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"[Kate's] lyrical edge is sharp as a samurai, slicing away any of the mush that makes much roots/folk writing smell like cow patties." -Stuart Derdeyn, Vancouver Province, August 2007
A straight shooter but definitely not straight, Kate Reid has busted out with an uncanny knack for candid story-telling and songwriting that is charged with humour and social commentary. She tosses in smattering of honesty and heartfelt insight, serving up a show that will have you laughing out loud and maybe even shedding a few tears. As she sings her gutsy songs, Kate captures her audience with incisive lyrics and a gift for singing and entertaining that shines throughout every performance.
The vibrant singer-songwriter's music combines folk, roots, country and spoken word. Kate's songs pulse with life: “Co-op Girlz” is an epic tale of unrequited love at a health food store in Nelson; “Small Town”, a queer country chart chomper about small town life in Midway; “I’d Go Straight for Ridley Bent” a homo hymn to impossible love or at least, lust, and “The Only Dyke at the Open Mic” is a glimpse into an evening gone hilariously awry at a local bar in Vancouver. Her songs chronicle life from an oblique angle but are universal in their storytelling. Says Kate, “I love seeing the audience respond to my lyrics, especially with laughter because it’s so important to have a sense of humour about it all. Laughter is a connection to the human spirit.”
Hailing from a farm in south central Ontario, Kate loved music from the start. During her formative years, she listened to a variety of music from country, folk, pop and disco to opera, classical and rock‘n’roll. “The first record I owned was a Linda Rhonstadt album…I would play it on my red and yellow Fisher-Price turntable. I saw Roy Orbison in concert in Kitchener, Ontario. I think I was around 7 years old. I remember singing songs and shucking peas while sitting on the front porch on the farm. Music was always around as I was growing up.”
As a teenager, Kate taught herself to play the guitar and harmonica. She got into the music of Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Neil Young and Janis Joplin. In her early twenties, she performed folk and rock‘n’roll cover tunes in a couple of local bars with her father’s band. At this time, she discovered neo-folk-activists and singer-songwriters Ani Difranco, Ferron, Tracy Chapman, and Indigo Girls. It was these women who stoked the fire inside of her and she began to write her own music. When Kate started playing her own material at parties and around campfires, people told her that she should be singing on a stage. So, then it was open mics and fundraisers, community events and a little bit of busking on the street that helped launch Kate into pursuing a career in music.
“Music has quite literally saved my life and I feel transformed each time I play. I feel like I come alive when I have my guitar in my hands. I have also discovered that people share similar experiences, regardless of age, gender, sexuality and upbringing. After my shows, folks often tell me that my music moves them…to tears and to laughter. That’s when I know this is exactly what I am supposed to be doing.”
Kate lives in beautiful Vancouver, BC and continues performing and making music. She also produces a women’s singer-songwriter performance event in Vancouver called “Women in the Round”. In her spare time, she plays mandolin and sings a mean bluegrass tune.
"It would be easy to write Kate Reid off as just another lesbian folk singer. After all, she sings about her sexual orientation and women’s issues with just her acoustic guitar as back-up. But listening to Kate’s music is somewhere between watching a stand-up comedian and finding someone’s secret journal. Her songs are raw and honest but with an amazing dose of wit, all delivered in a casual yet earnest tone. There isn’t a lot of cryptic poetry in her lyrics, just matter-of-fact stories told with a musical style similar to Melissa Ferrick or Ani DiFranco." -Tamara Gorzalka, The Vue Weekly, Edmonton, AB, November 2007
"This faux-hawked folkie asks: 'How will I get on the radio when I cuss and swear and sing about loving women?' Well, writing songs this honest, smart and often gut-splittingly funny can't hurt. An orignal talent waiting to be discovered. And after you spin her sassy, honest songs, you'll understand where that sparkle in her eyes comes from. This kind of precocious is precious and altogether rare." -Stuart Derdeyn, Vancouver Province, November 2006
“One woman, one guitar, damn sexy on stage. A punky lesbian-feminist singer-songwriter who doesn’t mind the moniker, this Vancouver singer is so suave with her instrument, she looks like she’s been playing Whiskey A Go-Go for years.” -Curve Magazine, July 2007
”Kate Reid is one of the best songwriters I've heard in years. I'd put her on a stage any time, anywhere."
-Gary Cristall, Founder and Former Artistic Director-Vancouver Folk Music Festival-Vancouver, BC, November, 2006
”Punky, yet wise beyond her years, Kate Reid is a breath of fresh air on the Vancouver music scene. She is quirky, in-your-face and charming at the same time, and most of all, a superb entertainer and songwriter. And... she's hilarious!” -Pat Hogan, Sounds and Furies Productions-Vancouver, BC, September, 2006
"Vancouver-based singer-songwriter Kate Reid is one witty chick. She nails the lesbian experience with songs like “Everyone’s Fucked But Me,” with its references to uptight straight women trying fit in at women’s events, two-year relationships and going to therapy to support local women in business. Whether she’s singing about having crushes on “Co-op Girlz,” or living in a town midway to nowhere on “Small Town,” Reid is uncompromisingly queer. Reid’s guitar style—basic pop-folk— provides a nice accompaniment for her truly impressive voice. Produced by former Mollies’ Revenge frontwoman Yvette Narlock, “Comin’ Alive” sounds great. The vocals are exactly where they need to be—forefront and centre.
In the song “Starving Artist,” she asks: “How will I get on the radio when I cuss and swear and sing about women?” Tongue-in-cheek, she knows that the price for play outside the confines of co-op radio, or maybe CBC on a good day, would be integrity. Reid doesn’t sound like she’s up for the compromise." -Cindy Filipenko, Herizons Magazine, Spring 2007
"...very impressive. Heal Myself, Bright Out Here, and Identity are introspective and universal numbers with marvellous harmonies. Kori Miyanishi adds some expert banjo and fiddle tracks, and a rhythm section allows Kate to rock out like she should. Everyone’s Fucked But Me, Small Town, and Co-op Girlz are just clever and twisted enough to draw chuckles. In the epic Crone Woman, she muses on becoming elderly and wise. Great lyrics there, and her voice is always in tune, maybe sometimes even a bit Rae Spoon-esque. - Mary-Beth Carty, Penguin Eggs Magazine, July 2007
“Frankly, anyone who can bring Midway, BC to life, can walk on water!”
-Steven Cain, freelance writer and author
“Her songs, and particularly her sense of humour, resonate strongly with all members of the audience. Kate sings from and to the heart about love, personal struggle, social issues and the environment. She reveals those awkward moments we all experience in a way that cuts across boundaries and inhibitions as she leads her audience on a deeply personal journey into life in all its shades and colour.” -Nelson Daily News, Nelson, BC
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