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Pretty soon you'll hear the buzz. It'll go something
like, "Have you heard this girl Kina? It's like R & B, but
it's different!"
I heard the buzz about a week before I ventured north
to Kina's concert, which consisted of a short nine-song set at
Alligator Alley in Plantation, but I really wasn't prepared for what I
saw.
Imagine, if you will -- although I was told that Kina
hates comparisons crossing Donna Summer with Tina Turner; you would
have an artist that combines the accessibility and the sultriness of
Summer's voice with the pain and grittiness of Turner's lyrics and
delivery. Then juxtapose that against a backdrop of modern alterno-rock,
ballad-like compositions, delivered by a very competent, yet
restrained group of musicians. Then, and only then, will you have half
an idea of what Kina is all about.
Because seeing is most definitely believing with this
artist, it is impossible not to think of Tina Turner belting out
"Proud Mary" when Kina performs. That's the sort of energy
and stage presence that she brings to every performance.
It was a short monologue that she delivered during the
concert that forced the inevitable comparison, during which she really
connected with the crowd. She bemoaned the times when we've had
"no money to pay the rent, no car, no money at all, no man, no
record deal, no support, no direction. You're just lost, just
lost."
But in the end, even though she takes the first step,
she's reaching out to the audience, the pain in her voice and her
lyrics make it inevitable that you begin to sympathize with her.
In fact, there is an underlying "me against the
world" theme in her music, one that is perhaps no more apparent
than in her song Girl from the Gutter, and it is one she was not at
all ashamed to admit in an interview following the concert.
"Well, it's definitely something someone said to
me before," she said. "I wrote a song directly about that
time, but I guess that in a lot of my music you can hear the underdog.
I've been underestimated so many times, I just store it up and when I
perform it comes from an internal place."
Formerly a member of the short-lived R&B group
Brownstone, Kina left unceremoniously after a member of the band
uttered those soon-to-be famous words at her.
She paid her dues for a time before record industry
icon David Geffen signed her to a contract with Dreamworks and her
album is due out in July.
It's not hard to see what attracted Geffen to her. She
is the ultimate crossover creation, with soul and thoughtfulness to
give her credibility, but a backing sound that is thoroughly top 40.
"My music is a lot like gumbo," she
explained, "I grew up listening to everything and all of it
helped shape my sound. I mean, it's a combination of R & B, soul,
Elton John, the Eisley brothers, just about everything is thrown in
there."
But, it's the energy that drives Kina's music that
truly separates her, a characteristic that isn't lost on her drummer,
Herman Matthews, who met her during open auditions in LA.
"When I heard her CD," he said, "and
then when I saw her live, one word sprang to mind, dynamic. Everything
about her was just dynamic."
The crowd of about 200 at the show would have readily
agreed with Matthews' assessment. It was made up largely of South
Florida buzz people and though they listened obligatorily at first, in
the end no one could help being swept up by Kina's sound.
And it was a symbiotic relationship. By the time Kina
got to Girl from the Gutter, it was clear that she was feeding off the
crowd just as much and that they were enamoured with her.
"It's the people that drive me up there,"
she said, "the energy in the room, the smiles. I mean I
definitely feel the songs, but it's their reaction to them that pushes
me."
To learn more about Kina, her new album and upcoming
tour dates, visit her web site at www.4kina.com.
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