Kyla Brox (born 3 June 1980,

Stockport Stockport is a town and borough in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt and Tame merge to create the River Mersey here. Most of the town is within ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority, combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: City of Manchester, Manchester, City of Salford, Salford ...

, England) is a

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

and

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

singer from a musical family.

Early life

Her father is blues singer

Victor Brox Victor Brox (5 May 1941 – 20 February 2023) was an English blues musician. Early life and career Born in Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire, he attended St Mary’s, Droylsden and William Hulme's Grammar School where he played trombone in the sch ...

and her mother is Annette Brox, the 'maid by the fire' in the original ''

Jesus Christ Superstar ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' is a sung-through rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice. Loosely based on the Gospels' accounts of the Passion, the work interprets the psychology of Jesus and other characters, with ...

''. Kyla traces her interest in singing to a desire to be closer to her charismatic but distant dad. Upon Victor and Annette’s divorce, Kyla was brought up by Annette and her stepfather Laurie in

Didsbury Didsbury is a suburban area of Manchester, England, on the north bank of the River Mersey, south of Manchester city centre. The population at the 2011 census was 26,788. Within the boundaries of the historic county of Lancashire, there are ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. Keen to encourage his daughter’s musical talents, Victor gave Kyla various instruments as a child, including the flute which still features in her live shows.

Career

Kyla first sang with Victor onstage at the

Band on the Wall Band on the Wall is a live music venue in the Northern Quarter of Manchester, England. History Early history The building dates back to around 1862 when a local brewery, the McKenna Brothers, built it as the flagship pub of their operation. I ...

in Manchester in 1992, at the age of 12. She joined his regular touring group the following year. The core of the Kyla Brox Band go back to this unit, nominally the

Victor Brox Blues Train Victor Brox (5 May 1941 – 20 February 2023) was an English blues musician. Early life and career Born in Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire, he attended St Mary’s, Droylsden and William Hulme's Grammar School where he played trombone in the scho ...

, but known informally as 'the child slavery band' because of the extreme youth of the players. As well as Kyla (13), the group contained bassist Danny Blomeley (13), and drummer Phil Considine (19). In 2000, she accompanied her father on an extensive tour of Australia. Danny Blomeley had left the Blues Train two years earlier to travel the world, and promised to find Victor some dates in Australia. Kyla, now 20, found herself singing risque blues songs to hard men in mining camps in remote parts of the

Australian outback The Outback is a remote, vast, sparsely populated area of Australia. The Outback is more remote than the bush. While often envisaged as being arid, the Outback regions extend from the northern to southern Australian coastlines and encompass a n ...

. Back in Manchester in 2001, Kyla and Danny formed a duo, occasionally augmented by old members of ‘the child slavery band’, and the line-up finally settled into the Kyla Brox Band - Kyla Brox (vocals, flute); Marshall Gill (guitar); Tony Marshall (saxophones); Danny Blomeley (bass) and Phil Considine (drums). The Kyla Brox Band started playing in North West pubs and clubs: the circuit that had once been the stomping ground of the Victor Brox Blues Train. Their performance at the Colne Blues Festival in 2002 established Kyla's reputation on the British blues scene. The Kyla Brox Band toured Australia in 2003, 2004 and 2007, the same year they made their US debut.

Personal life

Kyla married long-time music partner Danny Blomeley in September 2008 and is the mother of Sadie (born 13 June 2009). Kyla also has a second child, Sunny.

Discography

Solo

* 2007 - ''Gone'' (Pigskin Records) * 2009 - ''Grey Sky Blue'' (Pigskin Records) * 2009 - ''Coming Home'' (as The Kyla Brox Band, Pigskin Records) * 2014 - ''Live... At Last'' (Pigskin Records) * 2016 - ''Throw Away Your Blues'' (Pigskin Records) * 2019 - ''Pain & Glory'' (Pigskin Records)

With Victor Brox

* 1998 - ''Kyla Jane & Victor with the Brox Gang'' * 2000 - ''Darwin Night Train'', as Victor Brox Blues Train * 2001 - ''Belly Shiver (Bridgetown Blues)'', credited as Victor and Kyla Brox * 2009 - ''Frog in Mah Pocket!'', credited to Victor 'Pur & Dur' & Kyla 'Raving Jane' Brox

Quotes

*"Her breathing control is superb but, more than this… Kyla's vocal is natural and very clean… with a depth of feeling…" - ''

Blues Matters ''Blues Matters!'' is a bimonthly British blues magazine. History ''Blues Matters!'' was founded by Alan Pearce in 1999. It is published on a bimonthly basis. Alan King and Darren Howells (until 2009) previously served as the magazine's editor- ...

'' *"An authentic soul diva… sensitive, sexy, and with infinite reserves of sassiness" - ''City Life''

References

External links

Kyla Brox bio

Kyla Brox webpage

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brox, Kyla Living people 1980 births 21st-century English women singers English blues singers English soul singers Musicians from Stockport