Today we’re premiering “Don’t Let’s Go To The Dogs Tonight,” by Jessie Kilguss.
This track from her upcoming album Desvastate Me is a sweet spoken reminiscence of a more simple childhood. Kilguss artfully pulls us into her wistful nostalgia with a bit of twang and a strummy, well arranged instrumental accompaniment.
She shares, "The title ‘Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight’ comes from a great book by Alexandra Fuller. I liked the way those words sounded together and the images it conjured up. Like the author of the book, I grew up on a farm but I have lived in big cities (London, New York) for my entire adult life. This song is inspired by my desire to spend more time in quieter, open spaces."
“Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight” is a memory-soaked meditation on the simplicity of country life, whose imagery includes pony-drawn sleds, big starry skies, and “Running barefoot on the fresh cut grass/Sailing into summer on an endless laugh.”
A former actress inspired to make music after joining Marianne Faithfull in the Tom Waits musical The Black Rider in London and Sydney in 2005, Kilguss reveals an uncommon ability to gracefully and boldly channel a whole spectrum of raw emotion.
On her fourth album Devastate Me — a self-released effort and her first record written almost entirely on guitar — Kilguss offers up a stripped-down yet sensuous selection of songs both reflective and impassioned, intimate and refined.
Listen here:
Get The Pick Newsletter
All the latest guitar news, interviews, lessons, reviews, deals and more, direct to your inbox!
To record Devastate Me, Kilguss and her band (guitarist Jason Loughlin, bassist John Kengla, and drummer Rob Heath) holed up for a week last December at Brooklyn studio Room 17. Produced by Joe Rogers (a composer/musician/producer who’s previously worked with such artists as Moby, The Shivers, and Denitia and Sene), the gorgeously atmospheric album features a host of songs that capture the many nuanced dimensions of longing, including the lush and lilting title track, the dreamy and slow-burning “You Didn’t Do Right By Me,” and the seductively snarling, guitar-driven “I’m Your Prey.”
Devastate Me is due out November 11. Find out more at jessiekilguss.com
Acoustic Nation is written by Laura B. Whitmore, a music industry marketing veteran, music journalist and editor, who has contributed to Parade.com, Guitar World, and others. She has interviewed hundreds of musicians and hosts the She Rocks Podcast. As the founder of the Women’s International Music Network, she advocates for women in the music industry and produces the annual She Rocks Awards. She is the Senior Vice President of Marketing for Positive Grid, making the world safe for guitar exploration everywhere! A guitarist and singer/songwriter, Laura is currently co-writing an album of pop songs that empower and energize girls.
