Tuesday, February 4, 2020

Album Review - Show Your Hand - Kate Kross



Just from a casual look at her facebook page, it is obvious that Katee Kross is working very hard to bring her music to a wide audience, outside of her native Scotland.  Unfortunately, despite how busy she is, I have only once had the chance to hear her live – and only briefly at the inaugural Country In The Afternoon when Katee was tempted to come all the way down South to Putney

What a joy it was then to receive an advance copy of her newest album “Show Your Hand” the title track of which is already being picked up for UK airplay


Katee’s voice is very distinctive – a blend of Country, Scottish and Powerful, all coming together to create a beautiful sound. The instrumentation across the album evokes a very traditional Country Sound, with the mix just right that it supports and highlights Katee’s vocals, setting the style but not overpowering the singing


The album opens with the title track Show Your Hand, which itself opens with Katee singing over just strummed guitar chords before increasing the tempo into a truly toe tapping tune. It is easy to see why this tune has been picked up so eagerly by radio DJs – it is certainly a standout track.  A more laid-back tempo for Two Outlaws with a real trad/cowboy feel. Diamonds in The Dust picks the speed back up and picks up the storytelling style.


Katee has very cleverly varied the tempo as she has put this album together, which makes it very listenable.  From the slowed down Dancing With My Past to the “jangly” Bumble Bee and the drumbeat driven Still The People Talk you are eager to hear what will come next. More plaintive on Please Stay, more trad again on Never Meant To Be Forever, Katee has made this album into a musical journey.  What Will Be feels almost like an encore track, taking the levels back up and into the final track Keep On Keepin’ On – surely worthy of a single release of its own, and a definite show closer crowd pleaser for the forthcoming festival season!


The album shows why Katee is so busy, and so talked about, and this release certainly shows her hand to those who are yet to properly discover her work!]


Show Your Hand, the new album from Katee Kross launches on 22 February 2022. 

Follow Katee on Facebook  and on her website





1 comment:

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