Kyla Brox is a blues and soul singer from Stockport, Greater Manchester, born in 1980. She comes from a musical family: her parents, Victor Brox and Annette Brox, perform in the Victor Brox Blues Train, and both appear on the original 1970 recording of Jesus Christ Superstar. She grows up listening to her father’s blues playing and her mother singing opera, and her four older siblings also have rock interests.

Early performance and family band

Brox begins performing at the age of 12 in her father’s band, Victor Brox Blues Train, which Victor Brox forms in the 1960s with Annette. Her father, a multi-instrumentalist and singer, has a major influence on her development and encourages her to learn flute and guitar as well as sing. She gains experience through tours, gigs and festivals, and through a number of recordings with the band. In 1993 she is already singing with the group, and the band is later known informally as the “Child Slavery Band” because of the youth of its members.

Work with Danny Blomeley and the Kyla Brox Band

Brox meets multi-instrumentalist Danny Blomeley in 1993, when he begins playing bass in her father’s band. Blomeley has already formed his own band at the age of 10. The two spend their teenage years developing their skills together in Victor Brox Blues Train, before Blomeley leaves the UK in 1998. When he returns in spring 2001, they form a duo that later expands into the Kyla Brox Band. The settled line-up is Kyla Brox on vocals and flute, Marshall Gill on guitar, Tony Marshall on saxophones, Danny Blomeley on bass and Phil Considine on drums.

Recognition and touring

Brox attracts media attention through front-cover features in Blues In Britain and Blues Matters!, where she is given the nickname “The Voice”. She also performs a live session for BBC Radio 2. Her performance at the Colne Blues Festival in 2002 helps establish her reputation on the British blues scene. She and her band then perform across the UK, Europe, Australia and Asia, including appearances at the Great British Rhythm n Blues Festival, Copenhagen Blues Festival, Blues autour du Zinc in Paris, the Great Southern Blues and Rockabilly Festival in Australia, Phuket International Blues Festival in Thailand, Edinburgh Festival and Limavady Jazz & Blues Festival in Ireland.

Recordings

Brox releases a series of albums on Pigskin Records. These include Gone in 2007, Grey Sky Blue in 2009, Coming Home in 2009 under the name The Kyla Brox Band, Live... At Last in 2014, Throw Away Your Blues in 2016 and Pain & Glory in 2019. Grey Sky Blue is an acoustic album featuring the guitar work of her songwriting partner Danny Blomeley.

Critical reception

Reviews describe Brox as a leading British blues vocalist and highlight the power and control of her voice. Praise for her work appears in the Manchester Evening News, Blues Matters!, Blues in Britain, City Life and the Northern Territory News, among others.