Kate MacLeod

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Dynamic and versatile Americana musician Kate MacLeod brings music to you through her original songs, instrumentals, and creative renditions of traditional and popular music. Since her first recording (produced by Charles Sawtelle of Hot Rize) her songs have been recorded by other artists from California to the Czech Republic. Kate has toured in the United States, Canada, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Italy, and the UK. She was chosen for the Best of the West Award, 2019, by the Far-West division of the Folk Alliance International. In addition to her Americana music, she is a versatile composer and received the 2019 Alfred Lambourne Friends of the Great Salt Lake Award for an original violin duet. In February 2022, Kate released a collection of music inspired by the Utah region, music from out of the heart of the American West.

Her voice is said to sound “as pure as water from a mountain stream.” She performs her music with guitar, violin, mountain dulcimer, and harmonica and has studied many styles of fiddle music in addition to extensive classical training from where she has developed a unique expression with the violin. In reviews, Kate’s has been compared to many influential artists of her genre including Joni Mitchell, Nanci Griffith, Richard Thompson, and Emmylou Harris. Since her first recording release, her songs have been covered by Folk, Celtic, Bluegrass and roots music genres including artists such as Mollie O’Brien, Laurie Lewis, Andrew Calhoun, One Shilling Short, Loose Ties, Rose Laughlin, and many others. Something Left You Living, a song from her Blooming recording, was featured on NPR’s song showcase “What’s in a Song.” Kate’s songs have been featured on nationally syndicated radio shows including Tom May’s “River City Folk,” and were sung by others on “A Prairie Home Companion.” You will find fans of many music genres in an audience gathered to hear Kate MacLeod perform as her songs catch the ears of new artists, traditional singers, bluegrass musicians, Celtic musicians and songwriters of many styles.

Kate’s music compels publications such as Sing Out! Magazine to claim that she “channels the spirit of the great Carter Family classics.” She’s opened for artists such as Rosanne Cash, Dan Fogelberg, Greg Brown, and has worked with some of the greats in acoustic music such as Tim O’Brien who produced her Blooming recording.

Her songwriting style and live performances display an unbreakable link between traditional music and cutting-edge contemporary songwriting. Whether in a song or on her violin, she captures our history, landscapes, and our lives in the varied music that she creates. Some of Kate’s works have been commissioned for cultural projects.

Kate’s musicianship has been featured in a number of documentaries aired on PBS stations including My Canyonlands: Kent Frost, We Sagebrush Folks, and Zion Canyon Song Cycle..

Kate was recipient of the 2018 Minnie Jane Artist-in-Resident Scholarship from Pendle Hill Quaker Study and Retreat Center, completing a three-month residency during which she composed a collection of peace-motivating and inspirational music titled A Harmonious Sound.