Kathy Kallick has traveled the hills and hollers of bluegrass and now, with her daughters on Juniper Waller and Riley Thompson, has let loose the Bay Area’s newest country band Kathy Kallick and the Windfalls. Their CD, From the Apple Tree, sprang from Riley’s suggestion about forming the band, leading to the query: Did Kathy recruit her daughters or did they recruit her? The Kathy Kallick Band with Tom Bekeny (mandolin), Annie Staninec (fiddle), Greg Booth (pedal steel) and Cary Black (bass) form the core of the Windfalls with Mitch Polzak and others filling in on various tracks. Copious liner notes tell all about each song’s who, what,why and when.
The CD kicks off with Pretend You’re Mine, a tune of Kathy’s first recorded in 1977 with the Good Ol’ Persons. The CD consists of ’50s and ’60s-era covers from notables like Hank Williams, Brenda Lee, Hank Thompson, Elvis Presley, Wanda Jackson, Kitty Wells, Loretta Lynn and John Prine. Adding variety are songs like “Going Back Where I Belong,” a blues number released by the Bay Area’s Sugar Pie DeSanto in 1959, and a pop-rock number from 1964, “The Hippy Hippy Shake.” Variety in the CD’s genres is matched by variety in the songs as mother and daughters trade leads, hooks and harmonies throughout. This isn’t a “new” band as much as it is a gathering of experienced players who can get it done on CD or in live performance.
