Kathleen

Album: Draw The Line (2009)
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Songfacts®:

  • This is a duet with American singer Jolie Holland. Gray commented to Billboard magazine: "It's got some charm to it, that one. It's just held its own amongst these bigger numbers. Holland's vocals just lifts the song out. She's a star; she's a rare thing."
  • Gray admitted to Sunday Times August 31, 2009 that Holland wasn't his first choice. He explained: "I sang these backing vocals on the song and when I heard them back, they were so country, I thought, I've got to get Dolly Parton singing this. So I wrote her a letter: 'Dear Dolly, you wouldn't believe how many times I've listened to you and Chet Atkins singing Do I Ever Cross Your Mind,' and so on... The next morning, I called my management and said, 'Don't send it, it's too gushy, I'll rewrite it,' and they said, 'Don't bother, we've already sent it, and we've already got the reply. Dolly's busy for the next five years.'" So Gray had to think again and the answer came when he went to see Holland in concert. "We were both a bit nervous when she came into the studio," said Gray. "It was the first time I'd done anything like that, and I was trying to make her sing like me - which, surprisingly, didn't work. Eventually, Robbie [Malone, bass] pointed out that what she was doing was so much better than what I wanted her to do."

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