Kate Rusby Overkill

Subject: RE: Kate Rusby Overkill
From: akenaton
Date: 18 Feb 04 - 04:59 PM

Interesting to compare the singing of Kate and Kathryn,I think Kathryn streets ahead in quality and feeling.
On my favourite track "Ned on the hill",we hear Kathryns fine voice over Kates wobbly harmony.
Whats all the hype about Kate??   Is this what Folk music is reduced to?....Ake

Subject: RE: Kate Rusby Overkill
From: Compton
Date: 18 Feb 04 - 06:40 PM

Ah, your highness,They say the eyes are the first thing to go...Roberts it was..."Kate Rusby and Kathryn Roberts"..the title doesn't sound half as good as "Kate Rusby and Kathryn Richards". Was there ever a record "Martin Carthy with Dave Swarbrick" that had Martin Carthy and Dave Swarbrick"?. I think there was!!

Subject: RE: Kate Rusby Overkill
From: The Borchester Echo
Date: 18 Feb 04 - 07:56 PM

I think there was too, Compton. And there was one called 'No Songs' but that didn't mean...oh never mind!

Subject: RE: Kate Rusby Overkill
From: GUEST,Sledge
Date: 19 Feb 04 - 01:18 AM

Akenaton writes - Whats all the hype about Kate??   Is this what Folk music is reduced to?....Ake

What are you on about, is an artist not allowed to achieve some sort of success if they don't meet your personal criteria for folkiness. Hype, just what hype is that, one performance on BBC4, A couple of threads on Mudcat or that She has been to the USA, hardly over exposure. Moan moan moan moan moan.

I have been to many Kate Rusby gigs and they have all been very well attended, afterwards lots of happy people of all types leaving with a smile on their faces.

Sledge

Subject: RE: Kate Rusby Overkill
From: Cluin
Date: 19 Feb 04 - 01:57 AM

Saw her a couple of years ago while visiting good friends in Barrhead. KR was part of a great live show (being taped & broadcast on BBC radio) including Dougie MacLean and Capercaillie on the Renfrew Ferry in Glasgow. Great time. Great venue.

Friends knew I was a big Dougie fan so they got tickets ahead of time. Of course, I enjoyed the whole show. I flew back to Canada next day (after a 3 week visit). Yes, I needed a plane to get home...

Subject: RE: Kate Rusby Overkill
From: GUEST
Date: 19 Feb 04 - 05:01 AM

So its dreadful that there isn't enough folk coverage on the media. Its dreadful when an individual gets coverage.

Why don't you miserable gits just stick to your boring little sessions where only your three mates ever turn up.

Subject: RE: Kate Rusby Overkill
From: GUEST,bouzouki
Date: 19 Feb 04 - 05:33 AM

No one in the folk world has that many mates.I hear there is a £57 entrance charge to sessions nowadays, so the attendance is really gunna fall off.

Subject: RE: Kate Rusby Overkill
From: GUEST,Strollin' Johnny
Date: 19 Feb 04 - 07:47 AM

Countess Richard - I distinctly remember (and I'm well old enough to!) that June received regular coverage in the 'Melody-Maker' during the Folk revival of the late 60s/early-to-mid '70s. It was through that very organ that I first heard of her and Maddy, (and lots of others -Martyn, Renbourn, Carthy, Steeleye, Fairport etc. etc. ad infinitum), and it's from there that my love of Folk was born. The level of exposure may not have been quite up to that currently being given to Kate - the range of media outlets was, of course, far more restricted in those days, no BSkyB, far fewer terrestrial channels etc. - but for that time she was given a fair amount of coverage, especially by the music press (the 'Pop' music press to boot!). Perhaps the notion that she was only a 'Cult' figure was spawned by those who hate 'Success' and who want to jealously keep an artiste almost as a private and personal 'Possession'?
Johnny
:0)

Subject: RE: Kate Rusby Overkill
From: The Borchester Echo
Date: 19 Feb 04 - 08:17 AM

On 17 January at 1.03 I wrote of June Tabor:

"I'm so glad she's at last getting some of the recognition she deserves".

I don't think the amount of coverage she got way back then was "fair" at all. That's why I spent quite a lot of time writing about her work myself. The fact remains she would have received considerably more publicity had she turned professional very much earlier.   Her life choice after all. No-one locked her up.

