Listening to Chloe Kay sing is an exercise is managing one’s expectations; that is not the voice you expect to hear coming from that young woman. It’s a voice that, like her ever-present vintage garments, harkens back to another time and place.
Kay’s music is soulful, bluesy and belies not only her young age, but her origins: dude, she’s from freakin’ Australia! As a native Texan who is probably 30 years her senior, I was, and continue to be, shocked at her depth of musical knowledge, as well as her taste. I mean, we have the same virtual playlists in our heads.
“I grew up listening to Marvin Gaye, Free, Bob Dylan, and The Supremes among many others,” she said. “I always had a deep appreciation and affinity for soulful music.”
And then comes her discovery of the Blues. For me, Stevie was the gateway, but so much of his stuff was from Albert King, which one learns in reverse.
For Kay’s generation, it was a Stevie disciple who turned them on to it; “the Blues wasn’t on my radar until I discovered John Mayer and fell in love with his guitar playing. Listening to John’s extensive solo on Covered in Rain (Live in Birmingham) was the first time I felt music on a deep level; it was as though it was racing through my veins! I’ll never forget it. From there I discovered Stevie Ray, Buddy Guy, B.B. King and the rest is history.”
But all of that influence is academic if you can’t walk the walk; the latest single from Chloe Kay and the Crusade, Broken Woman, marks the start of a new chapter, a song written during Australia’s harsh lockdown in 2021. And like any good Blues-based tune, there were personal issues (a difficult break-up, for example) that seeped into the creative process.
The song stands in stark contrast to the band’s earlier releases, which I also love, like this one below:
“My dad would play Marvin Gaye’s I Heard It Through The Grapevine on car rides and when I was about 6 years old I decided I wanted to be a singer and would try to emulate his voice. I have a distinct memory of looking across at my sister and asking her “do I sound like that man now?”
Actually, she sounds like herself now- an elusive end game for so many singers, yet Kay says she’s better now than she was five years ago, and she’ll never stop trying to progress.
“I think as a blues and soul singer I find it exciting to know that I will likely continue to get better with age. I look to Susan Tedeschi and see her evolution over the last 2 decades and she’s truly in her prime now in her 40s. Blues inspired music really lends itself to a more mature vocal.”
“It’s a little odd to be so blues obsessed as a born & raised Sydney girl! But there is certainly a big group of blues obsessed folks in my state and in most states across the country. We have our own blues society, and we are all a big family. I’m certainly one of the younger ones; I’d say I’m the youngest woman by quite a bit on the blues scene here.”
And though she has yet to travel to the home of the music she loves most, some of her idols have come to her neck of the woods, making for some memorable encounters:
“Whether it was Graham Nash telling me about his evolution from CSNY to now, Jacob Collier handing down inspirational quotes from Herbie Hancock, being serenaded by Marcus King and Samantha Fish, or being able to watch Buddy Guy perform from side of stage, it’s just been deeply inspiring to get a window into their worlds. I’ve learnt that it takes a lot of hard work, sacrifice and dedication to your art but also that if travelling around the world playing and connecting with people through your music is what you want to do then you can do it if you manifest and believe in your music and yourself enough to work for it.”
This music is the real thing, from deep, deep down, y’all. Her voice belongs uniquely to her. Check the links below for more info:
Hear Chloe Kay & the Crusade on Spotify Here
Chloe Kay and the Crusade on Instagram
Chloe Kay and the Crusade on Facebook
