With a voice that has been described as having the texture of smoke & velvet – Kirsty McGee has spent the twenty years and eight albums mapping the intersection between folk, jazz, gospel and blues.

Her output – that spans across multiple genres and collaborative projects – seeks to satisfy a ravenous musical curiosity which has taken her from Odessa, Ukraine to The Bluebird Cafe in Nashville and the Mojave Desert. Whilst remaining something of a hidden gem in her native UK, over the past 20 years she has toured across eleven countries, gaining national airplay, playlisting and sessions. Her growing following includes over 43,000 monthly listeners on Spotify.

Fans include Emma Watson and Danny Boyle, for whose 2014 thriller Trance the song Sandman provided a cornerstone, both in its original version and covered by lead actress Rosario Dawson.

A one-time hitch hiker and activist, Kirsty McGee defines hobopop – a noun she has used to describe her music since setting up her own label in 2007 – as “music of no fixed abode”. Her fluid and ever-changing band The Hobopop Collective came together in the same year, drawing together players from both sides of the Atlantic who share the singer’s passion for musical vagrancy. Guests & regular players have included Marc Ribot (Tom Waits), Rob Turner and Nick Blacka (GoGo Penguin), and Clive Mellor (Richard Hawley Band).

After releasing a trio of folk tinged early albums and exploring New Orleans rhythms in The Kansas Sessions (2008) McGee’s first band album No.5 (2009) won Best Live Album in the Independent Music Awards’ 2010 Vox Pop vote. Contraband (2012) showcased a collection of love songs so delicate you were afraid that not listening gently enough might damage them. By contrast, Those Old Demons (2014) – clatters its way to your ears in a joyful and irreverent melée of devil-songs, the enjoyment in which it is impossible to miss. Dirty blues, cubist shuffle, neo jazz and wry noir. McGee’s 8th album The Deafening Sound of Stars (2019) was co-funded by Kickstarter and Arts Council England described by FolkRadioUK as ‘an unqualified celestial masterpiece and the most ineffable romantic album of the year, one to fall in love with and to…’

McGee has continued to produce ground breaking work since the release of ‘Stars’, experimenting with electronic beats in her project ‘Horned Larks’ and returning to her classical routes with the American Songbook inspired ‘Pathless Flute Choir’. In December 2023 she released a 9 track album of pastoral folk noir with Gitika Partington under the name All the Bees (‘a most unexpected and inspirational blessing…extraordinary’ Folking).

With dates added to the diary in the UK and the Netherlands, McGee makes her much anticipated return to touring later this year.

The Hobopop Collective

An ever-changing bunch of leftfield misfits and ragged visionaries with playing credits ranging from Tom Waits to GoGo Penguin. The sound is joyful and dirty with hints of gospel and blues, sometimes veering towards cubist shuffle and wry noir. From musical saw and waterphone to Humber hubcaps via the occasional metal bucket.

Ocotillo

Named after a Sonoran desert plant whose crimson rainflowers earn it the nickname ‘desert coral’, Ocotillo brings together the voices and songwriting of Kirsty McGee (UK) and Robert Garson (US). The duo formed in 2015 in Joshua Tree, California, deep in the Mojave desert when McGee turned up at Garson’s studio carrying a musical saw.

With voices that evoke the smoky textures of 1930s jazz and the rasp of desert winds, the duo tread the line between Americana and jazz swing balladry with a nod to Cole Porter & Tom Waits. The live show features unusual instruments such as musical saw, bass flute, mbira, bowed glockenspiel and lap steel.

Whilst the harmonies may conjure up a Transatlantic Gillian Welch & David Rawlings, this pairing offers something unique, disarmingly honest and utterly compelling. After a successful 23-date debut tour in 2016, the duo return in 2017 with their first release. A fascinating partnership not to be missed.