Kyle Knapp - Refugee reviews

R e v i e w s

Here's what people are saying about Refugee...

"Tremulant Records is proud to add Kyle Knapp to its list of independent artists. Kyle's new release Refugee is simply stunning!"
~Eric Medley, Tremulant Records

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"Refugee is an incredible album! Kyle Knapp is an awesome guitarist, able to infuse every song with passionate, skillfully played rhythms and intricate finger-picked lines... His songs are moving and compelling... The lyrics are powerful, the melody lines beautiful and rich, and the music stunning. This is definitely the album to have if you enjoy hearing great folk music with a compelling message! His guitar work sounds excellent, his vocals sound stellar, and the work of the accompanying musicians shines! Great work went into the making of this record... overall rating 9.5 click for complete review
~Mark Lush, MidwestBands.com

"Sixteen tracks of beautiful acoustic guitar playing, soothing vocals, crisp production and creative songwriting and arrangements put Refugee among Omaha’s best singer-songwriter albums." click for complete review
~Marq Manner, the Reader

"Refugee, Kyle Knapp's latest CD, held me captive. Like the raspiness in his voice, Kyle's lyrics have a barb which compelled me to listen and think. Kyle's guitar stylings offer an effective transport to deliver his message of refuge. The strong, yet sensitive, performances provide an insightful glimpse into the spirit of God within this man. Refugee made a home in my soul. Let Refugee find a home with you." ~Phyllis Dunne

"In a culture that seems to have rock, pop, rap and country music everywhere, there is a refreshing folk sound from a local artist added to the mix. Guitarist Kyle Knapp released his new CD, Refugee, on Tremulant Records. The music delivers bittersweet, graceful guitar licks accompanied by strong lyrics that deliver humanitarian messages." click for complete review
~Tina Richardson, the Omaha Weekly

"Refugee is a super album. One of those minority of albums where I don't have to program the CD player to skip the less desirable songs. This CD is absolutely full of great music. Anyone who likes folk with a bit of an edge and a tremendous message, will love Refugee." ~ Charlie Pugh

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Kyle Knapp's Refugee
review by Marq Manner (published in "the Reader" Aug.22nd, 2001)

Local singer-songwriter Kyle Knapp’s album Refugee focuses on the injustice of human oppression throughout the world. Through songs written by himself and others, adapted from scriptures and even adapted from the inscription on the Statue of Liberty, Knapp offers his concerns and serves up God as the solution to these problems. Knapp, unlike many Christian artists, never comes across as an overly preachy style thief, but sends his message through passionately sung songs that are not sickly sweet.

The album begins with “Lament For Romania” in which Knapp’s crisp acoustic guitar and a sorrowful violin starts the listener on a somber journey through his questioning of the tragedies that have taken place in that country. Hints of Neil Young can be heard in the song “Refugee,” where Knapp continues his questioning and convincingly cries out in a frustrated tone, “Somebody rescue me.”

Knapp’s guitar and vocals take on a lighter, more reflective tone in “It Is A Good Thing” and the gorgeous “Under The Sun.” These songs respectively are adapted from the books of Psalms and Ecclesiastes and feature more lighthearted folk sounds not unlike Cat Stevens with the harmonies of Crosby, Stills and Nash. Knapp’s skilled acoustic guitar playing along with the subtle use of an accordion combine for a stunning rendition of U2’s “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” and later in the album Knapp does an amazing acoustic guitar and violin arrangement of “The Star Spangled Banner.”

Sixteen tracks of beautiful acoustic guitar playing, soothing vocals, crisp production and creative songwriting and arrangements put Refugee among Omaha’s best singer-songwriter albums. It’s an album that can equally be enjoyed by both Christians and non-Christians as the messages and the music contained within often transcend the standard “God is good” lyricism found in the work of some of the more predictable religious singers.

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Homespun Folk Music
It's in the Blood
from the Omaha Weekly 9/13/01 - reprinted by permission

In a culture that seems to have rock, pop, rap and country music everywhere, there is a refreshing folk sound from a local artist added to the mix. Guitarist Kyle Knapp released his new CD, Refugee, on Tremulant Records. The music delivers bittersweet, graceful guitar licks accompanied by strong lyrics that deliver humanitarian messages. One song, "Lament for Romania," expresses concern about the people of Eastern Europe:

I've seen a desecrated land, where all that should be green is black
And the Danube is no longer blue
And the children choke in homage, in the incense of the smokestacks,
To the gods of unrelenting rule

"This is the theme song for the project, the whole thing kind of revolves around that idea. It came out of reading about people in Eastern Europe, when the Iron Curtain came down," Knapp said. "The things that I heard about what people are going through just really moved me."

Knapp started playing the guitar when he was about 10 years old. He has played with several different bands and gospel groups. He said folk music has always been his main choice of music.

"I started out listening to Peter, Paul and Mary, Crosby Stills and Nash, Bob Dylan, Simon and Garfunkel, and that kind of genre," Knapp explained. "And of all the different kinds of musical turns I've taken in my life, I always kind of come back to that particular style."

Knapp hopes his music will make people pay more attention to the conditions of society.

"I want people to think about what's going on in the world, and about what's going on in their lives." Knapp said. "Begin to look outside of the little circles that we tend to live in, there's a bigger picture, there's a world full of needy people, and we can do more to affect the world. I want people to start thinking about that."

Knapp will be (performing with) long-time regular at Earl Bates' Acoustic Jam and member of the retro-rock group the FishHippies, Elain Herfindahl at McFosters on September 14th. The following evening Knapp will perform at 13th Street Coffee with Jennifer Pleuler, a young singer-songwriter who Knapp believes has serious star potential.

Knapp knows a little bit about musical potential, his son Joe has just released his second album under the moniker Son, Ambulance on Saddle Creek Records. "Considering all the great press he's been getting," said Knapp, "I'm wondering if I should change my name to 'Father Ambulance.'"

by Tina Richardson © 9/13/01 Omaha Weekly

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