Kaki King at Esplanade Recital Studio

Kaki King, born Katherine Elizabeth King in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, began playing the guitar at the age of four. Although she switched to the drums as an adolescent, she picked up the guitar again while attending the New York University and, heavily influenced by composer-guitarists Michael Hedges and Preston Reed, began developing the fingerstyle techniques, including intricate fingerpicking, slap bass and (sometimes two-handed) fret tapping, that she would later be acclaimed for.

Her first album, Everybody Loves You, was released through Velour Records in 2002. Showcasing Kaki King on solo acoustic guitar, its unusual tapped melodies beautifully rendered with fingerstyle techniques and double open tunings garnered much critical acclaim and led to an appearance on the Late Night with Conan O’Brien show and a deal with Epic Records’ Red Ink label. In 2004, her second album, Legs to Make Us Longer, was released through Red Ink, and featured Kaki King playing percussive guitar on a steel guitar this time, backed by other string instruments, light drumming, looping and other effects, again to many accolades.