Kaia Kater (born in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, guitar, piano and

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

player.

Background

Kater was born in Montreal, Quebec, where she spent her early childhood in

Mile End Mile End is a district of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in the East End of London, England, east-northeast of Charing Cross. Situated on the London-to-Colchester road, it was one of the earliest suburbs of London. It became part of the m ...

. She started playing the banjo at 12 years old. She also lived in

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

and

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

before attending Davis & Elkins college in Elkins,

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the Bur ...

on a banjo scholarship. In Elkins, she also learned to flatfoot and deepened her knowledge of body percussion ( hambone). Kater spoke about her experience being a woman of color in West Virginia, and experiencing racism. "If 70 or 75 percent of the time it was a wonderful experience, there was also that other part of the experience where I did encounter some racism, or I witnessed racism. I felt the racial divide very strongly, more so than in Canada". Her mother is from Quebec, and her father immigrated to Canada from

Grenada Grenada ( ; Grenadian Creole French: ) is an island country in the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea at the southern end of the Grenadines island chain. Grenada consists of the island of Grenada itself, two smaller islands, Carriacou and Pe ...

as a teenager in 1986 as part of a young speakers program, after the U.S. invasion. She grew up spending significant time in the North American folk music community, attending festivals, camps and conferences frequently during her teen years.

Musical career

At 17, she recorded her first EP recording titled "Rappin' Shady Grove" that she claims was inspired by Drake and his storytelling in his songs. She released her first EP ''Old Soul'' in 2012, and her first full-length album ''Sorrow Bound'' in 2014. In 2016, she won the "Pushing the Boundaries" award at the

12th Canadian Folk Music Awards The 12th Canadian Folk Music Awards were presented in Toronto, Ontario on December 3, 2016.

for her third album, ''Nine Pin''. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' reviewed it as "tremendous" with four stars out of five. ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' noted Kater's mixture of traditional banjo playing and "sobering, honest lyrics exploring all-too-current themes including poverty and racism...a quiet, yet powerful storm", naming her a "need to know" artist of 2016.

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

highlighted her single, "St. Elizabeth," for its rustic wisdom, comparing her vocalization to a "run-down preacher dispensing folk wisdom on the street." Kater recorded the album in a single day in Toronto. In 2017 and 2018, Kater toured extensively, performing at venues and festivals throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and the United Kingdom, including a performance at the

Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...

, at the invitation of the

Grammy Museum The Grammy Museum is any of a group of museums containing exhibits relating to winners of the Grammy Award for achievement in recording. The museums in this group include: *The Grammy Museum at L.A. Live, which opened in 2008 in Los Angeles, Califo ...

as part of a tribute to

Pete Seeger Peter Seeger (May 3, 1919 – January 27, 2014) was an American folk singer and social activist. A fixture on nationwide radio in the 1940s, Seeger also had a string of hit records during the early 1950s as a member of the Weavers, notably ...

. She performed at the 2018

Newport Folk Festival Newport Folk Festival is an annual American folk-oriented music festival in Newport, Rhode Island, which began in 1959 as a counterpart to the Newport Jazz Festival. It was one of the first modern music festivals in America, and remains a foca ...

, with

highlighting her performance as one of the '12 Best Things We Saw' and

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

announced her performance as part of ''Migrations: The Making of America'' in their 2018-2019 season. Kater's 2018 album, ''Grenades,'' explores her personal history, including the story of her father's childhood and journey to Canada. Kater traveled to her father's homeland of Grenada to seek inspiration for the album. This was the first trip she had taken there as an adult. While influenced by folk music, Kater cites

Nina Simone Eunice Kathleen Waymon (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003), known professionally as Nina Simone (), was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blues, ...

Erykah Badu Erica Abi Wright (born February 26, 1971), known professionally as Erykah Badu (), is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and actress. Influenced by rhythm and blues, R&B, Soul music, soul, and hip hop, Badu rose to prominence in the ...

and

Lauryn Hill Lauryn Noelle Hill (born May 26, 1975) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, and record producer. She is often regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, as well as being one of the most influential musicians of her generation. ...

as important voices in shaping the direction of her artistic, social and political expression.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kater, Kaia Canadian banjoists Canadian folk singer-songwriters Singers from Montreal Living people 1993 births Canadian Folk Music Award winners 21st-century Black Canadian women singers Canadian women singer-songwriters Canadian singer-songwriters Canadian people of Grenadian descent

Background

Musical career

References

Further reading

External links