Kitty Jay (album)

Kitty Jay is Seth Lakeman's second solo album, released in 2004 on the iScream label and produced by his brother Sean Lakeman. It was recorded by Sean at the Piano Kitchen in Horrabridge, on the edge of Dartmoor, and runs to 11 tracks.

Wikipedia says the songs were inspired by stories and legends from Dartmoor, where Lakeman grew up. The title track is the clearest case: it tells the legend of Kitty Jay, the servant girl buried at the crossroads now known as Jay's Grave near Hound Tor. A Living Tradition review also links Blood Upon Copper to Dartmoor's copper and tin mining history, and says Cape Clear was recorded in St Andrew's Church at Buckland Monachorum.

The album was nominated for the 2005 Mercury Music Prize, which his own site names as the point he reached the mainstream. Not every track is Dartmoor material: John Lomas, Henry Clark, Cape Clear and The Streamers are credited as traditional, and Fight for Favour is about a West Country family emigrating to the Americas.

In January 2024 he marked the 20th anniversary with a live recording made at Dartmoor Prison, released as Kitty Jay: Live from Dartmoor Prison (search-result sources only, see cautions).

Sources: en.wikipedia.org; www.livingtradition.co.uk; sethlakeman.co.uk