For years, Amythyst Kiah has poured her heartache into her folksy Americana songwriting. Her tribulations have earned her accolades, including 2019 Song of the Year award at the Folk Alliance International Awards and a Grammy nomination.
Kiah, however, has moved past her anguish on her third full-length record, Still + Bright. The Southern Gothic singer-songwriter is now embracing her roots as an “anime-nerd mall goth.”
“A lot of my songwriting was really centered around emotional turmoil and grief and loss,” Kiah said. “At this point, I'd been going to psychotherapy for several years, and obviously I had changed. I wanted to find ways of songwriting that didn't always involve me being depressed and miserable. So I just started with revisiting hobbies and interests that I used to have before my twenties. A lot of the things I enjoyed were sci-fi and horror and fantasy. Revisiting video games and movies and books and all of those things and revisiting the stuff that really inspired me initially when I was creating. Allowing those things back into my life was really incredible to be able to do.”
Kiah had a very musical upbringing in Chattanooga, Tenn. Her father, now her tour manager, played in a '70s band, and her mother sang in the church choir. Kiah taught herself guitar and attended a creative arts high school, but her teenage years were marred by tragedy, as her mother died by suicide when Kiah was just 17 years old. Kiah’s third public performance was singing at her mother’s funeral.
Kiah then attended the Bluegrass, Old Time and Country Music Studies program at East Tennessee State University. Her current signature sound blends these traditional roots genres with an alternative rock edge.
“What drew me to old-time music was that there was a lot of variety in instrumentation, in vocal styling,” Kiah said. “It kind of looked at the various styles of music that essentially are the foundations for a lot of American music. Then, I gravitated toward being considered Americana. After years of learning different kinds of folk music I still had a very strong influence in alternative music ... I kind of leaned into that direction [Americana] because it allowed for me to be able to expand more on my sound."
Her big breakthrough came in 2019, when she collaborated with Rhiannon Giddens, Leyla McCalla and Allison Russell on the Songs of Our Native Daughters album. Her song “Black Myself” earned Kiah a Grammy nomination for Best American Roots Song the following year. “Black Myself” chronicles Kiah’s struggles as a Black queer woman in the Americana genre, ultimately ending in a celebration of her unique identity.
“I grew up in a family that listened to all different kinds of music, so I didn't grow up with any assumptions about the kind of music I should listen to based on my sexuality or my race or my gender. I just loved listening to music that moved me, whatever that might be,” Kiah said. “I couldn't really relate to people that tended to be gatekeeping — these communities that have people that want to police what should be considered part of the genre, or how you should look, whether that be your skin color, or the way that you dress. I just never really ascribed to any of those things.”
Embracing her identity and origins is a central theme of Still + Bright. Kiah’s interest in Eastern philosophy and spirituality is also a pivotal component of the record, with multiple songs that analyze and deconstruct religion.
“I grew up in a secular household in the Bible Belt, so my initial impressions of religion and spirituality came from the kind of evangelical, very conservative Christians that I was surrounded by, and the exclusivity and the judgmental culture surrounding that didn't really appeal to me,” Kiah said. “I think there's some sort of power out there, but I don't believe there's any way to know for sure. You kind of have to choose your own adventure, pick your narrative, or your philosophy or your religion, and kind of go with what resonates with you.”
Still + Bright opens with a commentary on faith that features S.G. Goodman, “Play God And Destroy The World.” The album features multiple collaborators, including Avi Kaplan of Pentatonix fame, Tim Armstrong of Rancid, Sadler Vaden from Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit (whom Kiah toured with in 2023), and producer Butch Walker, who’s worked with artists like Taylor Swift, Green Day and Weezer.
Kiah’s concert at the Temple Theater in Des Moines on Friday, Jan. 9 will be unique because she is performing solo, as opposed to her usual full band shows. This intimate setting will allow her to give the audience a bit more insight into her songwriting.
“What I’ve been doing with my solo shows, I have been taking a little bit of time in between songs to talk about some of the stories behind the songs,” Kiah said. “A lot of the songs I’ll be playing are from Still + Bright, and I also always throw in a few songs from Wary + Strange and a couple of songs from Pensive Pop.”
Tickets for Amythyst Kiah: Live at the Temple are available on the Des Moines Performing Arts website.
