AMY KENDALL

Nestled in amongst the bio, the press photos and a CD copy of Hot Stars in a Cold Sky, Amy Kendall’s promotional pack includes a recipe for Kendall Family Chocolates.

‘The whole baking thing is a little bit 50s,’ Kendall admits. ‘But I love to cook. I love to bake. When we were recording the EP I couldn’t really afford to pay anyone, so I baked for them. I still do.’

Kendall is speaking to me from the cosy southern Tasmanian home she shares with partner, producer and fellow music-maker Andrew Smyth. When she talks about her new three piece band, she excitedly rearranges her seating position. ‘Let me get comfortable,’ she says. ‘I’ll take my watch off...’

It is apparent that Amy Kendall has all the time in the world for the things she loves.

And she has been dedicating a lot of time to the music she plays with the aptly named Kitchenhands, which includes the equally multi-instrumentalist Andrew Smyth and Tore Pederson. They played the Australian Blues Music Festival in New South Wales earlier this year, and perform regularly around Australia’s southernmost state.

‘We’ve been demo-ing for the album,’ Kendall says, feigning nonchalance. ‘Actually, we’re wondering if some of the demos we’ve done are good enough to include and just sort of build around them later.’

‘The sort of sound we have at the moment is just fantastic. It’s not missing anything,’ she says. ‘I’m singing, playing guitar and stomp box. Andrew’s on percussion or lead guitar and Tore’s on bass and vocals.’

‘But I will often be talking between songs, turn around and they’ve swapped instruments!’ she says with a laugh. 'Andrew will be on bass and Tore will have brought out a mandolin or something! Then they swap for the next song, and all the while I’m just doing my Amy Kendall between songs chatty thing.’

Indeed, the Amy Kendall ‘between songs chatty thing’ is part of what makes her live shows so unique. Performances often become two-way conversations between Kendall and the people formerly known as strangers in the front row.

Rich stories, heartfelt lyrics and gently beautiful melodies, the new album from Amy Kendall and the Kitchenhands will be golden brown by early 2010. Until then, drop in to www.amykendall.com.au to taste a sample.