Short Biography
KITTY, DAISY AND LEWIS RETURNING TO NEW ZEALAND
After playing two sold-out shows at Auckland's Monte Cristo Room last December and proving their wide appeal with a debut album bought by long-time listeners and young hipsters alike, Kitty, Daisy and Lewis are returning to New Zealand.
Kitty, Daisy and Lewis is not the kind of band you would expect to find in 2010: three young siblings from London's Kentish Town, playing hard-swinging rock'n'roll, with an exuberance and charm rarely heard or seen since the 1950s.
They have grown a passionate following, thanks to their exuberant live shows and authentic, d...
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Short Biography
KITTY, DAISY AND LEWIS RETURNING TO NEW ZEALAND
After playing two sold-out shows at Auckland's Monte Cristo Room last December and proving their wide appeal with a debut album bought by long-time listeners and young hipsters alike, Kitty, Daisy and Lewis are returning to New Zealand.
Kitty, Daisy and Lewis is not the kind of band you would expect to find in 2010: three young siblings from London's Kentish Town, playing hard-swinging rock'n'roll, with an exuberance and charm rarely heard or seen since the 1950s.
They have grown a passionate following, thanks to their exuberant live shows and authentic, digital-free recordings. Fans include Coldplay's Chris Martin, who handpicked them to support his band on a 2009 US arena tour.
Kitty (age 16), Daisy (21) and Lewis (19) first performed together at a country and rockabilly jam in a North London pub when barely in their teens, and have gone on to build a massive word-of-mouth audience through rapturously received gigs and a string of authentically old-school recordings, made on their own vintage equipment and released in various formats, including 10 inch 78RPM records!
Covering a wide range of instruments between them - including guitar, piano, banjo, harmonica, lap steel and accordion - their sound is filled out with the addition of their mother (and former Raincoats drummer) Ingrid Weiss on double bass, father ‘Daddy Grazz' on guitar, plus Jamaican trumpet legend Eddie ‘Tan Tan' Thornton.
Expect energy, intensity and a whole lot of fun. "We play old music but we're playing it now", says Lewis. "You can't just strum. You have to do it with fire."
In-depth Biography
Three siblings from North London, Kitty, Daisy & Lewis have set the British roots rock scene on its ear with their infectious energy and authentic approach to rockabilly, vintage country, and first-generation rhythm & blues -- not to mention the fact that the youngest member of the trio hadn't yet reached her teens when they released their first single in 2005. Kitty Durham, Lewis Durham, and Daisy Durham were born into a musical family -- their father, Graeme Durham, is a guitarist who is also a top engineer at one of London's leading record mastering facilities, the Exchange, while their mother, Ingrid Weiss, played drums with the pioneering post-punk band the Raincoats. In 2002, while attending an afternoon rockabilly gig hosted by Big Steve and the Arlenes with their parents, Lewis was invited to sit in with the band on banjo, while Kitty hopped behind the drum kit and kept time. The next time Big Steve played at the Durhams' local pub, Lewis and Kitty were once again brought up to the stage, while Daisy joined in on accordion, and the kids decided it was time to form a band of their own.
Wanting to fill out their sound, Graeme was drafted as a rhythm guitarist and Ingrid took up upright bass to join the family combo. As the youngsters began displaying a greater range of talent -- Lewis plays guitar, lap steel, and piano along with the banjo, while Kitty handles percussion, harmonica, ukulele, and guitar and Daisy sings and plays piano as well as drums -- they became an act to watch on the U.K. Americana circuit, and began recording their own material. Lewis put together a makeshift studio in their home using vintage analog recording gear, and in 2005 the kids released their first single, "Honolulu Rock," with Kitty 12 years of age, Lewis 14, and Daisy the oldest at 16. A second single, "Mean Son of a Gun," hit shops a year later; it was released as a 7" 45 and in a limited-edition 10" 78-rpm pressing. A third single, "Going Up the Country," was scheduled for release in July 2008 as a preview of Kitty, Daisy & Lewis' first full-length album. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
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