Appearing on the line up for the February Nashville Sounds In The
Round was Katy Hurt. Likened by fellow
guest Kezia Gill to “A Young Dolly Parton”, the comparison is pretty accurate.
Don’t for a moment be fooled by Katy’s youthful looks or her shy,
quiet voice. When Katy sings her voice
absolutely soars and is rightfully full of confidence. The hint of an American accent when she sings
not only complements her Country songs, but also suggests her varied
geographical roots!
Katy opened her contribution to the night with a song that seems
to have no title, has been named three times but she calls it “Because I Do”
Written when she was only 16, the song may be a young girl’s
lament but it is written and sung with real maturity, the emotion highlighted
by alternating real power and spellbinding softness
Apparently Katy and her co-writer have renamed songwriters as “Word
Nerds” as she told us the story of “Abyssinia Lane” contributing an idea for a
song, cemented by an incident with a guy at a party. Who knew a song about
turning down a guy could be so up-tempo, pacey and fun! “See Ya Later” was all of these!
Songwriter’s rounds really bring out the stories – Katy is a poor
sleeper (confirmed by Mum in the front row!), and an early wake up from a
confusing dream led to a 4am song writing session inspired by a shaft of light through
her window. “Light” is reminiscent to
my ears of “Banks of the Ohio” both in style and the quality of Katy’s voice –
and yes, that’s another reference to a young Dolly Parton! On the night Katy forgot some of the words,
but it didn’t detract from the performance at all, as her confidence (and Steve
Marks stepping in with a guitar solo) kept made for a wonderful, if not
word-perfect rendition.
There was a running joke all night about age, and with Katy you
have to remind yourself that she is only 21 – her song writing, her performance
and her ability to deal with good natured banter from the audience really belie
her youth
"Sleeping Next to You"
picked up the energy again – the song is a real “toe tapper and hand clapper” which
was perfect for the middle of the second half of the show.
A fan of the relatively modern “Bro Country” Katy feels that although there are
many, many songs about guys in bars, there are almost none about girls in bars, and so "Drink" was an obvious solution to
this!
The final
song from Katy was the title track of her new ep. Loving the storytelling aspect of Country
music, and using song writing as a way of expressing her feelings, Katy
dedicates “Unfinished Business” to the
music lovers who turn up, listen and appreciate songs.
With around
100 gigs booked already for this year, Katy Hurt is easy to find playing live –
and worth finding!
Katy can be
found on Instagram, Facebook, Spotify, iTunes, every stage in every town and at
KatyHurt.com.
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