The blues has been looking to help in its mission to try and regain a foothold in the current music scene, and this hidden gem of a band might just be the ticket. I Kat the Blues by Kat & Co is a delightful ten-track modern day blues album that can’t help but bring a smile to your face as you kick back and drink it up.
Released in April 2013 under ToneTrade label, I Kat The Blues is so “modern day”, that it even refers to Twitter and blogging in its opening track, ‘New Spleen Blues’. The band consists of lead singer Kathleen Pearson, who you might have seen in The Chemical Brothers music video for their hit single ‘Block Rockin’ Beats’ or heard her guesting on D:Dream’s ‘Things Can Only Get Better’. Kathleen originates from Los Angeles but calls London home these days. With Francesco Accurso (guitar), Federico Parodi(piano), Vincenzo Ettore Virgilitto (bass) and Nick Owsianka (drums), the band works perfectly in tandem with Kathleen’s vocals.

The standout tracks from the album have to be ‘Payin’ My Dues’ which features the one and only Mud Morganfield in a song about two lovers going their separate ways, ‘Stormy June’ has a enjoyable melody throughout before dropping it down a notch or two, and ‘The Scene’ featuring Lil’ Jimmy Reed that has a little bit of old school blues about it, with the catchy line ‘We drink bourbon, no wine’, which you’ll no doubt find yourself singing along to.

All in all, this is an album which gives you a real flavour of the current blues, but at the same time, it respects its heritage and the men and women who worked tirelessly to make it such a popular genre of years gone by.