IF YOU GO
NOVA ARTS
48 Emerald St, Keene, NH 03431
Kimaya Diggs w/ Dragonfly – TICKET LINK
Western Massachusetts has a stellar music scene with the likes of Buffalo Tom, Dinosaur Jr. and Speedy Ortiz starting out in the area. It’s become quite a breeding ground for creativity and artistry in the sonic medium and it’s becoming well-known around New England and beyond, due to the bands and musicians that tour out of there.
Singer-songwriter Kimaya Diggs fits the bill. The Northampton native is a regular fixture at numerous festivals and venues. On October 5, she’s going to be performing at Nova Arts in Keene where attendees can expect a mix of new songs with some of her older material. Local act Dragonfly are going to be starting off the show at 7:30 p.m.
Diggs and I had a talk ahead of the show about a new single she put out during the summer, her approach to music and writing and looking forward to coming back to Keene.
Rob Duguay: Back on July 5, you released a new single titled “Everything Is Not Lost”, so where was it recorded and what was the catalyst for the messaging within the song?
Kimaya Diggs: The song was recorded at my partner’s studio, he’s in a band called LuxDeluxe. The messaging behind the song is a message of positivity for when you feel kind of lost, you lost your path, you lost your way and you’re uncertain about the future. I wrote it originally as a reminder to myself that I just have to be patient and good things will come to me, the hard work I put in will pay off in time.
RD: That’s a great message to have. What inspired the cover art for it being somewhat like a birthday cake? Did you draw it up yourself, did you commission someone else to do it or did it come about in a different way?
KD: I was just very inspired by the vintage aesthetic of these heart-shaped cakes. I actually hired a baker based in Connecticut to make the cake for the cover art, and then I shot the photo myself. In the photo, you’ll see that one of my hands is on the cake and I was kind of twisted up in an awkward angle taking the photo with my other hand. I decided to do the cover art myself because I’ve worked with a lot of great photographers and collaborators, but I just wanted to go back to basics and prove to myself that I could make good art on my own with the resources I already have.
RD: I think it came out great.
KD: Thank you.
RD: No problem. It’s been mentioned that you find storytelling to be the tying thread between your writing and your music, so how would you describe your process when it comes to merging these two aspects of your creative output together?
KD: I usually start writing with a feeling in mind and a sort of message that I want to tell. I work really hard to make sure that I just allow myself to get into a bit of a workflow. I don’t want to get stuck while trying to perfectly convey a story, so my songs are all based on life experiences of mine, but it’s not word for word because I let the creative aspect of songwriting take me to the places that it needs to go. For example, my latest album “Quincy”, which came out in the spring of last year, has a lot of songs that are inspired by nature and how it relates to different relationships in my life.
RD: Being from Western Massachusetts, what are your thoughts on coming up to Keene to perform at Nova Arts?
KD: This is going to be my third time at Nova Arts. I was first asked to come up there for “The Thing In The Spring,” which is a festival that they do and I just love it. I live in Northampton, Massachusetts, so Keene doesn’t feel too different from home, but what I find really special about Keene is every time I’ve played there I’ve met people who are really curious about discovering music they haven’t heard before. Then they follow my music and they seem really engaged as listeners, which isn’t something that happens everywhere. With our Spotify algorithms and stuff, it’s really easy to stop being curious about new music and new artists.
I really appreciate that the people in Keene seem really open to discovering something new.
RD: I had the pleasure of checking out Keene for the first time earlier this year for “The Thing In The Spring” and I totally got that vibe when I went there. Can we expect any more recordings to follow up the new single? What are your plans for the rest of the year?
KD: “Everything Is Not Lost” is going to be a standalone single for now, but I am working behind the scenes to write a new album. I have a bunch of new songs and I’ll probably perform some of them when I come to Nova Arts. There’s a new album in the works and it’ll probably come out around a year from now.