Kara Grainger live at Cafe Hendrix, Guwahati

Australian native, now Los Angeles based, Kara Grainger first picked up the guitar at age 12. She started performing in the late ’90s as lead vocalist and guitarist with the successful Sydney-based blues outfit, Papa Lips. With her brother, acclaimed harmonica player Mitch Grainger, Kara and Papa Lips enjoyed a quintessentially Australian experience. Fuelled by national ABC Radio play for their two albums, “Harmony” and “High Time Now,” the band toured up and down the sun drenched beach towns of Australia’s east coast in an old Tarago van. They blew away audiences, soaked up the outdoor lifestyle, and notched up experience at all the significant blues and folk festivals along the way. In 2006, Kara signed to Australia’s Craving Records as a solo artist who encouraged her to go to the United States to record the album. In 2008 she moved to Los Angeles, but continued to split her time between LA and Australia. Her debut CD, 2008’s “Grand and Green River” received first prize in the IAP awards in Austin, Texas and also was in the top 40 Americana charts for over 34 weeks. In 2011, she released “LA Blues”.

Over the past several years, Kara Grainger has toured extensively throughout the U.S. and performed on the festival circuit in Europe, Australia and Asia. She has also opened the show for many great artists, such as Buddy Guy, Marc Cohn, Peter Frampton, and Heart. In October of 2012, Kara performed at the Rock n Roots Festival in Singapore where she opened the show for Robert Plant and his band. So what drives Kara Grainger? In short, she has an unflinching desire to express herself combined with a daily dedication to her craft. In person, she exudes depth, grace and authenticity. Of the songwriting process, Kara says, “While many of my songs are framed in tales of hardship and heartbreak, they’re really representative of life’s spiritual challenges, and for me, a quest for the ultimate truth. It’s very healing when the right words come for a song, so much so that when I sing them, it’s like something is finally resolved.” Kara is a unique talent whose music uplifts and inspires audiences around the world.

With Grammy Award winning producer David Z at the helm, and recorded at the Hobby Shop Studios in Los Angeles, “Shiver & Sigh’s” 11 tracks include 5 Kara Grainger originals, as well as soulful re-imaginings of Robert Johnson’s “C’mon in My Kitchen” and Al Jackson Jr./Timothy Matthews “Breaking up Somebody’s Home”. Joining Kara in the studio are Kirk Fletcher and Josh Sklair (guitars), Mike Finnigan (keys), Hutch Hutchinson (bass), Jimi Bott and James Gadson (drums), Lenny Castro (percussion), Mitch Grainger (harmonica), Paulie Cerra (saxophone), Paul Litteral (trumpet) and George Stanford (trombone). The result is a recording that shows the richness and diversity of Kara’s influences — Soul/Contemporary Pop/Americana/Blues.

Australian born artist Kara Grainger. She is a truly unique talent who continues to uplift and inspire audiences all around the world. She has opened the show for Buddy Guy, Marc Cohn, Peter Frampton, Heart and Russell Crowe to name a few, and has also performed her own show at many Festivals and venues throughout the US. She has also toured constantly in Japan. Indonesia, Europe and of course Australia.

Classic songwriting skills, smooth sultry vocals, and the ability to whip up a storm with a fiery slide guitar. Very few can boast this set of trump cards, but it just happens to be the hand dealt to Australian singer, songwriter and guitarist Kara Grainger, who exhibits an effortlessly seductive and modern take on roots, blues and soul music.