Pilot Design & Website Update

I am lucky to have Pilot Design working hard for me on my website. I am making some changes to specific aspects and you will note a new button called "Musings" in the coming weeks. It will provide some interesting links and information that should intrigue roots and blues lovers. Although the overall design will remain the parchment and old radio, there will be many updated photos and access to this blog. Already this blog has received over 13,000 hits so I'm pretty excited to think that there will be access to my website as well.

Very cool thing happened this week...I received an email from Blues DJ Charly from Florida. We met in Clarksdale at the Juke Joint Festival and he emailed from out of the blue. That lead me to reconnect with the fine folks in my Clarksdale family and has renewed my integration and passion for this experience. It won't be long and I'll be back in Mississippi...I just know it in my bones!

If you get a chance check out www.ratpackstlouis.com and see some photos of me with a big laugh and some playing at the Riverside Motel with Frank Ratliff.

Keep on keepin' on my brothers & sisters in the Blues...Kat

Centre for Ethnomusicology & Folkways Alive!

Dear Friends,

The last week has been absolutely amazing for me and my musical evolution! At the encouragement of my dear friends Russ Baker and John Newton I have made contact with and am being supported by a team of wonderful people at the University of Alberta's Center for Ethnomusicology and Folkways Alive! There is alot of space for my artistic expression and I find myself deeply stimulated by the conversation. I've resisted academic pursuits in the past because I could not see the point in furthering my education..until now. Resistance is futile as I have a huge YES in my mind's eye about this connection. This is very, very needed and a major boost to my career.

The gifts of the Mississippi Delta and blues music continue to be abundant in my writing and overall creative process. It is too early to go into specifics but I will say that the November concerts are just the beginning of grounding my Southern USA trip into the Alberta musical landscape. The most exciting piece is the amateur documentary which will provide alot of information about how to pursue a full length documentary. I don't think it's too early to say but I want you all to know that in the midst of this fellow blues woman Ndidi Onukwulu and I will be working together for part the larger documentary. I admire her artistic work and am thrilled that this connection has been made. I can't say more right now but will as time moves forward.

I hope you can take time and join me in November. If you cannot please check in with this blog from time to time and keep in touch! It means alot to me that you are reading.

Happy Fall Season!
Hugs, Kat

Evangeline & Lunenburg Folk Harbour Festival

Hi again friends...it is great to be back blogging once again.  I sure appreciate you checkin' in with this ongoing process I'm in.  

Nova Scotia was more than I had imagined it would be.  The people are second to none (as my mom would say), the scenery and the musical vibe was outstanding!  I had an terrific time at the Lunenburg Folk Harbour Festival (first three photos) and really want to thank all the volunteers and organizers.  The blessings on my music were abundant in Lunenburg and there were too many moments of gratitude to even measure.  What I will say is that on the Wharf Stage on a sunny Saturday afternoon playing music across from the Bluenose II all I could think of was "I can't wait to tell everyone back home about this experience".  Who knew 9 years ago that music would become such a joy in my life.  

If' you've been following along in this blog you'll know that I was introduced to Evangeline in Lafayette, Louisiana this past Spring and she has continued to be quite a source of inspiration as I learn about the story of the Nova Scotian Acadian people.  As luck would have it I ended up playing a gig in Wolfville, Nova Scotia which happened to be along the 'Evangeline Trail' and the National Historical Site of Grand Pre which is where the Acadian deportation of the 1700's occurred.  Amazing!!  That thread continues to lead me in interesting directions.  If you get a chance to read Longfellow's prose poem, Evangeline, it is worth it.  

No matter where I go during this time of artistic development in my life...my Southern USA adventure continues to unfold.  

I've included some photos of funnin' and playin' in Lunenburg as well as a photo of the statue of Evangeline in Grand Pre.  Enjoy!

Hugs,

Kat