SPELLBOUND BY SIMPLICITY

Kathryn Williams is a natural.

So normal and yet blessed with such a pure, clear and strong voice that demands immediate attention.
The last time in Birmingham Kathryn provided support at the Songwriters’ Festival, but now she is back on a headliner tour at Ronnie Scott's, having come to the notice of a wider audience thanks to her recently Mercury Music Prize nominated album Little Black Numbers.
Kathryn believes in keeping things simple and it seems to work – she appeared rather nervous as she came on stage, but as soon as she opened her mouth and started to sing the audience was spellbound – indeed, such was the respect commanded by Kathryn, you could hear a pin drop during her one hour set.
She chatted with her audience between numbers and even her amusing asides about an appointment with a hypnotist brought first shock, then smiles, from an audience won over by her warmth and charm.
The singer/songwriter was again supported by her four-piece band, comprising cello, classical guitar, drums and double bass, with Kathryn herself on acoustic guitar and providing tender vocals.
There were plenty of selections from the new album in the set, including her newly released single Soul to Feet and the delightful Flicker.
Other highlights were Kiss the Forehead, which she sang with just Laura Reid’s cello as accompaniment, and a new song Foreign Sky given its first public airing.
When Kathryn finally left the stage after an upbeat encore We Dug a Hole, the mesmerised audience was still clamouring for more.
Earlier, the talented London duo Turin Brakes opened with an interesting set of their own songs.
Stephen King, 18 October 2000, Birmingham Post