KT Tunstall - “Poor Man’s Pain”

SXSW 2022 - OEB Score: 7; Popularity Index: 10

Pairs Well With…Brandi Carlisle, Imogene Heap, Fiona Apple

Scottish born KT Tunstall is a Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter with a string of hits going back almost twenty years. She is best known for “Suddenly I See” (hooky upbeat folk rock), “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree” (stompy blues folk rock), and “Otherside of the World” (dramatic folk pop). She has a husky, voice that moves easily between singer-songwriter, pop, and fuller-bodied rock. While her voice is compelling and her songs are lyrically driven, don’t overlook that Tunstall is also a multi-instrumentalist who plays guitar, keyboards, synthesizer and flute. Tunstall has spent a good part of the second half of her prolific career writing movie soundtracks. She comes to SXSW having just released an album with songs written for, and inspired by, the 2020 coming of age movie, “The Chasing Wonders.”  Some songs were co-written and sung with Ilan Eshkeri, including the OEB featured song, “Out There,” a sweeping pop song that sounds like, well, a song from a movie, but in a good way. It’s unclear what Tunstall’s Wednesday night showcase at the Creek and the Cave will be like. During her recent tour, she played solo sets due to Covid concerns, using electronics to fill out her sound, although she typically has a backing band. She was also featured on OEB favorite The Lottery Winners’ stand out track, “Dance with the Devil,” and she previously recorded with Suzanne Vega, who will be in town as well. In any iteration, KT Tunstall is a talent worth making time for this week. (David Zlotnick)