Kaki King sometimes makes bets with her crew about when audiences will first applaud in her show, The Neck is a Bridge to the Body.
The Brooklyn-based guitarist plays a character, rather than herself, in the multi-media show – an artistic choice that has occasionally confounded punters.
“Sometimes audiences don’t know if they’re ‘allowed’ to clap or when they should. I don’t make it easy on them either to be honest,” she told the Review. “I’m in character and I am not welcoming them in; I am confused as to why they are there. Essentially in my character all I know is to play guitar, I don’t really have any other existence.”
While some US audiences have been confused by this approach, King is confident Australian music fans will take it in their stride when she arrives in August for a tour that includes the Blue Mountains Theatre at Springwood.
“I really do think Australian audiences are going to get it,” she said. “They’re going to be: ‘This is funny, this is cute, this is cool, and we love it and we’re going to clap from the get go’.”
They’re likely to be rewarded for their efforts if they do.
“The more the audience gets excited, that gets my character excited to be there… My reaction is very much based on how the audience reacts,” said King.
Debuting at Brooklyn’s BRIC Theater in 2014, The Neck is a Bridge to the Body has won critical acclaim for its groundbreaking visual approach as much as King’s inspired guitar playing. It uses technology to project luminous imagery directly onto King’s guitar as she plays – resulting in an immersive and surprising experience.
The Boston Globe described it this way: “I’ve never seen anything like it…a sumptuous feast for the senses, a dizzying display of sound and vision by a guitarist already renowned for her innovation… I repeat: Do not miss this.”.
This is the first time The Neck is a Bridge to the Body will be seen in Australia – and is likely to be the last time King tours it anywhere.
“We’re going to start in earnest on the production of a new show with some similar themes… [so] this really is the big farewell tour for The Neck. I’m thrilled that it’s going to happen in Australia,” she said.
Growing up in Atlanta, Georgia, King first picked up a guitar when she was four-years-old, starting tuition after her father recognised a natural musical ability in his daughter. She still has memories of those early lessons – “placing my fingers on the guitar in the way she [the teacher] wanted me to, and getting the guitar to make sound”. “I even remember the little stool I had to put my foot on,” she said.
While her musical interest drifted to drums in her teens, King took up the guitar again when she moved to New York after graduating from high school.
She released her debut album, Everybody Loves You, in 2003, appearing on Late Night with Conan O’Brien that same year – a launchpad which brought her to the attention of a wider audience.
She has released six more studio albums, plus three EPs, and contributed to film soundtracks, including earning a Golden Globe nomination for the Sean Penn-directed 2007 film, Into the Wild.
Not that she attended the ceremony that year.
“There were no Golden Globes that year [due to the writers’ strike] and it was devastating!” she joked. “For me, I’m not in Hollywood so this was probably my only chance. I had a dress made, the whole works, and it didn’t happen.”
The matter-of-fact performer is unlikely to be swayed by awards attention in any case. Rolling Stone magazine anointed her as one of the “The New Guitar Gods” in 2006, a moniker she is quick to dismiss as “meaningless media nonsense”.
“It’s total drivel and it leaves people out and it implies there’s some sort of pecking order. It’s ridiculous,” she said.
Rather than react to outside opinions, King said it is the guitar itself that calls the shots in her career.
“The guitar is totally in charge, for sure... I crave the feeling of playing the guitar even if I’m not writing or doing anything new. It’s so satisfying, there’s this physical need to play it… The guitar has definitely informed me more than I have informed it.”
The 38-year-old still finds time for some R&R outside of her passion for the guitar. She honeymooned at Byron Bay and the Great Barrier Reef with her wife Jessica Templin six years ago and will return to the holiday hot spots at the end of her Australian tour.
“I never thought I would dive at the Great Barrier Reef once in my life. Now I’m doing it twice,” she said.
Kaki King will perform The Neck is a Bridge to the Body on Saturday, August 18 at the Blue Mountains Theatre in Springwood. Bookings: https://bit.ly/2HFRdxU.
Another guitar virtuoso, the UK’s Albert Lee, will also perform at the Blue Mountains Theatre on Wednesday, August 15.
Grammy award-winning Lee is regarded as one of the greatest guitarists in rock and country music history. Known for his fiery fast fingers and inimitable playing style, Lee is celebrating more than 50 years in the music industry with his first Australian tour in over a decade. His stellar CV includes performances and recordings with Eric Clapton, Emmylou Harris, Everly Brothers, Bill Wyman, Willie Nelson and Keith Richards among many others.
Tickets for both shows can be purchased in person at the box office, via phone 4723 5050 or online at www.bluemountainstheatre.com.