Ep. 145 - Kaia Kater

Songwriter and banjo player Kaia Kater joins me on the show this week.I’ve seen Kaia’s artistry grow over the years as she’s been involved in festivals and events like Folk Alliance that I’ve been a part of and seen her perform quite a few times. Kaia started showing up on the scene 10 or 15 years ago and has put out some incredible music in the last 7 or 8 years. She’s a really interesting banjo player, well versed in traditional string band and old time music which she studied in depth at Davis and Elkins College in West Virginia, but also takes the instrument in her own direction using the trad stuff as a launching pad. On her Dad’s side, Kaia has a strong Grenadian connection, which is where he’s from. She did some hefty research into his life and the music from that island, and that all comes out in an incredible way on her album from 2018 called “Grenades”. Go have a listen to that as well as the one before called “Nine Pin”. She has a brand new record that is stellar, but it’s not out yet and she’s not exactly sure when it’ll be out, so we talk about it a bit too, as well as her writing process, and how she approaches recording her own music. Kaia will be touring alot this year and next and I highly encourage you to go see her. You can keep track of all of her activities at www.kaiakater.comBe sure to listen to the Accompanying Songs Playlist which contains some of the artist’s work, plus many of the songs we discuss on the show:Playlist on Spotify / Playlist on Apple MusicIf you enjoyed this episode, please consider supporting the show with a donation or Patreon subscriptionThe show’s website can be found at www.makersandshakerspodcast.comYour fearless host, Steve Dawson can be found at www.stevedawson.ca Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.