Artist description Kate Schutt's music has a stripped-down intensity so rarely seen it is startling. Though the 20-something solo guitarist/singer-songwriter, record lable-owner comes equipped with only an acoustic and an electric guitar and a daring voice, Schutt's music unabashedly genre-hops from original "slice-of-life" folk-rock tunes, to jazz standards, to 80s pop covers. This dizzying display is held together by a rawness and passion that is visceral. Those edges are kept raw through a self-proclaimed addiction to live performance. Kate just released her third live album entitled "broken." A Hendrix-inspired, runaway train version of "Autumn Leaves." "Over the Rainbow" done on a cheap guitar, exposes an as yet unnoticed haunting melancholy. A sauntering rendition of "Lady is a Tramp." A courageous approach to an intimidating list of jazz standards, indeed. Add a blistering version of Janet Jackson's "Miss You Much" (not to mention a better-than-the-original cover of George Michaels' "Father Figure") and you might wonder, "What kind of music is this?!" Move over Folk/Punk, Kate has something a little meatier ... Folk/Monk. Folk informed by the unconventional, angular wit of the jazz great Thelonious Monk. Everything old is truly new again. In 2001, Kate released two live albums: "brokenwingtrick" (an eclectic collection of cover tunes) and the much-anticipated, original album "brokenworld. Curve magazine called her: "A stunner and a strummer...what sets Kate apart is that her songs tell the stories of people you might see in a Nan Goldin collection of photographs." Improvisation is Kate's thing. Fans note that she rarely performs the same song the same way twice. Her influences include all the great improvisers: Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald. But other voices can be heard as well: Ani Difranco meets Tina Turner meets Tuck Andress. The influence of many poets too (after all, Kate did go to Haaaavard): Elizabeth Bishop, W. H. Auden, etc. Sharp songwriting and intentionally sparse arrangements play a major role in Kate's music, as do angular chord crunches, percussive noises, jazz harmonies, and an infectious groove. As one reviewer notes, her music has "the precision of a surgeon and the emotional range of a true artist." Born in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, Kate began performing live at the age of twelve and wrote her first song at age thirteen. At Harvard she studied English Literature and played women's ice hockey and women's lacrosse. She also moonlighted at Berklee College of Music, pursuing a degree in both traditional composition and jazz performance. Since graduation, Kate has fiercely pursued her vision of writing, playing, and recording LIVE music. Kate has dedicated her life to the question: "Are you living art?" So, are you? e

Music Style Folk/Monk

Musical Influences Thelonious Monk, Tuck and Patti

Similar Artists Ani DiFranco, Rickie Lee Jones, Thelonious Monk, Tuck and Patti

Instruments guitar & vocals

Albums b r o k e n, b r o k e n w o r l d, b r o k e n w i n g t r i c k

Press Reviews Guitar-wielding bombshell - Girlfriends Magazine A stunner and a strummer... what sets Kate apart is that her songs tell the stories of people you might see in a Nan Goldin collection of photographs - Curve Magazine ˇ

Location Cambridge, MA - USA

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