Looking at the bio of singer-songwriter KaiL Baxley – having dance-offs witha then-incarcerated James Brown while visiting his also incarcerated mother, supporting himself as a teenager by digging graves, his Golden Gloves boxing championship and dreams of going to the Olympics, the gunshot wound on his left shoulder – it’s not hard to imagine that he was almost destined to be a musician. I would suspect Baxley has some pretty wild stories, and the perspective gained through the experiences of his life certainly have found their way into his music.
Baxley’s third album, Beneath the Bones, combines a wide array of musical ideas, from blues, soul, gospel and folk along with a few dashes of funk, into a poignant whole.
Says Baxley: “This is my gritty midtown Los Angeles record. It’s intentional, raw and honest. I was flat on my back when I wrote these songs. This is a snapshot of that time period. It’s my first fully self-produced effort and it was pieced together by a village of my greatest friends. I couldn’t have done it without their individual efforts. It was an incredible lesson on the power of community, love and now gratitude. When in doubt, throw caution to the wind and let the music guide you. It’s the only compass.”
KaiL Baxley can be found on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and is performing a series of shows throughout March at the Alibi Palm Springs. Beneath the Bones releases tomorrow March 6th through AntiFragile Music and can be streamed below.
