Some history...
When her first record, Goldfish Don't Talk Back (Comm 3) came out in 1990 it showcased Kahn as a brilliant songwriter leaning toward the protest song as her defining genre. That same year she moved from New York to Minneapolis, a move the City Pages called "doing Dylan in reverse." She made her musical mark touring extensively throughout the Midwest. One only needs look to these travels to understand where the songs came from on the next album.
Attracted by the 7" single "I Don't Sleep I Drink Coffee Instead," David Kahne signed Brenda to the Chaos label at Columbia Records and it was for Columbia that Brenda recorded the "epic road album" Epiphany in Brooklyn (1992). The Columbia experience gave Brenda wide exposure opening for Bob Dylan, The Kinks, David Byrne and Jeff Buckley. Her combination of punk stylings to revved up folk music and intelligent, slyly humorous lyrics invited comparisons to artists as diverse as The Violent Femmes and Patti Smith. With the release of Epiphany, Kahn was back on the east coast living in Brooklyn ready to conquer (nurture?) the world. The record was enthusiastically received in Europe where the major French press heralded the coming of "La Baronne de Brooklyn."
In April of 1994 Kahn went back into the studio with an all electric band and producer Tim Patalan (Sponge). The result was a much edgier, more urban backdrop to her signature lyrics. Two weeks prior to the release of Destination Anywhere, her second album for Columbia, the Sony machine broke down. Chaos folded leaving Kahn without a record company or even an explanation. Within a few short months Shanachie Records had licensed Destination Anywhere but their release came too late to capitalize on the promotional push Chaos had made before it was folded. Without the big label support, the determined songstress hit the road the hard way hopscotching around the country and keeping her fans happy wherever she went.
Undeterred, Kahn got down to work on her next record, this time for Shanachie Records. This project would be a joint venture with Brenda co-producing with Tim Patalan at his studio (a horse farm in Michigan). The result was Outside the Beauty Salon, a very strong, critically acclaimed record that blends the acoustic and electric of her previous releases. Beauty Salon was released in Germany in October 1997 by Koch International to widespread radio and press coverage including two consecutive months of Rolling Stone features and inclusion of the single, "Hey Romeo" on the Rolling Stone compilation disc in anticipation of her European tour (Jan/Feb 1998).
In 1999, Kahn left the Shanachie label to start her own Rocket 99 Records on which she released Hunger, a dedication to her dear late friend Jeff Buckley. The CD is an all-acoustic and spoken word record, featuring upright bass and guitar, a departure from the punk fueled rhythms of previous releases.
That same year Kahn established her own corporation, WOMANROCK.com Inc., an online magazine and music store who's mission is to empower artists to understand and navigate the treacherous waters of the music industry.
Kahn's lyrics reflect quite clearly the landscape surrounding her; whether it's the "white trash chick at the donut shop" in the Midwest, the "man with a shaking cigarette" in the east village or the landscape of the heart, "It's gonna be a long time ago, someday." The vehicle for these lyrics is music that creates a sense of movement at times akin to hurtling at top speed through midtown on the back of a motorbike with no helmet while at other times it's like driving in a big lazy car down the highway in the darkness. Either way you've gotta trust the driver. And she plays a mean guitar.
--Ed Aquilino
Track List:
1. Mexico One
2. Messiah
3. Light
4. Hunger
5. Queen of Distance
6. Mexico Two
7. So What If I Saw Jesus
8. Sidestep the Bullet
9. Dictaphone
10. Christopher Says
11. Mexico Three
Suggested CDs:
Other Genres:
