Witch Mountain’s New Vocalist Kayla Dixon is Pure Dynamite
Portland’s Witch Mountain have been branching out into new territory since the departure of their previous vocalist, Uta Plotkin, in 2014. The band welcomed their newest member, Kayla Dixon, only 19 years old at the time, after she caught wind of the opening via Facebook and submitted a video audition. Four years later, With Mountain have released the first album to feature Dixon on vocals, and holy shit — this lady is a POWERHOUSE.
Dixon’s ability to seamlessly transition from haunting wails to gnarly growls is a gift that’s not shared by many. “When she laid down a scratch track in the studio and was going back and forth between the cleans and the dirties, our producer Billy and us were just sitting there laughing with joy,” recalls guitarist Rob Wrong. “For her that was just a scratch track, and we’re just like ‘most people in the world can’t do this.’ For Dixon, the possibility to cross styles and alternate between clean and screaming vocals is ‘a breath of fresh air.’”
It’s exciting to welcome such incredible vocal talent to the world of doom metal, and it’s even more exciting to see women of color being represented in the culture. “There’s not too many of us,” Dixon remarks. “I can think of maybe three or four off the top of my head. . . Racism is a big issue in metal, unfortunately. It needs to be spoken about and addressed. I’ve taken it as my responsibility to say something with my platform, the small platform I have. I don’t want to stay silent, that’s just not me.”
Though she claims to be a naturally shy person, Dixon’s background in theatre and time spent touring with the band have granted her a sense of assertiveness and a commanding stage presence that reinforces her vocal prowess. Sick of just reading about how awesome she is? Check out this live performance of “Burn You Down”.
Dig it? You can listen to Witch Mountain’s new self titled album on Spotify, and take a look at the tour dates below to see if they’ll be playing near you this summer!
May 31 Seattle, WA North West Terror Fest
June 23 Portland, OR Star Theater #
July 11 Sacramento, CA Blue Lamp
July 12 San Francisco, CA Bottom of the Hill
July 13 San Diego, CA Til Two
July 14 Los Angeles, CA Lexington
July 15 Phoenix, AZ Club Red
July 16 Albuquerque, NM Launchpad
July 18 Austin, TX Lost Well
July 19 Denton, TX Dan’s Silverleaf
July 20 Memphis, TN HiTone
July 21 Knoxville, TN Pilot Light
July 22 Atlanta, GA The Earl
July 23 Asheville, NC Mothlight
July 25 Chapel Hill, NC Cat’s Cradle
July 26 Richmond, VA Strange Matter
July 27 Baltimore, MD Metro
July 28 Philadelphia, PA Kung Fu Necktie
July 29 Brooklyn, NY Saint Vitus
July 31 Boston, MA Great Scott
August 1 Portland, ME Geno’s
August 2 Montreal, QC Vitrola
August 3 Ottawa, ON House of Targ
August 4 Toronto, ON Garrison
August 5 Buffalo, NY Mohawk
August 7 Lexington, KY Green Lantern
August 8 Chicago, IL Reggie’s
August 9 Omaha, NE Lookout Lounge
August 10 Denver, CO Hi-Dive
August 11 Salt Lake City, UT Kilby Court
[via Noisey]
