Briana Gokay knows how to grab some serious attention with those pipes of hers, and I’m not talking about the plumbing in her bathroom. What began as an innocent conception of a band name but inadvertently led to other presumed connotations, alternative blues duo Girl Parts, consisting of sisters-in-law Briana (vocals) and sixteen-year-old guitarist Kacie Gayman, has been creating music since January 2011. And with the potential for a spot on Cayamo Cruise 2012, the two are sure to breach the proverbial surface with a massive musical breakthrough.
After recording and completing a brief tour around the South, Briana and Kacie have literally hit the showers in hopes of becoming an act on the 5th Annual Cayamo Cruise, a weeklong cruise held in February 2012 that brings together a slew of renowned national artists (Lyle Lovett, The Civil Wars, John Prine and The Belle Brigade among them). Essentially, Girl Parts had been recording videos of their songs in a bathroom to gain better acoustics. When Sixthman’s CEO Andy Levine found them on YouTube and suggested Cayamo, the girls turned their recording sessions into a promotional venture by asking fans to help them “from the bathroom to the boat” for a chance to perform on the cruise.
While Briana and Kacie are preparing to record their debut EP, their YouTube channel currently carries all of their video recordings. “Arlene,” “On the Way of My Return,” and “Always Knew,” all Girl Parts originals, hold true to their blues-alternative-country vibe and are glazed with a delicate layer of pop flair. In their intimate cover of “Mama Don’t Like My Man” by Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings, Briana truly eludes to a sense of musical poignancy through passionate delivery. Matched by Kacie’s soul-ridden powerchords, her voice is steadfast and resonating, holding tangible wisps of folk, rock and blues influences. Though awesomely powerful and vibrant, Briana still manages to convey melodies with a sense of gentleness and warmth. In other words, think of her as the hypothetical love child shared between Ray LaMontagne and Adele. For Girl Parts, their signature display of a beautifully drawn out and almost contradictory notion of force meets subtlety will not only prove their pass onto Cayamo, but also prove their pass into the limelight. –Whitney LeFevre