McGuckin Entertainment PR - Music

For Immediate Release
Jan. 31, 2007

Aussie Songstress Kara Grainger at 2007 International Folk Alliance Conference, Memphis
10:30 p.m. Friday, February 23, Memphis Stage, with band
12:30 a.m. Friday (early Saturday), February 23, Tunesmith Room, solo
8:30 p.m. Saturday, February 24, Room 205, with band
10:30 p.m. Saturday, February 24, Tunesmith Room, solo

KARA GRAINGER
COMPLETES DEBUT ALBUM
FOR CRAVING RECORDS

Australian Singer-Guitarist to Tour Musical Heartland
with Shows During Folk Alliance in Memphis

AUSTIN, Texas — Kara Grainger, Aussie songstress and guitarist, has finished recording her debut full-length album, GRAND AND GREEN RIVER, a collection of blues-roots-pop songs for Aussie label Craving Records, and she’s off to visit America’s musical pulse points with solo and full-band showcases at the upcoming International Folk Alliance Conference in Memphis and shows in Nashville and Austin.

Grainger’s shows (backed by her band and solo) at the Folk Alliance are scheduled for 10:30 p.m. Friday, February 23, on the Memphis Stage (Australian Showcase) in the Cook Convention Center (with the band); 8:30 p.m. Saturday, February 24 in Room 205 (Blues Showcase); and (solo) 12:30 a.m. Friday and 10:30 p.m. Saturday in the Tunesmith Room.

Backing Grainger’s work on lead guitar (acoustic, electric and slide) will be Mark Jordan (Bonnie Raitt, Van Morrison) on keyboards, Chris Kent and David Kalish (Rickie Lee Jones) on bass, and Calvin Turner on drums. Kalish played on the new album and was its producer.

While GRAND AND GREEN RIVER is slated for limited release by Craving Records this spring in Australia behind Grainger’s tour there opening for Blue Note artist Amos Lee — with whom she shares a soulful duet on the album — the label is seeking a licensing agreement for U.S release of the album. Its anticipated first single, Charlie Terrell’s “I Dreamed I Was the Devil,” features Grainger’s bluesy voice, a New Orleans groove and a gangsta organ in a fantasy about pulling off a heist.

When Grainger plays Memphis, she’ll do that number as well as “Cannot Be Denied,” a song co-written with Kalish with a sweet, down-home flavor about not fighting the ways of love and nature that features her pure vocal tones and skilled acoustic guitar.

The play list includes the emotionally charged “Sky is Falling,” which Grainger wrote after a catastrophic fire and breakup sent her home and which features a slide guitar masterfully played, and an update of the love and loss anthem “Secret Soul,” a fan favorite and EP from Grainger’s earlier days that earned a nod in Billboard’s 2005 international songwriting competition and spins on BBC Radio 2.

Grainger got her musical start playing guitar in several bands during secondary school in the working-class suburb of Balmain in Sydney, Australia. She became a regular at the city’s premiere music venue, The Basement, and while guitarist-vocalist for the Steve Prestwich band Cold Chisel, she was featured in both the ABC-TV series “Live at The Basement” and the band’s extended DVD release.

As lead singer and guitarist of Papa Lips with her brother, Mitchell, the band played all of the continent’s major music festivals, toured its east coast and recorded two CDs. With the band’s name changed to Grainger, it recorded two EPs and traveled to perform on Country Music Television. Solo, Grainger’s experience includes performing in Japan, opening for Eric Johnson at LA’s House of Blues and across Australia, opening for Little Feat and Robyn Ford there, and opening for Russell Crowe at House of Blues.

Grainger’s upcoming gigs include an appearance in Nashville: February 21 on “Americana Tonight” at the Douglas Corner Café. She also will play several showcases in March in Austin during SXSW Music & Media Conference.

Interview times are available as well as press kits and review CDs.
To listen to MP3s and to download hi-res images, album art and more, visit:
http://www.mcguckinpr.com/mcguckin/karagrainger/karagrainger.htm
Also see www.karagrainger.com, www.cravingrecords.com

Contact: McGuckin Entertainment PR
Heidi Labensart, 512.478.0578; heidi@mcguckinpr.com
Jill McGuckin, 512.217.9404; jill@mcguckinpr.com

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Artist Information:
Bio
Fact Sheet
Recording Credits
[Link] [PDF]
Craving Records

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Jan. 31, 2007