Search - Hank Kim :: Blue Alibi

Informed by such masters as the late Warren Zevon, Paul Westerberg of The Replacements, Graham Parker, XTC's Andy Partridge, and Elvis Costello, reclusive NYC singer-songwriter Hank Kim had been quietly chipping away, without fanfare. Meanwhile, south of 14th Street, indie rock mainstay Mike Daly was hunkered down in the downtown New York scene as an emerging producing force. Daly,along with Ryan Adams and Caitlin Cary, had formed the creative nucleus of alt-country fave Whiskeytown. After the breakup of the band, Daly, the self-professed "pop guy" in Whiskeytown, was introduced to Kim by a mutual friend. Daly became intrigued with the singer's raw, idiosyncratic voice and melodic hooks, chronicling the jagged tales of misfits, rebels and other bruised souls, flailing at the ghosts of redemption, in turns that are both comic and heartbreaking. Together,Kim and Daly walked into Soho's Magic Shop to cut the basic tracks for the first group of tunes that would become "Blue Alibi." Kim, Daly and their cadre of ringers--some of the music industry's finest players--went to work. Drummer Dan Rieser, he of Marcy Playground fame, and one of the primary collaborators on Norah Jones' Grammy-sweeping juggernaut, "Come Away With Me", made his presence felt. Other talents gracing the proceedings included drummer Alan Bezozi(Freedy Johnston), keyboardist John Deley(Dido) and Ben E. King bassist Joe Quigley. What they created, "Blue Alibi", is a heartfelt paean to the often misplaced musical forms of storytelling and songcraft. It is power pop that is both immediate and ethereal.