With unbelievable ease, this acoustic virtuoso would impress the most cynical of music critics. No one goes to see Kaki and walks out unphased. Between her finger picking, fret tapping, and all around musicality, she proves to be an artist who is succeeding for the best reason: she’s amazing. She doesn’t play a guitar as much as she uses it like a percussion instrument or a keyboard while her fingers slither, slide, and drag all over every inch of her various six-stringers. Her show also included a guest drummer for several songs at the end of the set, as well as effective use of a looper pedal and steel guitar.

In an interview with Cityzen, Kaki talked about her new album, her momentary success and hopes for her music in the future. Her show on September 28th was the CD release party for her new album Legs to Make Us Longer, which went on sale in stores on October 5th.

“It’s really difficult to make one great solo guitar record after another. It’s almost impossible,” Kaki explained. “Most people who become successful instrumentalists are able to blend what they do best on their instrument and not forget the purpose.”

I first saw Kaki open for Mike Gordon’s solo act at Irving Plaza about a year ago. At first, I was wondering why there was a girl by herself on stage with an acoustic guitar. Moments later I unexpectedly learned. Halfway into that set, a girl to my right screamed, “I love you, Kaki!” I awkwardly turned to the girl and told her it was my first time seeing Kaki King. “Yeah, me too,” she replied. “It’s crazy because I really made no plans to do this,” said Kaki. “I put together the first record so I could use it sell to people in the subway, so I could make a buck down there.”

Her first record, Everybody Loves You, was something I became enamored with at that first show, and she played several songs from that album at her recent Knitting Factory performance, but she seemed pretty bent on showing off her new tunes, something I’d been looking forward to since last October.

“I overwhelmed myself with material I wanted to record,” said Kaki who had 22 songs for this album, of which only 11 made the cut. “In the end, it’s about waking up everyday and spending all your time in the studio.”

Legs to Make Us Longer is everything I expected and more. This new release runs along the same vein as her first album regarding her style and technique, however it is better produced, with aspects of composition that weren’t present on her first album. Some tracks include other musicians who add dynamic flavor to Kaki’s already colorful and harmonically full songs, quite a different direction for her very personal music.

“It bridges both worlds. There’s things that I do on there, musically, that take it steps further than the last record, as far as the composition. It’s difficult for me because my style is built around playing guitar. It covers all the parts and sounds, the bass and the melody. I had to really switch gears.”

The quality of the final eleven tracks will not disappoint. Listeners even get a taste of her voice on the final track (my personal favorite), “My Insect Life.” Her vocals are a layer of sound originally reserved for her first album’s hidden track, but now they add to an already bright, ambient song full of acoustic chords and atmospheric steel guitar. She played “My Insect Life” at the Knitting Factory, and it joggled the mental image of a calm, Caribbean beach at sunset. Every time I hear the song, it starts with her angelic vocals, and fades into that mellow ocean front. Live, it’s enchanting.

“I enjoy singing and writing songs, but I’m not very good at it,” claimed Kaki of her vocal abilities. “I can play easy guitar and sing, or play difficult guitar and barely hum. It’s something that I need to work on.” I’ve said in the past that Kaki King needs no lyrics, no vocals, and no other musicians to make her music beautiful. Legs to Make Us Longer, however, is a more evolved musical idea that will project Kaki’s songwriting into uncharted territories. She keeps the pumping solo drives going with songs like “Playing with Pink Noise” and “Magazine.” She shows off her flawless finger picking in songs like “Doing the Wrong Thing” and "Neanderthal.” Beautiful is an understatement.

“I think it’s a record that will allow me to go in many different directions,” she posed confidently. “It’s very tempting to do the singer/songwriter thing, but I know it’s not necessarily who I am at this stage, but I don’t know. I’m going to be working on a whole lot of different musical things between now and whatever I end up doing next. There may be more singing or more accordion playing.”

Kaki was one of the original members and leaders of NYU’s Songwriters and Performers Society, a club I joined well after Kaki’s graduation from NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study.

“Whatever you want, you can have in New York,” said Kaki. “There’s such a vibrant scene no matter what it is that you’re into. It’s obviously very inspiring. It builds your character as a musician and inspires you to be better.”

In her years at NYU, Kaki played a lot guitar and met plenty of amateur songwriters, but didn’t play in public all that often herself.

“I was a little weird in college. My friend Beth started the songwriting club. I was definitely in dereliction of duty as far as running that club.”

I’d once been told by an older member of the NYU songwriters club that Kaki didn’t really like singer/songwriters in her days as president.

“It’s been 2 years since I’ve graduated, and all I’ve done for the last 2 years was listen to singer/songwriters,” said Kaki. “I’ve gotten over some of my hang-ups. Maybe it was an insecurity about being an instrumental musician in a world totally comprised of singer/songwriters in my view.”

At 25, Kaki is not new to performing but has only come to develop a following in the last 2 years. At the recent Knitting Factory show, she made a point to express her genuine love and appreciation that her guitar was her living. Now with a second album and some forward momentum in her touring, she looks to the future relying on her fingers with no thoughts or expectations.

“I tend not to plan, since everything has been so great. I say to myself, ‘The reason these things are happening to you is because I spend a lot of time playing guitar.’”

She does attribute some of her success to the welcoming arms of some great jam artists including Mike Gordon, Soulive, and Robert Randolph.

“Fortunately for me, early on, it was the jam band community that opened its arms, and I opened for a lot of people.”

Kaki claims to have played her first guitar as young as age 5, but she never really took lessons for an extended period of time.

“I’ve met a lot of the masters, and they’ve shown me a lot of things and inspired me personally. It hasn’t been entirely a lonely path.”

Kaki’s music finds its influences in greats like Michael Hedges, Leo Kottke, Preston Reed. Though mostly solo in her current performances, she doesn’t deny the unpredictability of the future, nor does she deny her more rockstarish dreams. When asked if she could play on stage with anyone, the name PJ Harvey surfaced.

“It’s tough for me, because my favorites are not necessarily people I might gel with musically. I saw PJ Harvey perform in Japan recently at a festival I played at, and she’s been my favorite thing for so many years now. For me to be able to meet her would be amazing, but I don’t know if her crowd who’s there to see angry girl rock is really going to vibe into what I’m doing.”

Her final words in our interview express the hope of many to see Kaki in front of a growing audience. “Even if you can’t get your records on radio or TV, it doesn’t mean you can’t have a huge following.” -CJF Kaki King's New Album Legs To Make Us Longer Is Available Now on Epic Records Click on the cover to purchase now from Amazon.com >>> or visit www.kakiking.com