Amythyst Kiah to bring roots, rock and personal story to Warren
Amythyst Kiah to bring roots, rock and personal story to Warren
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Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Amythyst Kiah will bring her distinctive blend of Americana, roots, country and rock to Warren on Saturday, Oct. 3, beginning at 8 p.m.
The performance is part of the Roots Rising Concert Series with a general admission cost of $20 and $5 for students. Kiah will perform at 8 p.m. in the Mead Family Library Room on the second floor of Struthers Library Theatre. The room is fully accessible. The performance is presented by Roots Rising Concert Series and sponsored by the Warren Concert Association.
Kiah, a Tennessee-bred artist known for combining traditional roots influences with indie and rock sounds, has built a career around transforming deeply personal experiences into music. Her songs frequently explore identity, grief, trauma, family relationships and self-discovery.
Her appearance in Warren comes at a particularly meaningful time of year, as September’s Suicide Prevention Month has recently concluded. Kiah has spoken openly about losing her mother to suicide when she was 17 and about the role music has played in processing the grief and emotions that followed.
She was asked how she is able to hold back the tears during some of her most sensitive songs.
For Kiah, performing is not necessarily about reliving those emotions onstage.
"As a performer, I let the vocals be the emotion," she has said, describing singing as a cathartic act that allows her to channel feelings through the music rather than becoming overwhelmed by them. She shared that by concentrating on her craft and the act of repetition there is a separation that comes naturally with practice.
That approach can be heard in her songwriting, including "Wild Turkey," a song from her 2021 album Wary + Strange. The song addresses the unresolved grief surrounding her mother’s death and became, for Kiah, a way of releasing emotions she had carried for years.
Music was not always an easy outlet for Kiah. She has described periods of anxiety, isolation and withdrawing from others, as well as the challenges of navigating her identity as a Black woman and tomboy. She credits music and education with helping her find community.
"Through school and playing music, I was able to open up to people and find a sense of community," she has said.
Kiah’s musical education began long before she entered college. At 13, she received an 1980s Fender guitar and taught herself to play using CD-ROM video lessons. Her interest in rock music grew as she developed her skills.
During her junior year of high school, Kiah transferred to a creative arts high school, where she majored in creative writing and took classical guitar as an elective. She later attended East Tennessee State University, completing the school’s Bluegrass, Old Time, and Country Music Studies program and joining its prominent old-time band.
Those experiences helped shape the musical combination that has become central to her career: traditional American roots music alongside contemporary rock influences.
Kiah began touring in 2010, performing both as a solo artist and with her band, Her Chest of Glass. She also became a member of Our Native Daughters, an all-women-of-color musical collective featuring Kiah, Rhiannon Giddens, Leyla McCalla and Allison Russell.
Also from her Wary + Strange album, a song called "Black Myself," written by Kiah, earned a 2020 Grammy Award nomination for Best American Roots Song.
Kiah has since performed on programs including Jimmy Kimmel Live! and CBS Saturday Morning, while continuing to develop a sound that challenges conventional boundaries surrounding Americana music.
Her work has also reached television audiences through appearances of her songs in the Netflix series The Abandons, including "Trouble So Hard" and "In the Pines."
In discussing her more recent work, Kiah has described a change in her approach to songwriting. After years of feeling anxiety and holding back from difficult subjects, she said she eventually reached a point where she felt more comfortable writing from a place of confidence and fulfillment.
"In the past I felt so mired down with anxiety that I sometimes held back from what I really wanted to write about; I felt like I needed to play it safe and keep certain thoughts to myself." Kiah continued, "But now I'm at a point where I'm confident in what I value and love, and because of that I've made the album I've always wanted to make."
That personal evolution has become an important part of Kiah’s music. Rather than separating her artistic life from her experiences, she uses songwriting to examine them.
She has described music as her therapy and has said she hopes her songs can provide something similar for listeners going through difficult periods in their own lives.
"I hope that these songs can help people out if they're going through a difficult time," Kiah has said. "That's what I always hope for more than anything: for my music to continue to be a part of the healing process for anyone who might need it."
Audience members at the Warren performance can expect to hear songs from Kiah’s more recent work, from the Still + Bright album, along with selections from Wary + Strange. In addition, older material that reflects her country, bluegrass and old-time influences will be part of her set. She is also working on new music which could bring a new song for her to share.