Kara Grainger

For all the latest tour news and updates, see our Tour News page.

Kara Grainger puts an irresistibly funky stamp on 12-bar standards"          The Australian

Kara Grainger at PizzaExpress Live (London, November 2023)

Classic song-writing skills, smooth sultry vocals, and the ability to whip up a storm with a fiery slide guitar - very few can boast this set of trump cards, but it just happens to be the hand dealt to Australian singer, songwriter and guitarist Kara Grainger.

With her slide-guitar virtuosity and sultry soulful vocals, comparisons between Grainger and the likes of the great Bonnie Raitt, or Susan Tedeschi, are inevitably.

Like Raitt, Grainger knows how to get inside a song's lyric, placing her own indelible stamp on such classics as Robert Johnson’s “Come On In My Kitchen” and the Allman Brothers “Whipping Post”. But Grainger is no throwback to the '70s rock scene. Although her inspiration is drawn from the same spring, there is a healthy dosage of 21st Century chic thrown in. 

With a combination of tasteful blues slide guitar, soulful vocals and a heartfelt approach to song writing, if you are not already a member of her growing UK fan base, you will be when you check her out.

If you would like to add Kara to your 2025 music programme, please get in touch. Email John at johnfinnmusic@hotmail.co.uk

For all the latest news on Kara’s 2023 European tour, please visit our Tour News page.

Kara Grainger's last album "Living With Your Ghost" (released 1st June 2019) made a big impression on the blues scene, especially in the US, where it peaked at no 3 in the Billboard Blues Albums chart.

"Grainger’s voice is quite some instrument itself: technically formidable but equally comfortable expressing warmth, vulnerability, longing and pain .... and Living With Your Ghost is an enticing introduction to what looks to be a major talent."

                                                                                                      Blues  Blast Magazine

Kudos

The following comments are just a few we received from promoters who hosted gigs by Kara Grainger during her UK tours.

"Abso****inglutely brilliant" Leo's Red Lion, Gravesend

"It was fantastic..." The Musician, Leicester

"The gig was great - she's amazing ..." The Convent, Stroud

"... love to have her back ..." Electric Palace, Bridport

"Kara nailed it ..." Edinburgh Blues Club

“... lovely in looks, personality, and hugely talented singer/songwriter, slide-guitar player, and superb vocalist”  Blakeney Harbour Rooms

And the following  comments came from attendees of some of her shows.

 "I caught the Blakeney show. They were awesome”

"One of the best gigs this year! Don't miss her!”

“… a stunning night of great music .... Just SO glad to hear her live and delivering a superb set.”

“BRILLIANT! No more needs to be said”

“Pure class all round.... Awesome band, every gig should be a sell out!”

“... FANTASTIC”

Past tours

Kara tours extensively throughout the US, Australia, Asia and Europe.

In the US, she regularly performs at festivals (The Portland Waterfront Blues Festival, Blues from the Top in Colorado and Austin City Limits, to name but a few). She's opened for many major acts including Peter Frampton, Buddy Guy,Taj Mahal and Jonny Lang. Her national tours in Australia including opening spots for Eric Johnson, Amos Lee and Little Feat.

She's travelled to India and Indonesia several times to perform, and she toured Japan in 2011 with The Swampers and Donnie Fritts, the infamous house Rhythm section for Fame Recordings in Muscle Shoals.

In Europe she's performed at the Sierre Blues Festival and Lucerne, as well as touring in Belgium, Germany, France, Luxembourg and Spain.

In 2015 Kara performed at the Beautiful Swamp Festival in Calais France, and followed this with her debut tour of the UK, which included a night at Ronnie Scotts, Londons premier blues and jazz venue.

Studio Recordings 

In 2008 Kara recorded her debut solo album Grand and Green River  in Los Angeles. Produced by David Kalish, the album received critical acclaim including first prize in the IAP awards in Austin, Texas.

Since then Kara cut two further albums in LA - LA Blues (2011) and Shiver and Sigh (2013). LA Blues was recorded live at Studio City Sound, and paid tribute to some of Kara's earliest blues inspirations. Shiver and Sigh was produced by Grammy award winning producer David Z with some of LA's finest musicians, including Mike Finnigan, Hutch Hutchinson, James Gadson and Kirk Fletcher among others.

Kara's latest release on Station House Records entitled "Living With Your Ghost", produced by Anders Osborne, was recorded at Wire Recording studios in Austin, Texas. On it's release, the album went straight into Billboard's Blues Albums charts.

YouTube Videos

Here are some videos of Kara performing with her various bands over the years, including her brilliant UK touring band. I've also included a solo acoustic live session recorded for the Raven & Blues Radio Show (UK), plus a great cover of B.B. King's "The Thrill Is Gone" 

You're The One - Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh UK (2024)

Whipping Post - The Convent, Gloucestershire, UK (2015)




The Thrill Is Gone -  with Steve Freund at Long Beach Blues & Cajun Festival (2014)

Solo Performance

The Sky Is Falling - Recorded for a live session for the Raven & Blues Radio Show (UK)


Influences 

As a vocalist Grainger is strongly influenced by Bonnie Raitt, and has shared the stage with her idol at the Timbre Rock and Roots Festival in Singapore alongside Susan Tedeschi,

As a slide player Grainger has developed her own style, less influenced by Raitt and other Californian slide masters than by their original Mississippi Delta blues role models.