Powerhouse of Blues: Katie Knipp @ Powerhouse Pub, Folsom, CA

Her voice sensually saunters from a playful Fiona-esque femininity to a powerful operatic. There is simultaneous familiarity and cutting edge experimentation to the sound. Stirring chords and heartbroken melodies. This is unquestionably the blues, but a new shade. Overflowing with the kind of painful self examination that growth requires, Katie Knipp’s latest release, Me, finds the artist exposed at the seams and sewing herself back together in front of her audience. Her fourth top ten Billboard charting album, Me brings Knipp’s hard-fought personal and musical self awareness to the forefront of the contemporary Blues landscape. From sultry to social justice, Katie Knipp dives all the way in on Me, teaming her refreshing vulnerability with expert level musicality and composition. Knipp’s unique euphony and passionate storytelling has propelled her to stages alongside the who’s who of the Blues including Buddy Guy and Robert Cray as well contemporary favorites like Trombone Shorty and Fantastic Negrito.

“….. serves up a radiant platter of her patented NOLA-steeped brand of slidin’ blues rock — smokey, syrupy and ever-genuine” -Aaron Davis, The Sacramento Bee “Comparisons are odious, but …..Katie Knipp is a true original. The closest I can come to a description is a cross between Nina Simone and Mose Allison. Remarkable.” — Mick Martin, host of Blues Party on KZAP, and world renowned blues artist

“Extraordinary vocals with lyrics that comfort or cut like a knife….delta deep slide and lusty insanity..this is the real deal Katie, brash and unruly, belting out originals from 6 previous releases as the band delivers in stereo- hi-fi tightly behind her.” -Darrell Sage, Blues Matters Magazine

“Her version of blues is raw and gritty, and she’s comfortable with a myriad of musical influences in her underlying soundtrack.” -Robert Leggett, No Depression Magazine

“Versatility. That’s the word to properly define Katie Knipp’s work. She is a gifted musician, able to not only play slide guitar, piano, and harmonica but mainly able to make her singing prevail over the textures of a song.” -Marcel Innocentini, Blues Rock Review

“Knipp has continued to build an audience around the operatic intensity of her singing and the emotional whiplash of her lyric-writing, a style that she somehow channels through an experimental, genre-blending evolution of blues, rock and soul traditions. ” — The Sacramento News and Review

“Not only is her band several levels above your average blues combo and her own musical, vocal attributes enthralling; but her songwriting and lyrical abilities deliver humor, complexity and an emotional power that takes her art way beyond genre boundaries.” — American Blues Scene