Urbane, velvet-voiced young song stylist Kevin Ahart cuts a distinctive figure. The charismatic young artist sings in a smoothly expressive voice that echoes those of his vintage saloon-singer heroes, performing original material that enhances and extends the American musical tradition from which he draws his inspiration. Taking his cues from the evocative singers and exacting tunesmiths of the golden age that produced the Great American Songbook, he stands apart from transient contemporary pop trends to embrace more timeless musical values.
Hailing from the unlikely environs of Austin, Texas – a musical mecca not known for producing supple balladeers – Kevin Ahart is a consummate vocal interpreter possessing an uncanny knack for cutting straight to a song’s emotional heart. As comfortable performing with a spare two-piece combo as he is with a full orchestra, he possesses an effortless poise that many performers take decades to develop. His vivid musical persona isn’t just a pose that he’s adopted. It’s an honest reflection of his attitude towards life, and of his deep and abiding love for the classic music in which he’s been steeped since childhood.
Indeed, Kevin Ahart’s lifelong love for the sound and style of vintage jazz and pop has spawned a vibrant creative vision that’s manifested in the instantly memorable songs and confident performances that comprise his new album. The new collection – recorded with a prestigious team of producers, musicians and songwriting collaborators-demonstrates the formidable combination of personal passion and disciplined craftsmanship that’s allowed Ahart to carve out a distinctive and deeply compelling musical identity.
Kevin traces the roots of his sensibility back to his childhood exposure to the classic Hollywood movies of the 1940s and 1950s. “They immediately struck a chord in me,” he recalls, adding, “When I was in seventh grade, I was sick and tired of listening to what everyone else was listening to, and I really wanted a music of my own. One day, a musical called Anchors Aweigh came on TV, and there was a scene where Frank Sinatra was sitting in the Hollywood Bowl at a piano in a sailor suit, singing ‘I Fall In Love Too Easily.’ When I heard that, it was just the most beautiful thing I’d ever heard in my life, and it was a voice that I could identify with.”
By then, Kevin was already singing in his school choir. He achieved an early milestone when he performed the world-weary Frank Sinatra chestnut “In the Wee Small Hours in the Morning” as his solo spot in a choir performance. “I went out there in white tails and black tie and sang it. That’s when the bug really hit me, and I started learning as many of the standards as I could. I listened to all of the records and typed out all of the lyrics, and created my own songbook to learn and study.”
When asked what attracted him as a teenager to music built around decidedly adult emotions, Kevin responds, “For my entire life, I’ve always been kind of an old soul. I just never really felt comfortable just being just a kid and doing normal kid things. I just thought that it was just beautiful music, and my ears tended to gravitate towards it. To me, it was poetry.”
Kevin performed his first professional gig at 18, singing in the dining room at his father’s country club with his high-school choir director accompanying him on piano. By 21, he’d established a local reputation performing in area clubs and lounges. He also gained some crucial early studio experience, recording a pair of independently released CDs and working behind the scenes on other artist’s projects.
In 2009, Kevin met seminal industry legend Michael Maska, long-time manager of Joe Jackson. Michael, who as a true fan of the jazz greats including Sinatra, Ella and Mel Torme was immediately taken by Kevin’s devotion to his craft. Maska helped him open doors to other equally talented creatives that widened Kevin’s world and enabled him to start work on a great record cutting several tracks at London’s Air Studios with legendary recording engineer Elliott Scheiner, and recording a session in New York with seminal producer Phil Ramone including a duet with contemporary jazz star Jane Monheit.
“We had a great time making the album,” Kevin states. “The idea was to write produce and arrange and sing the songs as if they sounded like old standards. I think that that holds us to a very high level, as we should be. We cut everything live, with me singing live with the band. That way of doing it is kind of out of fashion these days, but I can’t imagine working any other way.”
The debut album offers a compelling evocation of Kevin Ahart’s iconoclastic musical philosophy. “I don’t really care about what’s considered pop today,” he states. “I know what’s right for me, and I have definite ideas of how I want to achieve that. I have a lot of different things I’d like to try if I’m given the opportunity, but ultimately it’s still about taking each individual tune and figuring out the best interpretation, the best tempo and the best arrangement.
“I definitely do feel a responsibility to the tradition that originally inspired me to sing,” he concludes, saying “I’m interested in adding something to that tradition. And if I can come up with just one song that can stand next to songs by Irving Berlin or Cole Porter, then I’ll feel like I’ve really achieved something.”