EG Kight will perform with the Blue South Band, featuring Ken Wynn, Mike Harrell, Johnny Fountain and Gary Porter, Saturday to celebrate the release of her new CD, "A New Day."IF YOU GO• What: EG Kight CD release party.• When: 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 4• Where: Tropicana Room, Chattanooga Billiard Club East, 110 Jordan Road.• Admission: $10.• Phone: 423-499-3883.
Being able to communicate a message is what makes most artists tick. Losing that ability can be frustrating, frightening, even devastating.
So when EG Kight started to have severe headaches and eventually lost the ability to talk, much less sing or remember words three years ago, she feared the worst. Rushed to a hospital in Macon, Ga., she was diagnosed with meningitis and encephalitis, both of which affect the brain.
"It was very frustrating and scary," she says.
She spent weeks and then months, recovering, all the while able to think but unable to communicate. Her music career - writing, singing, playing guitar - were all put on hold. Then one Sunday morning while in church, inspiration returned and the words started flowing.
"I kept wishing the preacher would hurry up, so I could write everything down before I forgot it," she says.
Kight, a regular performer here over the years, returns to the Tropicana Room at the Chattanooga Billiard Club East on Saturday, Oct. 4, to celebrate the release of her newest CD, "A New Day."
While Kight wouldn't wish her poor health experience on anyone, she says she is better for it.
"I just view things differently," she says. "I think my writing is better, and the songs just mean more to me."
Known as the Georgia Songbird, Kight is still very much a Southern blues singer, and she says her sense of humor is still intact, so the songs are not all overly serious.
Over her career, Kight has performed her brand of blues-based jazz, rock and country around the world. Her last four albums reached No. 1 on Sirius XM's Bluesville Station.
She records and tours with the Blue South Band, featuring Ken Wynn, Mike Harrell, Johnny Fountain and Gary Porter.
Contact Barry Courter at bcourter@timesfree press.com or 423-757-6354.