Special Acoustic Songwriters Show in The Gospel Lounge
Knuckleheads, Kansas City
8 July 2023
Well in advance of the arrival of the performers to the stage, the sold-out room was already bustling. Katy, Claire and Stephanie have previously worked together in Katy Guillen and the Girls, a blues-rock songwriter project that took the scene by surprise in 2014. Their devoted family of fans, many of whom have known each other for the better part of a decade now, had turned the recently remapped Gospel Lounge into a party hall of their own.
Before kicking off with Willingly, a relatively newer track from Katy’s current joint project with Stephanie, “Katy Guillen and the Drive”; Katy felt obliged to assure the audience that they would soon get into playing their earlier “the Girls” material.
As the trio marched sprightly into their act, the atmosphere of friendship was only accentuated. Their old band, Katy Guillen and the Girls, has been on “indefinite hiatus” for almost five years, but any outsiders to their fandom would have been none the wiser. The vocal harmonies are polished, and every note seems to fall seamlessly in the pocket. This is of course no feat of chance, but of their vast individual technical prowess that stands out even more in the acoustic set-up in which they start the night. Stephanie fascinates the house with a luscious performance on the cajón and percussion kit.
When Claire switches to the upright bass to play Feel Good, the energy within the attendance hikes up one more notch as they spontaneously clap – in the style of a blues club – after every solo by the band. Undeterred by minor technical sound issues with the double bass, Claire takes the lead vocal to showcase some of her newest material. She splendidly sings (and plays) Out of My Head, followed by Words of Love, and The Wind and the Rain. The acoustic set ends with Batallas, a fresh Spanish language spin on The Drive’s “Battles”, which Katy describes as a musical exploration of her Mexican heritage. This takes her into long, wide-open vocals superbly executed along an exquisite acoustic guitar solo.
A very brief break came, only for the time required for Stephanie to switch over from the percussion set-up to a full rock drum kit. The listeners, all of whom were thoroughly invested in the music, can be heard exchanging their takes on how good the band sounds, or how melodic Claire’s newest work is.
The triad reignites the show with Claire’s Better Luck, established now as a crowd favourite judging by their reaction. This is followed by an intimate new song, Goodbye Charlie; a loving pet eulogy. Then, the enthusiasm is ratcheted-up even further with the singalong The Line from The Hook which begins a block where the songwriters trade a couple of their newer compositions. By this time, more than a few of the concertgoers had abandoned their seats in favour of whatever tract of dancefloor they could find. And this was only the lead-in for much awaited and even livelier portion of the night: The “Girls” classics.
The Load led to Wake up in Spain, Don’t get Bitter, Gabriela and Heavy Days; all genuine hair-whipping bangers. High wattage smiles were lit up on stage as the entertainers take in the elation of the gathering. They struggle pretending to go off the stage before they step back for the encore, to treat their fans with their very own and now emblematic renditions of the classic blues jams Red House and Got My Mojo Working.
At the end, the show was thoroughly gratifying for everybody. Through their masterful stagecraft and versatility across different styles and set-ups; Katy, Claire, and Stephanie achieve another flawless concert to a sold-out, fully attentive audience who were with no doubt well rewarded.
Parasol 