CD Release at Kings Arms Sunday at 6pm include;The Flaming Pearls, The Road Warriors, Swampland and Silke Hartung. Tickets are $20 and include the CD 'Sex 4 Sale'.
POSTCARD FROM LA- Katy Soljak releases new album ‘Sex 4 Sale’
Katy Soljak is pleased to announce the release of her album Sex 4 Sale, a collection of previously unreleased recordings created in Los Angeles in 1993.
Known predominantly as a blues musician, this 10-song recording is an eclectic blend of material ranging from acoustic blues and spoken word to country to full funk band dynamics.
To listen to Katy Soljak’s latest release is to step back in time to the Los Angeles bohemian music world of the late 80’s/Early 90’s, where Soljak immersed herself for 10 years.
After her involvement in the successful show ‘Ladies sing The Blues Shows’ in 1984-86 in NZ, Soljak moved to LA and was forced to start her music career from scratch. Over time she forged relationships with accomplished musicians Steve Hodges (Tom Waits drummer), Paul Barrere (Little Feat), and Bill Barrett (harmonica genius), developing her own coffee house sound.
Her spoken word style evolved while performing alongside Jack Brewer and The Carma Bums; beat, free style poets who played around LA. This talented bohemian set encouraged Soljak’s writing and helped her record the acoustic portion of her album, and introduced her to a local musician called SPOT with whom Soljak developed a harmonious musical partnership.
The title track of the album, Sex 4 Sale, is a bluesy acoustic number with a mix of poetic spoken word and throaty heartfelt vocals. Driving to her job at an international children’s school, Soljak first witnessed street workers on Sunset Blvd; faded beauties and Hollywood hopefuls, waiting on the same corners day in day out. These characters inspired many songs of the period.
‘Somehow maternal, somehow sensual, eyes half-closed like Betty Boop’s and her body says she’s high, drooping against the stop sign, somehow fragile’.
Being away from NZ for ten years brought homesickness and reflection at times. Old Wooden Radio, written after a phone call to her father, is a warm, acoustic country ballad filled with longing and nostalgia.
‘And that old wooden radio, who was your favourite singer, I tried to sing like her, who was she’
Sex 4 Sale was a window of discovery for Soljak in a town overrun with highways of big hopes, broken dreams and people honing their creative voice within an extreme landscape of glitterati and guttersnipes. Soljak’s songs are full of fire, compassion but predominantly, heart.
