is to say they’re great. Her singing has always been fantastic, and she still sounds amazing. This was my first time seeing her with other players, and the guitar and bass provided just enough to fill out the sound without overpowering her voice and her lyrics. Kim’s show was the perfect way to wind down after a beautiful fall Saturday, and it filled me — and dare I say everyone in the audience that night — with warmth and joy.