Kim Richey Releases New Album 'Every New Beginning'
Richey will be joined by Sarah Rodman for an in-depth album conversation and performance at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles on June 18.
By: Josh Sharpe May. 24, 2024
“Whenever I write a song, the thing that I enjoy the most is when someone hears a song or a line and says, ‘That's how I feel,’” says Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Kim Richey. “As long as the music is connecting, there is no end.” Now, Richey keeps her connection-fueled perpetual motion moving with the release of a brand new album, Every New Beginning. Released on Yep Roc Records and featuring ten songs spanning from more recent writes to decade-old puzzle pieces—written, or co-written by Richey with a coterie of characters—Every New Beginning highlights not just the songs of a master tunesmith but a career-defining performance from the voice which Brandi Carlile has cited as formative in crafting her own style.
“Sometimes songs aren’t ready to reveal themselves and you have to have the patience to wait them out,” says revered songwriter and performer Kim Richey who hung onto the chorus of her new single “A Way Around” for a year before the spark finally caught fire. “We will serve no song before its time,” she laughs. Then one morning, ahead of a morning co-write with Aaron Lee Tasjan and Brian Wright, Richey sat down with a guitar and revisited her initial chorus idea. “Finally it came to me,” she remembers. “‘You’ve been looking for a way around.’ That’s all I needed and the rest of the chorus fell out.” Eagerly, she brought that chorus to Tasjan and Wright and “A Way Around” was born.
Sonically, “A Way Around” exudes 1970s southern California; a simple chord progression energized by swirling, arpeggiating guitars and a bass foundation that pulses and moves with the singer’s celestial voice. Emerging from a psychedelic, instrumental bridge driven by producer Doug Lancio’s and Tasjan’s guitars, Richey revisits the chorus: “You been looking for a way around / Water keeps rising til you think you’re gonna drown.” “This song was probably a message from my subconscious to me saying ‘the best way might be through rather than around whatever is troubling you.’”
Produced by critically lauded multi-instrumentalist and producer Doug Lancio (Patty Griffin, John Hiatt), Every New Beginning was recorded at Skinny Elephant studio in Nashville with engineer Dylan Alldredge in August 2023 with musical assistance from longtime collaborators like Dan Mitchell and Neilson Hubbard—who produced Richey’s 2013 album Thorn in My Heart—and newer friends like Lex Price on bass and Nashville neighbor Aaron Lee Tasjan, who lends his irrepressibly sparkly musicality to the proceedings. Every New Beginning manages to continue the throughline of Richey’s nearly 30-year career while simultaneously adding a new chapter.
Fans can stream or purchase Every New Beginning in its entirety today at this link and purchase the new album on Clear Coke Bottle vinyl right here. Richey has a few shows left on her UK tour before heading back to the stage in the States in June. Richey will be joined by Sarah Rodman for an in-depth album conversation and performance at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles on June 18. American Express Early Access tickets are available May 16 at 10:30am PT, general sale begins May 18 at 12pm PT. Click here to reserve. Additionally, Richey’s showcase at AMERICANAFEST in September was announced earlier this week. A full list of tour dates can be found below or at kimrichey.com/tour.
Catch Kim Richey On Tour:
May 24 - Newcastle upon Tyne, UK - The Cluny 2
May 25 - York, UK - Newbald Village Hall
May 26 - Birmingham, UK - Birmingham Kitchen Garden
June 11 - Nashville, TN - Grand Ole Opry
June 13 - Auburn, AL - Sundilla Acoustic Concert Series
June 14 - Decatur, GA - Eddie’s Attic
June 15 - Charlotte, NC - The Evening Muse
June 18 - Los Angeles, CA - Grammy Museum
June 26 - Nashville, TN - Riverside Revival (for WMOT)
July 13 - Nashville, TN - Country Music Hall of Fame
July 24-27 - Healdsburg, CA - Songwriters in Paradise 2024
Aug. 18 - Ann Arbor, MI - The Ark
Sept. 8 - Denver, CO - Swallow Hill Music - Tuft Theater
Sept. 17-21 - Nashville, TN - AMERICANAFEST
Oct. 2 - Pittsburgh, PA - City Winery Pittsburgh with special guest Bill Deasy
Oct. 4 - State College, PA - The Attic at the State Theatre
Oct. 5 - Vienna, VA - Jammin’ Java
Oct. 6 - Avenel, NJ - Avenel Arts Center
For all tour dates and ticket information, please visit kimrichey.com/tour.
About Kim Richey:
From her critically acclaimed self-titled 1995 debut to Long Way Back… The Songs of Glimmer in 2020, Richey has consistently impressed listeners, garnered accolades, and attracted famous fans with her deft songwriting and crystalline vocals, both of which have made her an in-demand collaborator. Richey has penned No.1 hits for Radney Foster (“Nobody Wins”) and Trisha Yearwood (“Believe Me Baby (I Lied)”)—the latter earning her a Grammy nomination for Best Country Song—as well as writing songs with Mary Chapin Carpenter, Patty Loveless, Chuck Prophet, and Gretchen Peters, among others. Her voice has graced scores of recordings, providing peerless harmonies, including Jason Isbell’s watershed Southeastern, Trisha Yearwood’s Everybody Knows, Heartbreaker by Ryan Adams, Rodney Crowell’s “Please Remember Me,” and Has Been by Capt. Kirk himself, William Shatner. Most recently Richey co-headlined a night of Brandi Carlile’s Girls Just Wanna Weekend Festival in Mexico, sharing the stage with a wide range of artists including Carlile—who cites Richey as a formative influence—Brandy Clark, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Annie Lennox, Allison Russell, and Sarah McLachlan. She was also a special guest at Jason Isbell’s annual Ryman Auditorium residency, sitting in to reprise her role for the anniversary performance of Southeastern. Richey hits the road in the US and Europe this spring in support of Every New Beginning. For more information, visit KimRichey.com or follow her at Facebook.com/KimRicheyMusic and Instagram @kimrichey.
Photo credit: Stacie Huckeba
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