Kevn Kinney Live at Cat's Cradle 09/18/2004

We Say...

Review by Lenny Kaye

Each time I see Kevn Kinney live, especially in such an unadorned and intimate setting as this classic venue in the Chapel of Hill, North Carolina, where he goes one-on-one with his guitar and even closer to his audience, I feel like writing a song.

Inspirational is not a word to be used lightly. A man of uncommon vernacular, Kevn's songs capture the everydays of life with universal truths, simple chords turned around in a way you've never heard before, his high lonesome voice pushing at the choices we all make to follow our dreams. He is as much raconteur as gentlemanly southern rocker, breaking from his medleys and choruses to ramble through moral fables, or homespun realizations, poking affectionate fun and understanding at his younger-and-still-self, the sightsee travelogue of a life spent on the long road, waking up with a guitar in hand.

Based in Athens, Ga., Kinney began flying his custom Courageous around the country in the early '80s with Drivin' and Cryin' — who still overdrive as Kevn's more electric plug-in — but his solo career wandered off on its own semi-acoustic trail somewhere during the making of the Peter Buck-produced Macdougal Blues in 1990. The solo instinct came to fruition with 2002's Auto Parts and Broken Hearts, its title tale of fatherly advice vis-à-vis carburetor maintenance and keeping your woman happy, and this live recording from September of 2004 finds him on the verge of taking another dive into the electric arena, the newly released Sun Tangled Angel Revival.

He plays songs from both on this informal leafing through his repertoire, following tangents of melody and rhythm, slowing to take a closer look at a lyric, speeding up when the refrain comes around the bend, leaning into the wind and the guitar solo. Sometimes a friend comes up to play with him, and that makes the stage home for a night. Honesty, belief and gentle understanding are Kinney's kinship. I can feel a tune coming on already...