Subject: RE: Kate Rusby Overkill
From: akenaton
Date: 19 Feb 04 - 04:29 PM

countess...Im glad to see that we share a great admiration for Junes' work.Iv been a fan since I saw her as a young girl .It was only a small venue, but most of the Folk audiance were in tears.
The difference between Kate and June, is that June lives in our music.
One only has to see her flashing eyes to know that she feels every word.
Kate on the other hand appears to be a manufactured singer ,her little girlie voice meant to appeal to the "young team".I know she has a lot to learn ,but theres something about her presentation which says "this is not from the heart".....Ake

Subject: RE: Kate Rusby Overkill
From: GUEST
Date: 19 Feb 04 - 05:16 PM

akenaton,

That is a disgraceful thing to say, and only proves that you haven't the slightest idea about Kate.

Learn a bit more about her before resorting to your idiotic prejudice.

Subject: RE: Kate Rusby Overkill
From: The Borchester Echo
Date: 19 Feb 04 - 05:31 PM

Ake,

Oh yes, I have admired June totally for the past 35 years. However, in fairness to Kate I have to say that she's no 'manufactured' singer. Though her voice is not exactly to my taste, I do know that she has lived and breathed traditional music since she was a small child. Her family have long been involved in the running of festivals and nowadays run the promotion and recording side of her career.

Faced with a choice of gigs to go to, clearly I woulf choose June. However, when I met Kate I found her an extremely nice and genuine person and seriously good guitarist. It's all really a matter of personal taste.

Subject: RE: Kate Rusby Overkill
From: akenaton
Date: 19 Feb 04 - 05:58 PM

Guest...I have no doubt that Kate is a lovely girl,both in appearance and also it seems,in spirit. However, Iv been involved in Folk Music for more years than I care to remember,and I have always felt that there is something really unique in our music. It provides a vehicle to transmit emotion among people,something that is sadly lacking in our society. The real "greats" like June, Linda Thompson, Eliza Carthy,ect posess that ability in spadefulls. Kate does not communicate emotion well,perhaps that will come later.
At the moment she appears to be overrated.
I apologise if I have offended you or anyone else on the thread,but this music is an important part of my life and I must write as I feel
    Best wishes Ake

Subject: RE: Kate Rusby Overkill
From: GUEST
Date: 17 Jan 05 - 07:30 PM

This is what the body of your post will look like:
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Umm I just stumbled across this thread and this is really only ancedotal evidence here from my guitarist and a few young friends from Sidmouth...

Firstly, I listen to Kate Rusby, I sing songs from her albums and I do enjoy her performances- I think its great that somebody is getting media coverage and drawing attention to folk and the more people that happens to the better but as far as Kate Rusby being nice...

well my guitarist was support band for her a couple of years ago - she wouldn't use their PA, wouldnt allow them to use hers making a big fuss and a long changeover with gear halfway through and she was most discourteous to them with a very superior attitude which they were genuinley shocked at. She has also been quite curt with a few of the teenage sidmouth crowd. When they complimented her on the set and asked some trivial detail about I tune (a key it was in or a chord or something like that) they were told to F off (bearing in mind they were all 16 and under I felt this was a little harsh)

So yes, its good to get people interested in folk music by drawing in people that might not otherwise have got into it and encouraging younger performers too - but lets hope they keep their feet on the ground and dont give us younger folkies a reputation for bad behaviour nor set an example for others to follow.

Hope that didnt sound too much like a moan at Kate in particular as Im sure we all have our bad days and those instances might not have been the norm.

Subject: RE: Kate Rusby Overkill
From: CraigS
Date: 17 Jan 05 - 09:32 PM

My opinion of Kate Rusby? She reminds me of Matt Munro - every note in its place, every movement programmed, every gesture rehearsed, so that every audience gets the same "good show". I'm sure that is the explanation for the PA shenanigans described above, just as I'm sure she doesn't eat beans in case something spontaneous happens! There are some people who feel they have to work this way. and some who will push their abilities to the limit in public and chance dropping a clanger. I like watching the latter type of entertainment myself.

Subject: RE: Kate Rusby Overkill
From: GUEST,Flintlock
Date: 18 Jan 05 - 05:10 AM

Bill Jones is a much more talented individual!

