ALAN RAND
KARYN KUHL
When Hoboken’s beloved singer-songwriter Karyn Kuhl takes the stage, I feel a stronger sense of connection that I get from virtually any of her male counterparts. The world of rock ‘n’ roll offers too few stages for women, and with her unique blend of energy, empathy and conviction, it is no wonder that her fans find her exhilarating.
So when she releases a new song, I pay close attention. In “Cat Swamp Road” (listen below), Kuhl takes us on a trip that will resonate for many — a drive to see her dying father.
Produced and engineered by Larry Heinemann at Rabbit Hole studio in Jersey City, the song features Kuhl on vocals and guitar, Heinemann on bass and keyboards, Jonpaul Pantozzi on drums and Charlie Nieland on guitar.
Kuhl’s elegant and hypnotic voice and colorful melodies make her solemn and evocative songs about heartbreak and alienation linger after each listen. She succeeds with this tune, too, finding a catchy sound that pulls us into this sacred and lonely passage of parental loss.
“I wrote this song right after my father died in 2019,” Kuhl said. “Cat Swamp Road is an actual road in Northwest New Jersey that I would drive on to visit him in the nursing home as he was nearing the end of his life.”
She sings:
They called it a black moon
She said this black key opens room 14
All I saw on the door was 1/4
January so cold and bleak in the heat of July
He will leave and I’ll take the last ride on Cat Swamp Road
Those sad eyes are closed
“I did a little traveling right after his funeral and the first two places I stayed at had a 14 on the door,” she explained. “I took it as a sign to start writing since his birthday was Jan. 4. The song turned into a cryptic poem about ancestral trauma. The cap, mask and gun specifically reference my grandfather who spent 20-plus years in Sing Sing for robbing a bus at gunpoint in the early 1930s. My father was 5 years old the last time he saw him and only had very hazy memories.”
The cover of Karyn Kuhl’s “Cat Swamp Road” cover. Her father is shown in the middle of the top row.
In my 2024 interview with Lucinda Williams, she said songwriting is “my form of therapy.” I guessed that it is for Kuhl as well. “Songwriting has always helped me transmute the difficult times into something positive,” she said.
Kuhl has written songs about other family members, including her mother. “A song called ‘The Beautiful Glow’ was inspired by my mother’s passing,” she said. “These two songs are like bookends for me.”
The period of time following a parent’s death can trigger some of us to evaluate our ancestral history. That seems to be the case for Kuhl. “Yes, I was especially drawn in to my father’s family’s story right after he passed away and I started writing this song,” she said.
The song’s musical influences include The Beatles’ “Lady Madonna” (“There’s an ascending guitar line that follows the bass in that song; it inspired the ascending guitar line in ‘Cat Swamp,’ ” Kuhl says) and Fiona Apple (the use of mellotron was inspired by the production on some of Apple’s songs).
“Cat Swamp Road” surfaced in an interesting way. “The song came to life around a core guitar part in medieval tuning,” Kuhl said. “That haunting aura is enveloped by the delicate and supportive melodies of synth strings, ethereal guitar, mellotron, Wurlitzer and Fender Bass VI. The funky trip-hop beat and ascending lead guitar line give hope that healing will come after taking that sad and beautiful ride on Cat Swamp Road.”
Kuhl has been part of Hoboken’s music scene since the ’80s, in bands including Gut Bank and Sexpod. Currently, she performs solo and with her band Karyn Kuhl & the Gang.
I interviewed her in-depth in 2018 and later reviewed her resonant 2019 song “It’s Over” (listen below); it is relevant now given the recent democratic wins in New Jersey, New York, Virginia and elsewhere. As I have previously written and still feel today, the powerful song “offers an ecstatic release from the anger and despair that many of us feel these days.”
Karyn Kuhl & the Gang, Psych-o-Positive and The Maybes will perform at The Pet Shop in Jersey City, Nov. 13 at 8 p.m. Visit petshopjc.com.
The band will also perform at a “Holiday Bash” concert — also featuring Seth Glier, Rachael Sage & the Sequins, and Glenn Morrow’s Cry for Help — that will be presented by MPress Records and Bar/None Records at Bowery Electric in Manhattan, Dec. 10 at 6:30 p.m. Visit theboweryelectric.com
For more about Kuhl, visit karynkuhl.bandcamp.com.
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