Kate MacLeod

Friday , November 17, 2000
12:00 am
Location: Elderly Instruments
in-store performance (free)

Kate MacLeod (pronounced McCloud) has been writing songs and performing her music for over ten years now. It has been a gradual process of recognition. While growing up, she was influenced by a broad range of musical styles. Old-time, stringband, bluegrass, Classical, Celtic and contemporary songwriters all played a part in her musical evolution. Originally from Maryland, in 1979 Kate moved to Salt Lake City, Utah where she later accepted a faculty position at the famed Peter Paul Prier Violin Making School of America. For more than ten years she taught the art of drafting and violin design while raising a family and developing a career as a songwriter and performer. Some of her design drawings have been catalogued by the Library of Congress and hang in the Smithsonian in Washington D.C.. Kate MacLeod's talents are many and it is difficult to pigeonhole her or her music. She possesses a pure sweet alto voice that has brought comparisons to artists like Nanci Griffith, Emmylou Harris, and Clair Lynch, among others. Not typically characterized as a bluegrass singer, she is a genre anomaly as witnessed by Pamela Murray Winters when she writes: "Kate MacLeod is a living argument for the voice as a bluegrass instrument." - Folk Music Hound Record Guide. She is an excellent musician who plays guitar, harmonica and fiddle and plays in a variety of styles from old-timey to Celtic. She is known as a writer of songs, but she has also composed for the violin and plays wonderful mix of finger-style, and flat-picking guitar. Labeled as a contemporary singer-songwriter, she often writes in a style that is unmistakably traditional, and historical in context. One noted element of her writing style is described as sparse, where prose becomes a revelation of depth and meaning with a deceivingly simple use of language. Some have compared her writing to that of Wyeth and Steinbeck and others comment on her uncanny skills at bridging folk tradition with the present. In a nutshell, simple words with enduring substance. Songwriter Bob Franke says of MacLeod, "...a brilliant songwriter and performer who demonstrates an unbreakable link between the depth of tradition and the cutting edge." Kate's talent as a songwriter was beginning to be noticed back in 1991 when the bluegrass band, "Loose Ties" recorded one of her songs, "Up and Down the Highway", and titled their recording after that song. Kate recorded her first album "Trying to Get it Right" in 1994 and released it independently. In 1995 Waterbug Records signed Kate and re-released her first recording to critical acclaim. Eleven original songs display the spare, often chilling lyric style that earned MacLeod the "Utah Lyricist of the Year" award from the Private Eye Reader's Poll. Also included is the Jean Ritchie song "None but One". "Trying to get it Right" was produced by Hot Rize guitarist Charles Sawtelle and features Matt Flinner, Mark Diamond, and John Magnie (of the Subdudes). Mollie O'Brien recognized her talents as a songwriter and chose to cover two songs from "Trying to Get it Right" on her 1996 recording "Tell it True". National and regional publications like "Sing Out!" were also recognizing Kate's songwriting by publishing her songs. Though Kate had been performing for years in the intermountain region of the western U.S. at festivals like the esteemed Rocky Mountain Folks Festival, she had never toured extensively due to work and family responsibilities. In 1997 she quit her teaching job to direct more energy towards her family and her music. 1997 also marked the release of her second recording on Waterbug Records, "Constant Emotion". Like her first effort, this one was produced by Charles Sawtelle. It also features Peter Rowan and Matt Flinner. It has received critical acclaim and considerable air-play on folk and acoustic radio programs throughout North America. "...(Constant Emotion) is easily one of the top folk releases of the year." - Eric Fidler, Associated Press There is a certainty in Kate MacLeod, a certainty of truth, of singing from the heart. No pretensions, no show, just the music and it's timeless expressions. "...the term singer-songwriter is too limiting to describe MacLeod. She is a real folk singer. Her songs, and her interpretations of them, are firmly rooted in folk traditions and bear no trappings of pop music ephemera..." - Mike Regenstreif, Sing Out! During the summer of 1998 Kate walked into the recording studio once again; this time however, in a new role. She produced German born singer-songwriter Anke Summerhill's new recording "The Roots Run Deep" on ISG Records. In 1999 Kate produced the second recording from the Utah based Celtic band Shanahy, a group she sings and plays fiddle with. Kate also began work on her own third solo recording due to be released sometime in the year 2000. As noted, in addition to Kate's projects as a singer/songwriter and producer, she also performs and records with the Salt Lake City based Celtic group, Shanahy. In 1999 Kate began an association with New City based Jack Hardy which finds her playing fiddle with his band when touring schedules allow. She can be found playing fiddle on his latest recording due out in the spring of 2000. (Kate will also be touring Europe with the Jack Hardy Band in 2000.) With an established teaching background, Kate has been involved in numerous songwriting and instrument teaching courses as well as festival & teaching workshops in guitar, songwriting, fiddle, and for children. Over the years, Kate has served as mentor to many other Salt Lake City musicians, and continues to offer her students private lessons in both guitar and violin. Kate often performs as a trio with two of her musician friends, Barry Carter from New Zealand on acoustic bass, guitar, and percussion, & Mark Hazel from Ohio on rhythm guitar, and vocals. (* a forth member on drums, has recently been added to the band.) Being a prolific songwriter, Kate MacLeod has a large bag of songs from which to pull while performing. Even for those familiar with her recorded work, this translates to a fresh and wonderful experience at each Kate MacLeod concert. Kate MacLeod has showcased at major music conferences; "South by Southwest" , "Philadelphia Music Conference" and "The Northeast Regional Folk Alliance" over the past three years. She has also performed at numerous festivals and workshops including "The Gamble Rogers Festival," "The Northwest Folklife Festival," "The Spirit of the Woods Festival," , "Utah Arts Festival", and "The Boston Folk Festival" among others .

Check out merchandise we carry featuring Kate MacLeod