Kitty, Daisy & Lewis are a British band fronted by the siblings of the Durham family. Their music is influenced heavily by R&B, blues, soul, punk, rock and roll, and West Indian music. They are all

multi-instrumentalist A multi-instrumentalist is a musician who plays two or more musical instruments at a professional level of proficiency. Also known as doubling, the practice allows greater ensemble flexibility and more efficient employment of musicians, where ...

s playing guitar, piano, bass, drums, harmonica, banjo, lapsteel guitar, ukulele, xylophone, accordion, and more between them. Kitty, Daisy & Lewis have sold over a quarter of a million records worldwide. Kitty Durham is the youngest of the group and primarily sings and plays drums, guitar, harmonica, ukulele, and banjo. Daisy Durham, the eldest, primarily sings and plays drums, piano, accordion and xylophone. Lewis Durham sings and plays guitar, piano, banjo, lapsteel, and drums. The band are renowned for building their own recording studio, which consists of mostly vintage analogue equipment and custom in-house built equipment. Their first two albums were recorded in the back room of their mother's house. In 2011, they began building their professional recording studio in Camden Town, known as Durham Sound Studios, where they recorded ''The Third'' (2015) and ''Superscope'' (2017). They've produced all their own recordings apart from ''The Third'' which was co-produced by Mick Jones. They have opened for

Coldplay Coldplay are a British rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer Will Champion and creative director Phil Harvey. They met at University Col ...

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Stereophonics Stereophonics are a Welsh rock band formed in 1992 in the village of Cwmaman in the Cynon Valley, Wales. The band consists of Kelly Jones (lead vocals, lead guitar, keyboards), Richard Jones (bass guitar, harmonica, backing vocals), Adam Zind ...

Richard Hawley Richard Willis Hawley (born 17 January 1967) is an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer. After his first band Treebound Story (formed while he was still at school) broke up, Hawley found success as a member of Britpop band Longp ...

, and others. The band are signed to former

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

DJ and

Bestival Bestival was a four-day music festival held in the south of England. It had been held annually in the late summer since 2004 at Robin Hill on the Isle of Wight. In 2017 the festival relocated to the Lulworth Estate in Dorset. The event was organ ...

curator

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's label, Sunday Best, who released their second single "Mean Son of a Gun" with the B-side "Ooo Wee" which they first heard on a 78rpm record sung by

Louis Jordan Louis Thomas Jordan (July 8, 1908 – February 4, 1975) was an American saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and bandleader who was popular from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. Known as " the King of the Jukebox", he earned his high ...

. This was released on 45rpm, CD and a limited edition 78rpm vinyl. The tracks were recorded at their home. The master lacquers were also cut by Lewis using his own equipment at The Exchange Mastering Studios, which is owned and run by his father Graeme. On 30 May 2011, ''Smoking in Heaven'' was released on CD and vinyl (double LP and 78rpm album), also on Sunday Best. On 26 January 2015, ''Kitty, Daisy & Lewis The Third'' was released. Their fourth album, ''Superscope,'' was released on 29 September 2017.

Background

The Durham family is of

Anglo-Indian Anglo-Indian people fall into two different groups: those with mixed Indian and British ancestry, and people of British descent born or residing in India. The latter sense is now mainly historical, but confusions can arise. The ''Oxford English ...

, part Norwegian, and part Romanian heritage.

Touring

Kitty, Daisy & Lewis have supported artists such as

Jools Holland Julian Miles Holland, (born 24 January 1958) is an English pianist, bandleader, singer, composer and television presenter. He was an original member of the band Squeeze and has worked with many artists including Jayne County, Sting, Eric C ...

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Billy Bragg Stephen William Bragg (born 20 December 1957) is an English singer-songwriter and left-wing activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, with lyrics that mostly span political or romantic themes. His music is ...

Mark Ronson Mark Daniel Ronson (born 4 September 1975) is a British-American DJ, songwriter, record producer, and record executive. He is best known for his collaborations with artists such as Duran Duran, Amy Winehouse, Adele, Lady Gaga, Lily Allen, Robbi ...

and

at London's

Earls Court Arena Earls Court Exhibition Centre was a major international exhibition and events venue just west of central London. At its peak it is said to have generated a £2 billion turnover for the economy. It replaced exhibition and entertainment grounds ...

. They played the main stage at

in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2014, 2015 and 2016 as well as playing four times at

Glastonbury Glastonbury (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbury ...

in 2007, 2008, 2011 and 2015. They have featured in ''Vogue'' and performed on ''

Blue Peter ''Blue Peter'' is a British children's television entertainment programme created by John Hunter Blair. It is the longest-running children's TV show in the world, having been broadcast since October 1958. It was broadcast primarily from BBC Tel ...

''. When performing live, their parents Graeme Durham and Ingrid Weiss play guitar and bass. Graeme Durham is a founding member and mastering engineer at The Exchange recording studios in London, and Ingrid Weiss is the former drummer of

The Raincoats The Raincoats are a British experimental post-punk band. Ana da Silva (vocals, guitar) and Gina Birch (vocals, bass) formed the group in 1977 while they were students at Hornsey College of Art in London. Signed to the label Rough Trade, the ...

