In the catalogue of contemporary guitarists who specialise in altering the tuning of their instrument in revolutionary ways and using sound techniques such as tapping, Kaki King is probably the most outstanding and original of them all. More than anyone else, and with a rare autonomy, she has spent years exploring the sonic recesses of her instrument, and, above all, learning to use resources based on different musical aesthetics, usually far removed from each other, such as rock, jazz or contemporary instrumental music. Basically, what this artist does is use the techniques she has learnt to build her own, astonishingly open instrumental edifice.

As a composer, she proposes an inner journey full of aesthetic suggestions, threaded together by a storyline that traces the complex calligraphy of the guitar technique that she chooses to unveil in each of her shows. Kaki King’s work as a performer is a happy extension of her work as a composer, assembling ideas in the same place where they are born: between the strings of her guitars and on stage or in a recording studio.

Although she was introduced to her instrument, the guitar, at a very early age, drumming, however, was her first real love affair. It was not until she enrolled at New York University to study music that Kaki took up the guitar. She combines tapping and slap bass techniques, but also uses a variety of electronic loops to create a complex percussive sound. And although the first name that comes to mind when we listen to her is that of guitarist Michael Hedges, she admits that her true mentor is Preston Reed, a devotee of the music of John Fahey and Leo Kottke, both blues and folk guitarists, respectively.

Today, CentroCentro has the honour of contributing to Kaki King’s debut in Spain. And as this artist has already released a handful of albums and is thankfully not one of those who, as in the pop world, are in competition with each other to release a new album, most likely than not, her concert is going to delve into her repertoire and feature tunes from all of her records. A detail that, together with the visual aspects with which Katherine Elizabeth King ( her real name) usually adorns her concerts, offers attractions that are beyond any doubt or scrutiny.

Kaki King has performed in recordings by Foo Fighters and Echoes, and in 2007, among many other notable achievements, she contributed her music to the soundtrack of Sean Penn’s Into the Wild, whose score was commissioned from veteran Michael Brook.