In Conversation With Colin: Kara Grainger

Quietly and without any fanfare, Kara Grainger has created her fifth full length solo album. Teaming up with renowned Memphis producer Lawrence ‘Boo’ Mitchell and recording the album at the iconic Royal Studios, they were joined by the Hi Rhythm Section, as well as two members of her own touring band, Marcus Finnie and David Guy on three tracks.

Kara is a refreshingly honest person who believes strongly in her craft and it’s her ability to get inside the emotions and the people that she writes about that marks her as a writer and singer of quality. 

Speaking from her back porch in Nashville, Colin Palmer recently caught up with Kara for ‘The Rock Vault’ ahead of a UK tour and the release of her brand new album, That’s How I Got To Memphis.

“I was originally going to record the album here in Nashville,” Kara tells me. “I told the musician’s I play with live, Marcus Finnie and David Guy, that I would involve them on the recording as well. They happen to be fans of Memphis soul music so it was a huge thrill for them, they came down and Boo absolutely loved them so it worked out fantastically well and they played on three tracks.”

An Australian native who moved to the USA nearly twenty years ago, opening shows for the likes of Peter Frampton and Buddy Guy, Kara Grainger’s faultless song writing combined with a voice seeped in emotion transcends genres, including rock, Americana, and Texas blues.

Her 2008 debut Grand and Green River spent 38 weeks in the Americana Top 30 and her 2018 release Living With Your Ghost went top three on the Billboard Blues Album Chart. Her latest release, That’s How I Got To Memphis may be her strongest effort yet, proving she’s more than just a gifted slide guitarist.

Royal Studios was founded by Boo Mitchell’s grandfather, bandleader, producer and arranger Willie Mitchell, who also co-founded Hi Records. “Royal Studios is like walking into a museum, it’s pretty rustic the way it’s put together and I think that’s somewhat intentional, they don’t want to change too much around.

“The vocal booth, microphone and equipment was the original that Al Green recorded all his stuff on, so I’m in this isolated booth having the same experience that many of the people that I look up to, these legendary iconic singers also stood in the same place as me and that was an incredible experience.”

The backing band on Kara’s new album features many familiar musicians who have appeared on Memphis albums through the years. Among them are the two Hi Rhythm Section stalwarts Reverend Charles Hodges on Hammond organ and Leroy Hodges on bass. The Norman sisters, Shontelle and Sharisse contribute background vocals along with the modern day Memphis Horns of trumpeter Marc Franklin and baritone saxophonist Kirk Smothers.

“The Memphis Horns have a couple of configurations now,” explains Kara. “The original players back in the day that played with Al Green and Anne Peebles and all that stuff was a unit. Kirk was one of the older guys and plays baritone sax on the album. The way that Boo Mitchell works, who is the grandson of Willie Mitchell and who started Royal Studios, he really wants to preserve the original sound of the whole studio, and it’s 100% a family affair, he uses the same people.

“I actually told him that I wanted to bring in my bass player and drummer from Nashville on a couple of songs but he was originally extremely hesitant because it’s all the Royal Rhythm Section and he really wants to preserve the legacy of that place. He’s got so much respect for his Dad, Willie.”

Full marks to producer Boo Mitchell for both the lush musical arrangements, but also for allowing Kara’s vocals the space and freedom to shine. “Boo pushed the recording in a very traditional Memphis Royal Sound way, that’s what he does and what he’s really good at. I wasn’t sure when going into the project if it was going to be as retro sounding with the horns and the backups but that’s the way that he took it and I have no complaints about that.”

Since her beginnings playing the club scene of Balmain in Sydney Australia, Kara’s music has taken her on an incredible journey across the globe. At the age of sixteen she joined with her harmonica playing brother Mitch Grainger to form the band Papa Lips. The band toured consistently throughout Australia and produced two studio albums that received national air play. The band was heavily influenced by the sounds of Stax Records in Memphis, and by the funky style of blues and soul that emanated from New Orleans.

In 2011 she toured Japan with The Swampers, the fabled house rhythm section for Fame Recordings in Muscle Shoals. “That was with Donnie Fritts who was one of the main writers for Muscle Shoals”, says Kara. “He was one of the guys that was also a studio writer and he toured with The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section. David Hood was in it but this was a one-off tour in Japan actually, and we did five or six places around Japan and that was great. The guitar player on that tour Scott Boyer had also written so many great songs as well. I had been playing one of his songs for years called ‘Please Be With Me’ (461 Ocean Boulevard) that Eric Clapton recorded and then when I’m on stage with him in Japan he told me that he wrote the song, and I didn’t realise.”

The song ‘Mama Said’ found on the new album comes with a funky guitar solo over swirling Hammond organ. “That’s just a fun track with some quirky but straight forward lyrics, it just seemed natural to put that groove to it. When I got together with the musicians they take it in a certain way and I always like to see what they are going to bring to my songs, because you think you have an idea of where it’s going to go and if you’re open to that they usually make it better.”

Another highlight of the album is the opening track ‘Texas Blues’, a song that celebrates the legacy of three of the finest blues players to come out of Texas, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Freddie King and Smokin’ Joe Kubek. “The co-writers on that were Don Ridder and another blues guitarist from Italy called Dany Franchi, we were all in Dallas, Texas and Dany had gone around and visited these legendary grave sites specifically these people that are in the song. Also Smokin Joe Kubek was a personal influence for Don, and I knew him as well, I had toured with him and performed with him, and for people in Texas he’s really revered.

“We were sitting around and started writing this song, Dany told us the story and then we wrote most of the lyrics at that point, I came up with the chorus and just refined some different things so it was pretty much a co-write between me and Don, and he hadn’t done that before actually. So that’s how that song came about, touring all the grave sites in Northern Dallas, and I do absolutely love Texas blues, I always have been a huge Stevie Ray Vaughan fan and Freddie King.”

Excerpts of this interview were broadcast on ‘The Rock Vault’ October 14^th 2025. Listen here…

https://player.autopod.xyz/1053826

Colin Palmer