Kaia Kater

Kater was born in Montreal, Quebec, where she spent her early childhood in Mile End.^[1] She started playing the banjo at 12 years old.^[2] She also lived in Wakefield, Ottawa and Winnipeg before attending Davis & Elkins College in Elkins, West Virginia on a banjo scholarship.^[3][4] In Elkins, she also learned to flatfoot and deepened her knowledge of body percussion (hambone).^[4] Kater spoke about her experience being a woman of color in West Virginia, and experiencing racism. "If 70 or 75 percent of the time it was a wonderful experience, there was also that other part of the experience where I did encounter some racism, or I witnessed racism. I felt the racial divide very strongly, more so than in Canada".^[2] Her mother is from Quebec, and her father immigrated to Canada from Grenada as a teenager in 1986 as part of a young speakers program, after the U.S. invasion.^[5]

She grew up spending significant time in the North American folk music community, attending festivals, camps and conferences frequently during her teen years.^[6]

At 17, she recorded her first EP recording titled "Rappin' Shady Grove" that she claims was inspired by Drake and his storytelling in his songs.^[2]

She released her first EP Old Soul in 2012, and her first full-length album Sorrow Bound in 2014.^[7]

In 2016, she won the "Pushing the Boundaries" award at the 12th Canadian Folk Music Awards for her third album, Nine Pin.^[8] The Guardian reviewed it as "tremendous" with four stars out of five.^[9] Rolling Stone noted Kater's mixture of traditional banjo playing and "sobering, honest lyrics exploring all-too-current themes including poverty and racism...a quiet, yet powerful storm", naming her a "need to know" artist of 2016.^[10] NPR highlighted her single, "St. Elizabeth," for its rustic wisdom, comparing her vocalization to a "run-down preacher dispensing folk wisdom on the street."^[11] Kater recorded the album in a single day in Toronto.^[12]

In 2017 and 2018, Kater toured extensively, performing at venues and festivals throughout the United States, Canada, Europe and the United Kingdom, including a performance at the Kennedy Center, at the invitation of the Grammy Museum as part of a tribute to Pete Seeger.^[13] She performed at the 2018 Newport Folk Festival, with Rolling Stone highlighting her performance as one of the '12 Best Things We Saw' ^[14] and Carnegie Hall announced her performance as part of Migrations: The Making of America in their 2018-2019 season.^[15]

Kater's 2018 album, Grenades, explores her personal history, including the story of her father's childhood and journey to Canada.^[16] Kater traveled to her father's homeland of Grenada to seek inspiration for the album. This was the first trip she had taken there as an adult.^[5]

While influenced by folk music, Kater cites Nina Simone, Erykah Badu and Lauryn Hill as important voices in shaping the direction of her artistic, social and political expression.^[17]