Kara Grainger

That’s How I Got To Memphis

Red Parlor Records

Australian-born Kara Grainger was always singing. She began learning guitar at the age of twelve and by her mid-teens was already improvising. She absorbed influences from artists such as Etta James, John Lee Hooker, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Little Feat. In 1994, just out of high school, Kara and her brother Mitch formed the band Papa Lips.

Kara grew up in Balmain, a suburb of Sydney known for its pubs and live music venues that embraced jazz and blues. This scene led to her appearances at The Basement, one of the city’s legendary venues. Papa Lips released an EP in 1996 and followed with a full album in 1998. The band toured widely and performed at major Australian festivals, including the Byron Bay Blues & Roots Festival. In 1998, they changed their name to Grainger, releasing another EP, Sky Is Falling, and recording an unreleased album.

In September 2001, Kara and Mitch traveled to New York to meet with American record labels including Atlantic, Sony, Virgin, and Elektra. They arrived just as the September 11 attacks unfolded, a harrowing experience that marked the end of the band. Kara and Mitch chose to pursue separate musical paths.

In 2005, back in Australia, Kara briefly performed with the Steve Prestwich Band. That same year, she signed with Craving Records and released the EP Secret Soul. Encouraged to return to the U.S., she relocated to Los Angeles and in 2008 released her debut solo album Grand and Green River. The record spent 38 consecutive weeks on the Americana Top 40 chart and won first place from the Indie Acoustic Project. Kara was also invited to perform at the Folk Alliance International in Austin and Memphis.

Her second album, L.A. Blues, appeared in 2011 and featured mostly covers alongside two originals. In 2013, she released Shiver & Sigh on Randy Chortkoff’s Eclecto Groove Records, produced and engineered by David Z. The album included contributions from her brother Mitch on harmonica, guitarists Kirk Fletcher and Josh Sklair, bassist Hutch Hutchinson, keyboardist Mike Finnigan, drummer Jimi Bott, and a powerful horn section. In 2018, she followed with Living with Your Ghost on Station House Records, featuring keyboardist Ivan Neville and The Texas Horns, which many hailed as her finest album to date.

Now, with her fifth release That’s How I Got to Memphis, Kara delivers perhaps her strongest album yet. She wrote or co-wrote six new songs and selected three inspired covers. The ensemble includes Kara Grainger on guitar and vocals; Reverend Charles Hodges on Hammond organ; Leroy Hodges on bass; Archie Turner on Wurlitzer; and Lina Beach on rhythm guitar. Backing vocals come from Candise Marshall, Shontelle Norman, Sharisse Norman, Jackie Bristow, and Louis Grainer, supported by a horn section of Marc Franklin on trumpet, Kirk Smothers on baritone sax, and Lannie McMillan on tenor sax. Bobby Chase adds violin and viola, while Alex Krew contributes cello. The project was produced and engineered by Lawrence “Boo” Mitchell at Royal Studios in Memphis.

The album opens with “Texas Blues,” where Kara sings, “I went to the graveyard to pay respect to three men I never met, I knew them well, they took a place, stories to tell, I’ve been all around the world, nothing satisfies like Texas blues.” On the first cover, Tom T. Hall’s “That’s How I Got to Memphis,” she delivers a heartfelt reading: “If you love somebody enough, you’ll follow wherever they go, that’s how I got to Memphis, that’s how I got to Memphis…If you tell me that she’s not here, I’ll follow the trail of her tears, that’s how I got to Memphis.”

“Light Your Fire” showcases Kara’s slide guitar alongside Reverend Charles Hodges’ Hammond organ as she chants, “I want to tell you all you that you despise, sorry I wish you’d compromise, look inside yourself are you livin’…look inside your heart, do what you wanna do…oh set your soul on fire, I heard light it up, light your fire.” On “Wake Up With You,” she croons tenderly, “When you smile my way…I know you’re gonna tell the truth, I know you better than I know myself, no one else, still I’m waking up with you.”

“Mama Said” is all Kara, as she cries out, “You get a smile on your face, what did you do, you look like a cave girl, just a devil in disguise, mama said you gonna get burned every time,” again fueled by Hodges’ organ. “Love Played a Game,” a 1976 song written by Don Bryant, F. Hodges, and Ann Peebles and recorded by Peebles herself, pays tribute to one of Kara’s greatest influences. She belts, “Love played everyone and made a fool of me, love played a game on me, I get up in the morning, lose my appetite, love, love, love, played a game on me.”

The third cover, “Doodle Loop (World Is a Little Bit Under the Weather),” written by Leo Nocentelli and Allen Toussaint, brings a funky edge as Kara bursts, “Not feeling too good myself, oh, evolution, ain’t no solution, the world is a little bit under the weather, doodle loop, doodle loop, doodle do.” Her originals continue with “Same Old River,” co-written with D. Lackey and J. Cirillo, where she groans, “Same old story, different shadows and lies.” “Lessons,” co-written with C. Lackey, offers a more reflective moment as she sings, “I first met you a troubled soul with a heart of gold…I’ve been in love and what I found, well my heart is tender…I took a chance in New York City…well, I don’t need another lesson.”

Reflecting on the album, Kara shared: “Ann Peebles and Al Green are amongst my absolute favorite artists of all time. It was an extremely easy decision to work with Boo after meeting him by chance in Nashville two years ago. When he told me the Hi-Rhythm Section were also willing to do the record, I was even more excited. Recording with these musicians who were responsible for so much of the music that I’ve grown up with and absolutely love was such an honor and an incredible experience.”

That’s How I Got to Memphis is without question the strongest and most compelling album yet from Kara Grainger.

Richard Ludmerer

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