Kinnie Starr has a voice that sometimes purrs and sometimes snarls, but either way it is virtually unknown in Japan. That may be changing, though, as she is spending the better part of this month touring the country, both on her own and in the coveted opening slot for the hugely popular Speech, formerly of Arrested Development, who continues to spread his sensitive vibe around the globe.
Starr is a native of Vancouver and, by her own description, she is an ardent genre-crosser; her songs drink from the varied wells of hip-hop, the blues, ambient and metal. She counts among her influences Queen Latifah, Joni Mitchell, Black Sabbath and Hank Williams.
Since 1994, she has released two cassette tapes, two LPs and two CDs, the most recent of which is 2000's "Tune Up," but it was 1996's "Tidy," released on Mercury Records in the United States, that led to a slot on the following year's Lilith Fair Tour. Since that time, she has cemented her reputation in Victoria and Vancouver, where her shows attract a loyal following, among it a large lesbian contingent that sometimes holds onstage masturbation-story competitions.