Subject: RE: Kate Rusby Overkill
From: Strollin' Johnny
Date: 18 Jan 05 - 11:17 AM

You cannot be serious man!

Subject: RE: Kate Rusby Overkill
From: Paco Rabanne
Date: 18 Jan 05 - 11:32 AM

Listen to Miss Rusby's "My young Man" from her CD "Little Lights" Have you ever heard a better song?

Subject: RE: Kate Rusby Overkill
From: Georgiansilver
Date: 18 Jan 05 - 01:01 PM

69

Subject: RE: Kate Rusby Overkill
From: John C.
Date: 18 Jan 05 - 02:51 PM

I saw Ms. Rusby on the telly a few months ago. Personally, I found her performance to be a bit bloodless - not much passion but a 'pretty', girly voice and a fancy backing group. I'm sure that this sort of thing has wide appeal but it's not really for me.
The thing that really got my goat, though, was an interview with Ms. Rusby during which she stated that as she couldn't read music she tended to make up the tunes to trad. words - what!!?? OK, so this might be alright occasionally but not as normal practice, surely? I happen to think that many of the tunes to our trad. songs are glorious and the words sung to a made up tune are a poor substitute. I can't read music either and I still find some tunes very difficult to learn - but I also believe that mastering them is something to aspire to.
Now I'm sure that someone will now accuse me of being a purist - well I am a purist and intensely proud of it! I don't like to see my beloved folk songs misinterpreted and diminished and am happy to say so - if you don't like it, sue me!

Subject: RE: Kate Rusby Overkill
From: nager
Date: 18 Jan 05 - 04:29 PM

I have two Kate Rusby CDs and find her singing an absolute delight to listen to. The instrumentation is magnificent and the treatment of traditional songs first class and her own songs are inventive and very melodic.
I appreciate and enjoy good music when I hear it.
Kate Rusby is one of many fine young singers I listen to - one of the excellent new breed who are emerging.
Compare that to the hairy old male ``purists'' belting out unaccompanied songs like the Wild Rover with one hand on their ear .... makes you want to put a hand over each ear and throw up. Oh so predictable and oh so boring.
Changing a few notes and words here and there, adding or deleting a verse, or re-interpreting a song is all part of the folk process - or hasn't anyone told you that yet?
Kate and John do it brilliantly.

Subject: RE: Kate Rusby Overkill
From: GUEST,Flintlock
Date: 19 Jan 05 - 07:18 AM

Why shouldn't I be serious? I find Belinda superior to Ms. Rusby in every way!

Subject: RE: Kate Rusby Overkill
From: George Papavgeris
Date: 19 Jan 05 - 07:31 AM

I agree with you Flintlock. Kate does indeed seem "bloodless" to me (on t' telly, never saw her live - pronounce that as you like), though her recording are indeed excellent.

Bill Jones on the other hand is much more fun live, she draws you in; and a whizzo on the boxes; and MUCH more willing to experiment in her arrangements and material; more original; and I like her voice too, at least as much as Kate's. Perhaps not as good looking (though Anglo-Indian blood does give some interesting features), but that's not what I go to folk clubs for. AND she does not have queues of starry-eyed or dribbling fans trailing her.

I'd pay good money to see Belinda. I wouldn't pay the same money to see Kate.

Subject: RE: Kate Rusby Overkill
From: Strollin' Johnny
Date: 19 Jan 05 - 10:50 AM

Then you must have cloth ears! :0)
The accusation has been levelled at Kate of being too 'girlie' and 'pale-pink'. Not so, IMO, but multiply by a power of several and you have an accurate description of BJ. Pale-pink and twee in the extreme.
Sorry, just MNSHO! The beauty is in the eye of the beholder, as they say, so I guess we'll have to agree to differ.
S:0)

Subject: RE: Kate Rusby Overkill
From: nager
Date: 19 Jan 05 - 08:51 PM

This seems to have developed into a `My favourite singer is better than yours" discussion.
Who cares who is better than whom? I happen to think both KR and BJ are both very good .. along with a whole lot of others too. I listen to Folk ALley on the Net from the USA here in Oz and it has really opened my eyes in the past year as to some of the great new talent there is around.
These young singers are a breath of fresh air into the folk music arena.

