Amythyst Kiah doesn’t think of songs the way other songwriters think of songs.
Black, outspoken, Appalachian and queer, Kiah — who performs Thursday night at The Purple Fiddle in Thomas, Tucker County — plays banjo and guitar, knows her way around Appalachian music, and isn’t afraid to write a song about cosmic horror.
Cosmic horror — like from the mind of HP Lovecraft or even Stephen King — is a genre of scary involving otherworldly or alien beings.
Speaking from her home in Johnson City, Tennessee, Kiah asked, “Have you ever heard of that podcast, ?’â¶Ä
“I love it,†she said.
The addictive anthology show is dark and eerie. Created by two writers from Western Virginia and performed by a cast of mostly Appalachian voice actors, the show spins yarns about a familiar but frightening version of central Appalachia.
Like thousands of others, Kiah follows along with the episodes. She said she drew inspiration from show.
She’s a science fiction and fantasy nerd. Plus, she said she loved that the podcast was set where she grew up and where she’s made her home. A song inspired — at least in part — by the show will be on Kiah’s upcoming, as yet unnamed record, which she says might be out by the end of the year.
Produced by Butch Walker, a heavyweight singer/songwriter and producer who has worked with everyone from Pink and Green Day to Taylor Swift, it’s an ambitious release for Kiah.
This will be her fifth album, and a long way from her first record in 2013, made in the recording lab at East Tennessee State University, where she was student.
Back then, she was still figuring out what she wanted to do with her life while working part-time as a cashier at the local Target.
First album put her on the map
But that first album set her on a path, led her to others including “,†which got her noticed in 2021 by Rolling Stone, which included the record among its picks for the 25 Best Country and Americana Albums.
It was same year she got a Grammy nomination for Best American Roots Song for “.â€
Difficulty finding musical direction
Life as a musician, recording artist and touring performer didn’t come easily. The singer said she spent a lot of time flopping around, going from one thing to the next and even changing her major before finally settling into the Bluegrass, Old-Time and Country Music Studies program at ETSU.
“It got to the point where I was like, I couldn’t envision myself doing anything else,†she said. “I was just going to go for it.â€
Kiah said she got a lot of support from her father and learned a lot from some great teachers.
“I had some great times and really learned about how to perform and what it’s like to travel as a musician — really important skills that helped me a lot out in the real world,†she said.
But there was a temptation to choose something else, to stay home.
“I did try to go on to get a master’s degree,†she said. “I was afraid to leave school.â€
Academia seemed like a safer place.
“It was kind of a security blanket,†Kiah said. “But I ended up dropping out of my grad school program because I was just trying to do so many things at once and doing them all not great.â€
She sighed and said, “I guess in your 20s, you can try a little bit of everything and try to figure out what works for you. But you can put too much on yourself.â€
Kiah focuses on smaller shows
What works for Kiah most days is smaller.
After the pandemic, the singer said she lost some of her excitement about being in large crowds. With touring, sometimes that’s what she’s going to get, but Kiah said she’s more comfortable with smaller gatherings.
But she likes when there’s time to slow down.
“That work-life balance is important,†she said. “You want to get centered.â€
Coming off the road, Kiah spends time at the house she and her fiancé bought outside of Johnson City. They often just stick to themselves, but it’s not something they can maintain indefinitely, especially with a new record coming out later this year.
A tour had to follow.
Big crowds or not, Kiah said she’s excited about the music.
“We’re in the mixing stage right now, just going back and forth,†she said. “It’s been great.â€
