Busking into your living room

December 21, 2009 12:50 PM

Teenage rockabilly group Kitty Daisy & Lewis perform Going Up Country on German TV

Video for the song
Video for their newest single
Daytrotter session

The family (who records everything at home in a vintage studio) has been playing live for several years, but only recently when they opened for Coldplay and appeared (50s style) in a movie as themselves did they start to make waves in the country whose music inspires them.


Bonus fact: bass-player mama Ingrid Weiss played in the post-punk band the Raincoats.

posted by Potomac Avenue (26 comments total)

They are awesome!! Thanks for this post, I hope it reaches a new set of fans!!
posted by kuppajava at 12:53 PM on December 21, 2009

Love them! Thanks for posting this.
posted by OrangeSoda at 1:03 PM on December 21, 2009

Mmmmm, Charlotte.
posted by chillmost at 1:04 PM on December 21, 2009

I love this band. Bought their record on itunes last year. Cool links.
posted by JBennett at 1:04 PM on December 21, 2009

They should really move that microphone up a little.
posted by echo target at 1:05 PM on December 21, 2009

i gotta say echo, thats part of what i loved about this video when fellow mefite alzi sent it to me on the gchats--the way she awkwardly slaps the drum with her whole torso makes it necessary for them to share that one bent stand...and nothing says 50s Authenticity like a. hunchbacks and b. sharing an overloaded mic.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 1:09 PM on December 21, 2009

These guys are one good vocalist away from ruling the world. Does anyone know some kid who can sing this stuff, that they can recommend for this group? They have everything else just right...
posted by Faze at 1:20 PM on December 21, 2009

If you like this, might I also recommend Wayne Hancock, Jack Grace, Susquehanna Industrial Tool & Die Co., Stardevils, Big Sandy, etc.
posted by HP LaserJet P10006 at 1:24 PM on December 21, 2009

Gotta love a barefoot, bass-slappin' mom.
posted by Thorzdad at 1:32 PM on December 21, 2009

Do not want.
posted by punkfloyd at 1:43 PM on December 21, 2009

Do want. Skillfully done Retro Rockabilly Swing with a layer of sincerity many explorers of that genre lack. If I were to imagine Heart's Ann & Nancy Wilson born 20 years earlier, that's what they/d sound like. And I've been waiting for somebody to improve on that Canned Heat song for 4 freaking decades... (I mean, doesn't Canned Heat's vocalist sound a little like somebody on The Goon Show?)
posted by oneswellfoop at 2:26 PM on December 21, 2009

That's one of the hottest things I've seen in a while.

I kinda didn't want at first, but then I watched the video.
posted by cmoj at 2:49 PM on December 21, 2009

Very nice, thanks!
posted by dr. moot at 2:50 PM on December 21, 2009

Wait, wait... Coldplay fans appreciated this?
posted by cmoj at 2:50 PM on December 21, 2009

Actually, their mother was the drummer, not bassist for the Raincoats, and only for a very short time. She plays on a few songs on what I consider to be their best album, Odyshape.
posted by Dee Xtrovert at 4:29 PM on December 21, 2009 [1 favorite]

I play this band on my show all the time, along with Those Darlins and Van Ghost. One of the coolest things is that they released their debut not only on CD but also on hardback vinyl, like an old 88 rpm.

Neat post - glad you like 'em.
posted by Lipstick Thespian at 4:50 PM on December 21, 2009

Oh, nice stuff!
posted by bearwife at 5:27 PM on December 21, 2009

What goes around, comes around. Nice. And, keep that mic down low, way down low.
posted by Vibrissae at 5:59 PM on December 21, 2009

OK... so I was thinking... a little too forced on the opening vocals, drums down low gave the cameraman the happy task of shooting down her cleavage... passable but not great. Then she hit with the harp. Wow. Stayed with it. Loved it.
posted by Mike D at 6:32 PM on December 21, 2009

Loved the music, vibe, etc. Funny how plain jane the 2 of them look while not playing and how hot they look while making music.
posted by signal at 6:36 PM on December 21, 2009

To say what everyone's probably thinking: man, this is a hell of a lot better than Coldplay.
posted by koeselitz at 7:00 PM on December 21, 2009

I just bought their album after watching this. They're amazing, thanks for the post!
posted by DecemberBoy at 7:18 PM on December 21, 2009

"I just bought their album after watching this."
Ditto. (Plus downloaded a couple freebies from their website.)

"They're amazing,"
Ditto.

"thanks for the post!"
Ditto.
posted by Mike D at 7:34 PM on December 21, 2009

I fell in love them instantly when I heard their version of Mohair Sam on some internet radio station. I hadn't seen any of the video footage - thanks for that! I'd love to catch this live.
posted by Slack-a-gogo at 10:11 PM on December 21, 2009

I dunno why this was supposed to be impressive? did I miss something?

They're off-key, and not especially interesting? My back hurts after watching that youtube...
posted by BlackStrapMolasses at 2:45 PM on December 22, 2009

Here's Lewis' fairly accurate Brief Recording History 1920-1960.
posted by Paid In Full at 11:07 AM on December 29, 2009