Subject: RE: Kate Rusby Overkill
From: George Papavgeris
Date: 19 Jan 05 - 09:02 PM

agree there with you, nager. More power to them both!

Subject: RE: Kate Rusby Overkill
From: GUEST,punkfolkrocker
Date: 19 Jan 05 - 09:24 PM

me and the mrs quite like Kate Rusby Cds..
but from what i've seen live on TV,
i think some of her band musicians tend to be a bit too
overcomplicated in their musical performance and distracting at times.

I just wish PJ Harvey & band would do a full CD and live set of trad folk songs

Subject: RE: Kate Rusby Overkill
From: GUEST
Date: 19 Jan 05 - 09:24 PM

IMHO KR is one of a long list of female wishy washy singers beloved by the English Folk Scene. BJ at least has a bit of bite, singing and instrumentally. I wonder if KR was wee, fat and plooky, would she have such a following? Just for you English 'catters "Plooky" is Scots for "spotty".

Subject: RE: Kate Rusby Overkill
From: nager
Date: 19 Jan 05 - 09:43 PM

FYI Guest.... I have never seen KR apart from a photo on the CD I purchased AFTER I heard her sing on Folk Alley. Bit of a problem with the Poms have we?????

Subject: RE: Kate Rusby Overkill
From: GUEST,CraigS
Date: 19 Jan 05 - 09:51 PM

To expand on the post above, when you are 17 and pretty, and people are working to your advantage, you do not stop to ask why you are on main stage at Cambridge Folkfest while good musicians are battling to get a spot in the club tent.

Subject: RE: Kate Rusby Overkill
From: GUEST
Date: 19 Jan 05 - 09:57 PM

yeah.. there are'nt enough female singers
with rough dirty voices like Rod Stewart's anymore

Subject: RE: Kate Rusby Overkill
From: GUEST
Date: 20 Jan 05 - 06:40 AM

Nager, I have no problems with the Poms, as you call them. How do you know I'm not one of them?

Subject: RE: Kate Rusby Overkill
From: Dave Wynn
Date: 20 Jan 05 - 12:56 PM

I saw her once. It was enough. Didn't like her but couldn't fault her performance , just bland. But I don't like the idea of saying she has a girlie voice. Some girlie voices are quite naturally delightful but In my opinion Kates is imature.

I also have another reason to dislike her party machine but would prefer not to elaborate.

She may mellow in a couple of decades who knows.


Spot

Subject: RE: Kate Rusby Overkill
From: Maryrrf
Date: 20 Jan 05 - 01:06 PM

The current crop of whispery, "girly" voices are not to my taste. I much prefer a strong womans' voice such as Niamnh Parsons, Gordeanna McCulloch, Sheena Wellington - these are the ones who readily come to mind but there are others. Little girl voices do seem to be in fashion though - Cara Dillon, Karan Casey...

Subject: RE: Kate Rusby Overkill
From: nager
Date: 20 Jan 05 - 05:40 PM

Sounds like a few of you are showing your age...how sad.

Subject: RE: Kate Rusby Overkill
From: Maryrrf
Date: 20 Jan 05 - 06:18 PM

How is saying that you prefer a strong woman's voice "showing your age" and "sad". What is "sad" is that Mudcat isn't a place where you can have a civilized discussion anymore.

Subject: RE: Kate Rusby Overkill
From: nager
Date: 20 Jan 05 - 10:32 PM

``Little girl voices do seem to be in fashion..'' bit demeaning don't you think to these talented young women.
They are not little girls and only someone with a lack of understanding of today's values ie some old fart showing his/her age would make such a statement.
Oh, and how are my comments deemed uncivilized compared to some of the nasty stuff written on threads here?
I bleieve my comments all relate to the subject and the apparent out of touch with modern day thinking shown by some people here.
If this is not valid in this discussion then I will bow out and leave you to carry on holding your own.

Subject: RE: Kate Rusby Overkill
From: Don(Wyziwyg)T
Date: 21 Jan 05 - 02:28 AM

Nobody should feel that they have to bow out of a discussion on this, or any other, thread. The problem seems to be that some people find it difficult to disagree with an opinion, without making personal references to the sanity, legitimacy, or musical awareness of the person expressing that opinion.

