Kass Richards at WTJU, Presented by Third Rail
WTJU Rock’s Third Rail welcomes singer-songwriter, Kass Richards, to the WTJU Stage. This free event is open to all at 2244 Ivy Road. No tickets are required but donations to the artist are encouraged. You can also listen live on 91.1 FM, stream via wtju.net, and video stream on WTJU's Facebook and YouTube Channels. Kass Richards hails from Central Virginia and currently lives in the Boston, Massachusetts, area.
Third Rail is supported by Hello Goodbye Records in downtown Charlottesville.
In June, 2024, Kass Richards (who works with Meg Remy’s U.S. Girls) released her second album New Love Meditation (with cover art by Meg Remy) on Good Cry Records. Richards describes the album as, “Space for dreaming, space for grieving, space for love, space for life, space for death. A space to hold these and everything else is all I ever hope for!” Her first album, The Language Shadow (with cover art by Charlottesville artist, Allyson Melberg-Taylor), was released in 2020.
“One of the most important levels of existing is to recognize the concept of ‘Self-Love’, a level that one could obtain and understand the simplicity that is deeply rooted within. This concept of understanding your emotions and being able to nurture yourself on such a deep level is thoroughly heard through the beautiful, nostalgic sounds and warm-felt vocals of Kass Richards. Her long list of instruments that in which she knows how to play (Dulcimer, electric guitar, nylon string guitar, etc) has landed her in the space of creativity, allowing her to go deep diving into the intertwining worlds of indie and folk music.” (Boston Compass)
“A common weary break of the voice, a tug of the lonesome, can be detected in her singing. Richards has been a central member of the U.S. Girls band and most recently was one of many musicians chosen by Meg Remy to help record her acclaimed album Heavy Light (4AD), at Hotel2Tango.” (Passim)
“Boston musician Kassie Richardson is perhaps most widely-heard as a ‘frequent collaborator’ with art pop group U.S. Girls–she’s a member of their live band and contributed in some form or another to the act’s three most recent records. However, on her own (as Kass Richards), she makes music with a more folk rock bent, although with perhaps a stronger grasp on pop music than a lot of folk/indie rock singer-songwriters these days. The first Kass Richards album, The Language Shadow, came out back in 2020 via Feeding Tube and Good Cry, and though the next few years brought a handful of one-off singles, 2024 is shaping up to be her biggest year yet. Back in February, Good Cry put out When We Were Wolves, an album billed to ‘Aidan Coughlan and Kass Richards’ (Coughlan wrote the songs and instrumentals, both sang and produced), and June sees the release of Richardson’s second proper solo album, New Love Meditation. The record was recorded with a team of Canadian ringers and U.S. Girls collaborators–Geordie Gordon (Islands), Ed Squires (Badge Époque Ensemble), and Simone TB (Fiver)–and it balances Richardson’s clear love of traditional folk music with the rock and pop of the world around her.” (Rosy Overdrive)