As 2010 has come to an end, we are taking a look back at some of our favorite posts of the year by our guest editors.
Kim Richey spent the initial portion of her 15-year career chafing at various stylistic restraints, some self-imposed, others foisted upon her by others. Through the second half of the ’90s, the itinerant daughter of a Dayton, Ohio, record-store owner sampled and discarded various guises: new-country misfit (1995’s Nashville-friendly self-titled debut), Lucinda Williams in waiting (1997’s calculated Americana stab Bittersweet) and top-40 hopeful (1999’s super-slick Glimmer). And while those albums had at least two things in common—great songwriting and a soulful, not-in-the-least-bit-showy vocal approach—it wasn’t until more recently that Richey locked into a groove all her own. That in mind, Wreck Your Wheels (Thirty Tigers), her sixth and latest release, finds the artist reveling in a friction-free comfort zone somewhere along the well-read, emotionally honest folk/pop continuum. Richey will be guest-editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our Q&A with her.
Richey: My parents bought one of these used and completely tricked it out. Repainted the outside “chocolate,” got rid of the bad ’70s upholstery, replaced the flooring with cork, put up a rack for wine glasses and added an espresso machine. It’s amazing to just pick up and go wherever you want, find some beautiful spot to land and do it with all the comforts of home. This really appeals to my gypsy nature.
Video after the jump.
