Slam-storytelling and folk-roots music meets many a queer-themed tune in Canadian singer-songwriter Kate Reid, whose songs just might have you rolling in the aisles with laughter or dabbing tears from your eyes. Kate is an exceptional creator and writer of songs: a whip smart wordsmith with a knack for candid story-telling and songwriting that is charged with humour and social-political commentary. Their original, incisive, and entertaining songwriting garnered them a Canadian Folk Music Award nomination for Best/New Emerging Artist of 2009, and a 2010 Toronto Independent Music Award nomination for Best Acoustic Album. Musing about identity, love, queer life, the interesting towns she’s toured though and the characters she’s met along the way, Penguin Eggs Magazine (Canada's Folk, Roots, and World Magazine) critics voted Kate “Favourite New Discovery of 2009” with good reason: she is as charming as she is in-your-face, singing sometimes in almost a spoken-word style with an irreverent, often self-deprecating sense of humour. But best of all, you don’t have to be queer to get it. What makes Kate stand out from other confessional writers is that they turn personal experience and insight into songs that strike a universal chord with their listeners.
Kate has five albums under her belt (Kate Reid, 2005; Comin’ Alive, 2006; I’m Just Warming Up, 2009; Doing it for the Chicks, 2011; and Queer Across Canada, 2013), and a number of singles, and performs at live music venues, public schools, universities, music and Pride festivals, youth, arts, and academic conferences, community organizations, union meetings, and in people’s living rooms. Kate has a Ph.D from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto, Canada where she investigated the role of queer folk songs in public school curriculum development related to gender and sexuality education. From her doctoral research, Kate developed The Queer Across Canada Resource Kit, which is available as a free download on the “Music” page of this website.
www.katereid.net
pronouns: she/they
Toronto, Canada (Huron-Wendat, Seneca, & Mississaugas of the Credit River Territory)
Check out Kate's upcoming work in schools and community organizations on the CALENDAR page.
