Kaia Kater

Montreal-born Grenadian-Canadian Kaia Kater's jazz-fueled voice and deft songcraft have garnered acclaim from NPR's Tiny Desk, The Guardian, Rolling Stone and No Depression. Through her artful banjo playing and lush songwriting, Kaia draws on influences rooted in Quebec, the Caribbean, and Appalachia, all of which reflect the diversity of her background; her family’s deep ties to the Canadian folk music scene; her college years spent soaking up Appalachian music in West Virginia and her father’s experience growing up in Grenada, arriving in Canada in 1986, after the U.S. invasion. 

Kaia released her first EP Old Soul (2013) when she was just out of high school. Since then, she’s gone on to release three more albums, Sorrow Bound (2015), Nine Pin (2016) and Grenades (2018).  For the JUNO-nominated and Polaris Music Prize long-listed Grenades, Kaia leaned into a wide array of sounds and styles in order to convey a broad range of emotions and topics, most notably her Caribbean ancestry and her father’s experience as a refugee in Canada.  In 2020, Kaia took part in the Slaight Music Residency at the Canadian Film Center, released a new single, and wrote original music for The Porter (BET+ 2022), for which she garnered a Canadian Screen Award for Best Original Song in a Drama Series.  Her next album, recorded in Montreal with Joe Grass as co-producer, will land in late 2023.

"...plaintive, mesmerizing...writes and performs with the skill of a folk-circuit veteran..." -Rolling Stone

"You want some authenticity in your folk music or bluegrass – I give you Kaia Kater." -No Depression

"A star in the making..."
-Folk Alley

“...One of the most remarkable Canadian folk records in some time...Kater's music is somehow ancient and brand new at the same time.”
-Tom Power, CBC Radio 2 

"Sorrow Bound is a remarkably assured debut album which both honours tradition and declares Kater’s credentials as a distinctive, original artist."  Steve Hunt - fRoots Magazine (UK) - October 2015
 
SHORT BIO (for other bios, please contact Kaia's team)

Grenadian-Canadian Kaia Kater's jazz-fueled voice and deft songcraft have garnered acclaim from NPR, Rolling Stone and No Depression. On ‘Grenades' (2018), Kaia leaned into a wide array of topics, notably her Caribbean ancestry. Recent projects include "Parallels" (2021) and songwriting for 'The Porter' (CBC/BET+) TV series, for which she won a Canadian Screen Award for Best Original Song. She is currently recording an album for release in 2023.

ABOUT KAIA'S INSTRUMENTS

Kaia is delighted to play a Gold Tone banjo (OT-800 Tubaphone), equipped with a pick-up and pre-amp from LR Baggs.  She uses Straight Up Strings for both instruments and her guitar.

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