INTERVIEW: Cabaret singer Kim David Smith releases new live album
Photo: Kim David Smith has recently released his new live album, Live at Joe’s Pub. Photo courtesy of artist promo page / Provided by Fortune Creative with permission.
Kim David Smith, the celebrated singer originally from Australia, has been a mainstay in cabaret venues across New York City for quite some time, and recently, when he’s unable to perform live in front of an audience, he decided to share with his fans a live recording from one of his favorite gigs. Live at Joe’s Pub features unique renditions of songs by Kylie Minogue, Marlene Dietrich, the Supremes and composers Friedrich Hollaender and Kurt Weill, among others.
Smith has crafted many evenings of songs over the years, including Mostly Marlene, A Wery Weimar Christmas and Kim Sings Kylie, and he has performed everywhere from the Metropolitan Museum of Art to Feinstein’s / 54 Below. For this new album, each and every song speaks to Smith’s emotional and performance history.
“Many of them are songs I’ve honed on the small stages of New York City over the last 13 years, and some are from my childhood,” he wrote in an email to Hollywood Soapbox. “For instance, Kylie Minogue’s ‘I Should Be So Lucky’ is something I would dance around my living room to at 6 years old and is performed on the album in a wistful German translation (in keeping with my fascination with Weimar-era Berlin and the music from that time) crafted by my beloved cabaret mother, Karen Kohler. ‘Dracula’s Tango’ is a song my mum used to teach aerobics to when I was little, and for the simple sake of tickling the child within, we took its ’80s disco sensibility and paired it with Mischa Spoliansky’s 1920’s novelty song, ‘Ich bin ein Vamp!’ to emphasize the glittering, delirious silliness of both.”
Although to the untrained ear mixing songs my Dietrich and Minogue might seem jarring, it’s all in a day’s work for Smith, who also performs theater pieces, including a Salomé production at the Provincetown Theater a few years ago.
For this latest project, his management team at The Katz Company believed it was time he ventured into the “live recording” business, which is a contrast to his previous pop albums Nova and Supernova. His focus turned to a night of cabaret singing at Joe’s Pub, the live-music venue that is part of the Public Theater complex in Greenwich Village.
“It was an incredible night — we recorded at midnight to a sold-out house at Joe’s Pub, my favorite temple for music worship in NYC, and loved every minute of it,” he stated. “The audience was so generous, fabulous, and as is the case with all my Joe’s Pub crowds, gorgeous to boot. That night was a party, and I’m so delighted we were able to capture it for the album! “
Smith counts Joe’s Pub at the top of the list of New York City venues that have welcomed his unique style of singing. Other favorites include Café Sabarsky at the Neue Galerie and Club Cumming. He finds the crew members at Joe’s Pub professional and easy to work with, and by now he has amassed a following of people who love to catch him at the venue.
His concerts achieve a “sense of community … as you step in the door you’re mingling with like-minded fabulous, queer, interesting, sweet people.” He did admit that the venue is a far cry from the place he grew up: Traralgon in Australia.
Australia does have a vibrant cabaret scene. Smith wrote that he appreciates the Adelaide Cabaret Festival, the largest curated festival of its kind, which is now led by Alan Cumming (namesake of Club Cumming). In 2019, Kim performed at the Sydney Cabaret Festival in the show Kim Sings Kylie. He also remembers performing at Melbourne’s Butterfly Club when it was a townhouse crammed full of ancient and modern knickknacks.
“We have so many clever, fascinating and beyond-talented Australians constantly building and recreating the cabaret scene in Australia, including my darling friend, the legendary Ali McGregor (whose thrilling rendition of Radiohead’s “Creep” far outstrips the original), the relentlessly original Meow Meow, Sydney’s belting genius Catherine Alcorn and oodles of talented others,” Smith stated.
Although these are happy memories, and the new live album has kept him busy, the cabaret scene has largely shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He dreams of the day he can once again perform in front of a live audience, but he’s simultaneously happy the venues are not rushing to reopen.
“That said, my fiancé is growing tired of my spontaneous, unsolicited performances of ‘Jonny Wenn du GgBeburtstag Hast’ and ‘All the Lovers,’ so I hope for his sake to be back on stage with my music director Tracy Stark soon,” he wrote. “It’s been a slow time without shows, but I’m so grateful for the timing of my live album releasing while all this madness is descending.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Kim David Smith’s new album is Live at Joe’s Pub. Click here for more information.