I like Kate Rusby, and Bill Jones. I'm also a fan of Martin Carthy and June Tabor. I don't even object to listening to Robbie Williams, or Gareth Gates, 'tho they are a long way from being my first choice, as a folkie for the last forty years. OOPS, there I go, showing my age.

The one thing I don't do, EVER, is to tell anyone he is a fool because his taste in music differs from my own.

So to save all of you the time it will take to type your responses, YES, I'm a total prat with no musical taste, and a weak attitude to telling others what you think of their opinions.

Daft Innit?

Don T.

Subject: RE: Kate Rusby Overkill
From: Dave Wynn
Date: 21 Jan 05 - 09:06 AM

Nager..with age comes wisdom and experience. You will have some of both in time. Take it easy until then.

Spot

Subject: RE: Kate Rusby Overkill
From: Maryrrf
Date: 21 Jan 05 - 10:17 AM

Nager, it is sarastic attitudes and entirely gratuitous personal sneers such as yours that make Mudcat a nasty place. I wouldn't have thought that there was a problem in saying that certain types of voices "weren't to my taste". I've had enough - I think I'll gracefully "bow out" as there's no point to participating in this.

Subject: RE: Kate Rusby Overkill
From: GUEST,Jim
Date: 21 Jan 05 - 10:46 AM

I'm sure Kate will be delighted this thread is running on and on - no such thing as bad publicity eh?

Subject: RE: Kate Rusby Overkill
From: GUEST,Flintlock
Date: 24 Jan 05 - 07:20 AM

Isn't Bill Jones wonderful?

Subject: RE: Kate Rusby Overkill
From: John C.
Date: 24 Jan 05 - 05:42 PM

Women singers don't have to be 'girly'. As an antidote to KR try Frankie Armstrong's CD 'Lovely on the Water' (Fellside FECD151) - now there is a woman who can sing! Ms Armstrong is not afraid of trad. tunes either - she goes for the subtlest and most beautiful tunes and handles them with great skill and artistry. To my mind, this is what folk singing is all about.
Oh yes, and this recording is a fine introduction to the much neglected and much maligned English tradition. And before anyone accuses me of chauvinism or something - not better than anyone elses tradition but wonderful all the same and worthy of respect and thoughtful interpretation.

Subject: RE: Kate Rusby Overkill
From: nager
Date: 24 Jan 05 - 07:01 PM

I prefer Kate Rusby.
If Kate's voice is "girly" as so many of you say what is wrong with that?
She's a fine young singer - along with many others.
If expressing an opinion on what I deem to be an out of touch attitude by some of you in respect of new and young singers is regarded as sarcasm then so be it.
In the folk clubs and sessions I go to there is always a small group of people who seem to be wary of anything "new" and disparage it.
Even songs by Richard Thomson, Paul Brady and the like are rubbished.
I think it is called being stuck in a time warp.
What do you think of Eef Barzelay?

Subject: RE: Kate Rusby Overkill
From: Leadfingers
Date: 24 Jan 05 - 07:14 PM

My only problem with K R is that since she appeared on the scene there are as string of young ladies who sound like K R Clones - this would seem to be the latest fashon in the Folk Industry !!

Subject: RE: Kate Rusby Overkill
From: nager
Date: 24 Jan 05 - 07:25 PM

Just like the Dylan clones in the 60s

Subject: RE: Kate Rusby Overkill
From: GUEST
Date: 25 Jan 05 - 07:11 AM

But Dylan was worth cloning!

Subject: RE: Kate Rusby Overkill
From: GUEST
Date: 25 Jan 05 - 08:38 AM

No he wasn't. He can't sing.

Subject: RE: Kate Rusby Overkill
From: GUEST,davetnova
Date: 25 Jan 05 - 10:32 AM

I just realised that my liking for pure young female voices, Kate, Bill, Eliza etc has increased with age. Am I alone in this

Subject: RE: Kate Rusby Overkill
From: GUEST,Jim
Date: 25 Jan 05 - 11:42 AM

OVER ONE HUNDRED POSTS FOR THIS LADY - DEFINITELY OVERKILL!!!!!!!!!!

Let's 'ear it also fo' Kath Roberts, n' Sharon Fountain - now there's REIGHT talent in South Yorkshire for y'