See what you missed? Were you able to join Black Rose for our recent open stage featuring Kate McLeod? If not here are some lovely photos taken by volunteer photographer Reggie Barrett.
Of course Kate played "Lark in the Morning" (which she wrote) and was wonderful!
Read what Betsy had to say about her in our newsletter...
Sing
Out! Magazine says Kate "channels the spirit of the great Carter Family
classics," while Kate has been compared to most influential artists of
her genre including Joni Mitchell, Nanci Griffith, Richard Thompson and
Emmylou Harris. She has taught songwriting workshops in schools, concert
outreach programs, summer camps and at music festivals since her 1995
debut recording on Waterbug Records.
Her latest solo recording was produced by Grammy-winning musician Tim
O'Brien from which the song "Something Left You Living" was featured on
NPR's syndicated song showcase “What's in a Song.” In addition to
performing her own compositions, she is a sought after vocalist, fiddler
and guitar player, working regularly with other artists.
Recently, Kate was producer for the state of Utah-based Utah Phillips
Tribute CD recording a dream come true for Kate. Also released this year
is the second Kate MacLeod and Kat Eggleston duo recording, Lost and
Found, now available through Waterbug Records.
Her latest solo recording, Blooming, will "rock your world" in one
way or another. Kate went to Nashville, TN to record this project with
Tim O'Brien as producer, David Ferguson as engineer, and musicians
Darrell Scott, Byron House, and Kenny Malone. The outcome is a
culmination of her love and experience with the styles of American music
that she has been performing most of her life. On this recording you
will hear twelve songs expressed in shades of country, folk, bluegrass,
folk-rock, pop, art song and sounds of modern Americana music held
together in a project that is full of personality and ease.
Kate's own words....“It has taken most of my life for me to settle
into being a professional musician. When I am interviewed it can be
difficult for me to describe the actual turn of events in my life that
led me to this. All of my time with music has been interspersed with
other activities such as schooling, raising a family, investigating
other careers and sorting out the vagaries of human existence. Was it
that I longed to be a musician when I begged for a violin at the age of
six? What was the effect of my first music teacher's spell cast on me
when she leaned over the music stand, her crazy shock of pure white hair
bouncing, telling me that I may try to do other things in my life, but
that I will first and always be a musician?
Becoming a full-time musician is a more recent mark on my life's time
line. As I worked in other areas of life, none of that work seemed to
be able to displace the time that I spent on music. I would eventually
put work aside if it interfered with music. I've tended to my children
and watched them grow up. I've been performing with various musicians
and music groups for many years and have learned an incalculable amount
of music from many cultures. Since I was a teenager I've written songs.
I've lost track of many of them. Music groups in my region began singing
my songs before I recorded any of them myself. I created my first
recording because I knew that my local radio station would play it, for
they featured me as guest performer many times, singing my original
songs. Since then, things have grown at a grass-roots pace and I am
happy to travel anywhere to play music. I've had to learn how to perform
on stage, as it is a different skill than making the music sound. Most
of all, despite the overly commercial and complicated world we live in,
I've learned that music does make a difference in people's lives.
One of my favorite songs that I sing to myself almost every day is...
Keep On The Sunny Side Of Life. I highly recommend this song for
everyday use. It works especially well in the car.”
-
Betsy Grovenburg
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