We have a premiere of the Outlaw Doc video, from the Me album by Katie Knipp.

Regarded as one of the great undiscovered talents of Californian music, and indeed, the genre of Americana., Katie Knipp. Her upcoming album, Me, includes her new single Outlaw Doc. A heads-down rock ‘n‘ roller during which Katie inhabits Tom Bell – a real life 19th Century ne’er-do-well, both a doctor and an outlaw – who was hung near Placerville, California – a town where Knipp gigs a lot.

Here’s what Katie says about the track: “Outlaw Doc is inspired by one of the many, many stories of The Gold Rush Era here in California. I live in the Sacramento region, which is full of tales and history of that time. I was looking through a book and I came across a story about Tom Bell. He wasn’t the nicest of guys, he was a stagecoach robber, and at one point he ended up killing a woman who was the wife of a prominent barber. So he ended up being hung somewhere outside of Placerville, I think, which is a place we gig a lot at. I had a lotta fun just telling his direct story, and digging into the history of my environment.”

“One of my best friends, Mick Martin, is featured on harmonica for that song. He was also on a previous recording of mine from The Well called Bullet Train.”

Here’s the video:

Me (named by her seven year old son, James), leads off with a powerful salvo of songs which inhabit dark alter egos or personas, rather than the stable, central ’Me’ of the title. The slowly swaggering cabaret blues of Mud is narrated by a potentially murderous stalker who bursts into an operatic aria at the climax of her obsessive love – Katie has a degree in Classical Voice!

Me is an Americana Epic ranging over an expansive landscape of genres – sinewy, Santana-esque mariachi; sparse, acoustic blues-tinged laments; straightahead Southern Boogie; sultry, swampy blues; and poetic, off-kilter Laurel Canyon balladry. It even takes us to the opera. Its lyrical concerns span centuries, nay millennia. It is governed by Katie Knipp’s extraordinary voice: part roots doyenne – Lucinda Williams, say; part post-punk priestess, Patti Smith or Chrissie Hynde; part 1920s Blues Empress – Ida Cox or Victoria Spivey, perhaps. Her elite cadre of court musicians provide the perfect setting for her vocal versatility and charisma.

Katie Knipp online: Website / Facebook / Instagram / Bandcamp / X-Twitter

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