Harris, Sophie (2008) "Kitty, Daisy & Lewis" (review),

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

, 26 July 2008 and was encouraged to play the bass by Kitty, Daisy & Lewis. Legendary Jamaican trumpeter "Tan Tan" (

Eddie Thornton Edward Thornton (born 1931), better known as "Tan Tan", is a Jamaican trumpeter, whose career began in the 1950s. Biography Thornton was born in 1931 and attended the Alpha Boys School.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) ''The Rough Guide to ...

) has played on all live shows since 2008 and featured on most records. Kitty, Daisy & Lewis were one of the opening acts in North America for

's ''Viva La Vida Tour''. They were featured in the 2009

Primavera Sound Primavera Sound (commonly referred to as simply Primavera) is an annual music festival held in Parc del Fòrum in Barcelona, Spain that takes place between the end of May and beginning of June. The first edition took place in 2001 in Poble Espany ...

in Barcelona, Rock Am Ring and Rock Im Park in Germany, and Lowlands in the Netherlands. In July 2010 they played on Thursday night of

Latitude Festival The Latitude Festival is an annual music festival that takes place in Henham Park, near Southwold, Suffolk, England. It was first held in July 2006 and has been held every year since, apart from 2020, when it was cancelled due to the COVID-19 ...

in the Cinema Tent. In August 2010 they played Belladrum Tartanheart Festival. In August 2011 they opened for

Phish Phish is an American rock band formed in Burlington, Vermont, in 1983. The band is known for musical improvisation, extended jams, blending of genres, and a dedicated fan base. The band consists of guitarist Trey Anastasio, bassist Mike Gordon ...

at The Gorge outside of Seattle, Washington and on the first of July 2012, they played at the

Rock Werchter Rock Werchter is an annual music festival held in the village of Werchter, near Leuven, Belgium, since 1976 and is a large sized rock music festival. The 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2012 and 2014 festivals received the Arthur award for ''best festiv ...

festival in Belgium.

Media appearances

The band appears in the 2009 film ''

Last Chance Harvey ''Last Chance Harvey'' is a 2008 American romantic drama film written and directed by Joel Hopkins. The screenplay focuses on two lonely people who tentatively forge a relationship during two days. Dustin Hoffman plays the title character, Harvey ...

'', playing their song "Mean Son of a Gun". They appear in the German film '. This also featured four of their songs from the debut album. Their 2008 self-titled album received a positive review from ''

'', who said "the vibe is irresistible". Their singles "(Baby) Hold Me Tight" and "Buggin' Blues" were released on 15 December 2008. "Going Up the Country" was also used in the closing credits of ''

Welcome to the Rileys ''Welcome to the Rileys'' is a 2010 independent drama film directed by Jake Scott, written by Ken Hixon, and starring Kristen Stewart, James Gandolfini and Melissa Leo. The film debuted at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. Plot Ever since the death ...

'' and in the film ''

Beautiful Kate ''Beautiful Kate'' is a 2009 Australian drama film directed by Rachel Ward and starring Ben Mendelsohn, Rachel Griffiths, Bryan Brown, Maeve Dermody and Sophie Lowe. Ward adapted the script from a 1982 novel of the same name by Newton Thornburg; ...

''. The trio appeared on ''

Live from Daryl's House ''Live from Daryl's House'' (simply known as ''Daryl's House'' and often abbreviated as ''LFDH'') is an online music series that debuted in the autumn of 2007. The show features singer-songwriter Daryl Hall performing with his band and various gu ...

'', 28 May 2015.

Discography

Albums

* ''A–Z of Kitty, Daisy & Lewis: The Roots of Rock 'n' Roll'' (2007, compilation album featuring one song by the trio) * ''Kitty, Daisy & Lewis'' (2008, Sunday Best) UK No. 149 * ''Kitty, Daisy & Lewis'' (2009, DH Records, US only) * ''Smoking in Heaven'' (2011) UK No. 145, AUS No. 96 * ''

The Third is a light novel series, that has also been made into manga and anime series by Ryo Hoshino and illustrated by Ariko Ito. The anime series goes under the name . According to the New York Comic Convention, ''The Third'' has been licensed by ...

'' (2015) AUS No. 82 * ''Superscope'' (2017)

Singles

* "Honolulu Rock and Roll" (2005) * "Mean Son of a Gun" (2006) * "

Going Up the Country "Going Up the Country" (also Goin' Up the Country) is a song adapted and recorded by American blues rock band Canned Heat. Called a "rural hippie anthem", it became one of the band's biggest hits and best-known songs. As with their previous sing ...

" (2008) * "(Baby) Hold Me Tight" (2008) * "I'm So Sorry" / "I'm Going Back" (2011) * "Messing with My Life" (2011) * "Don't Make a Fool Out of Me" (2011) * "Baby Bye Bye" (2015) * "No Action" (2015) * "Feeling of Wonder" / "Whenever You See Me" (2015) * "Down on My Knees" (2017) * "Black Van" (2017) * "Slave" (2017) * "Just One Kiss" (live Christmas version) (2017) * "Silent Night" (2018) * "Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours)" (2019)

References

External links

Kitty, Daisy & Lewis website

Sunday Best
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kitty, Daisy and Lewis Sibling musical trios People from Kentish Town 2000 establishments in England Musical groups established in 2000 Musical groups from London