New music out! October 2024…
“The music is sparse, and well-balanced, and each moment of improvisation shows the fragility of the composer’s intentions, as well as exciting musical choices for the performer’s.
Slide guitar has the particularity of being edgy; the nature of the technique itself allows for the musician to control the intention and balance it from the most delicate weeping to the almost violent scream of the instrument. If it is traditionally anchored in blues, here Kay steers it away from cliches to find his own world.
It is a wonderful collection of personal works, which balance lyricism with musical explorations – and most importantly, beautiful music.”
After a considerable period of fascination with Open C tuning, in recent times I’ve returned to my roots playing slide in standard tuning.
My new EP, (I Could) Watch You Forever, is released on the NOOX label 25th October 2024.
It’s available on all streaming platforms and at the link below.
Really looking forward to sharing this music!
“Big B” excerpt, live September 2024
(Richard Pratley - bass, Glen Child - drums)
(Click album cover to hear)
(I Could) Watch You Forever (Dylan Kay, 2024)
(I Could ) Watch You Forever is my first release on the NOOX label. Originally conceived as a solo guitar EP, I ended up adding sympathetic guitar parts here and there.
The music is a blend of reimagined classics and heartfelt originals.
It’s about life and love.
A mix of intimate reflection and the visceral.
The slide can be brutal and unforgiving, but it allows a direct line to the soul.
(Click album cover to hear)
See. (Dylan Kay, 2022)
See. is the result of a series of songs I wrote during the Covid period of lockdowns and restrictions. The songs were all written and played in Open C tuning (the title "See." being partly a play on words).
I tried my best to challenge myself, to write honestly and to produce songs that meant something to me.
There's a lot of slide guitar (some of it beautiful, some of it noisy), a lot of me scratching my head in Open C tuning, a lot of me trying to find my voice (both literally and metaphorically), and a lot of great playing from my friends.
Jo Kelsey & Dylan Kay duo
Jo is an old friend from UK days, a phenomenal singer and a creative tour de force.
We’ve crafted a set of jazz, blues, gospel and quirky pop arrangements, which I play entirely in Open C tuning.
These are regularly unleashed on unsuspecting audiences in Auckland and beyond :-)
1224 Project
1224 Project was the culmination of a long-standing musical friendship between myself, bassist Leslee Booth and drummer David Bouet.
We did a LOT of playing together, spent a lot of time exploring our musical curiosity together and performed a lot in London and further afield.
We released the album What Happened to The Foot in 2011 (click album cover to listen).
