'if you're unfamiliar with kirsty mcgee and you don't read the small print (boo hewerdine, capercaillie, karine polwart etc.), you'd never guess she hails from this side of the atlantic. the kansas sessions is sheer, banjo-dominated americana from its tom waits-like washboard blowouts (no less than three musicians are credited with '“junk”') to its clarinet soliloquies, recorded at the evocatively named “ninth ward pickin' parlour” in lawrence, KS. no surprise that a maverick review cites the coen brothers, and there's certainly enough of the offbeat in the restless tempos and illicit still-cum-dixieland arrangements to justify that.
'mcgee can neo-yodel with the best of them (check out opener bonecrusher), yet there's also, in the sensuous, deliberate turn of her phrase and her bare-bulb lyrics, a hint of an anglophone lhasa or even madeleine peyroux, and it's through clarinet-whispering ballads like sandman which she really inhabits her brand of waymarked noir.' - HMV

a maker of delicate yet stubborn songs, an instinctive traveller, a human scrapbook. years spent as a hitchhiker and a period of homelessness have enriched her knowledge of people and places, all whilst keeping her moving. after spending a while building tree houses and bagging-out earth from tunnels at road protest camps kirsty sold all her possessions and hitched to cornwall where she lived in a beach hut and learnt to fingerpick.
her affinity with a life of perpetual movement and a hand-to-mouth existence has made its mark on her songs in a manner reminiscent of jack kerouac and the 'beat' generation, and has made her music difficult to classify. she has been variously described as producing 'folk noir', 'vaudebilly' and 'hobopop', and she and long-term collaborator mat martin were described in maverick magazine as 'simon and garfunkel : the tim burton version.'
her studio albums have attracted collaborations with some of the most important names in the scene, such as producers john wood (honeysuckle, 2002), boo hewerdine (frost, 2004), and neill maccoll (two birds, 2006). they are recorded live in the studio, her shows are simple and direct, and much of her work has been made using the instruments she has built herself.
the evolution of her work is set to continue in still closer collaboration with multi-instrumentalist and musical partner mat martin with her fourth studio album 'the kansas sessions' due for release in 2008. the record was made in the usa with producer and maverick musician mike west of truckstop honeymoon, and promises to encapsulate the hobopop style in a new collection of simple, edgy songs. the combination of english literary songwriting and american influence recorded in an open and direct way has already proved a winning formula.

‘the kansas sessions is full of beautifully produced, immediately accessible, joyously engaging music that, like a carnival barker, draws you inside to take a closer look at the disturbing, the weird and the wonderful. if it was a film, it would be a coen brothers' film, full of startlingly arresting images, visual grace and impossibly cool moments of rich, dark humour.’ - maverick

'shivering, hollering, edgy, dark, delightful, disturbing, involving, beautifully phrased, acoustic music' - the living tradition

'perfect understatement - not an extraneous word or note' - karine polwart 

'absolutely superb, memorable... i love her songs, i love her way' - bob harris

'a quiet triumph' - folk roots