Slam poetry meets folk music meets LGBTQ+ themed tunes in Toronto-based singer-songwriter Kate Reid. She is funny, passionate, queer as a three-dollar bill, and she’s sure to entertain. Their songs just might have you rolling in the aisles with laughter or dabbing tears from your eyes, where singing songs about small towns, old and new loves, festival beer tents, donor dads and lesbian moms, gender-bending, trying to get dates at the local co-op health food store, and being “the only dyke at the open mic” is the norm. Nominated for a Canadian Folk Music Award in 2009, and touted as “Favourite New Discovery” in 2009 by Penguin Eggs (Canada’s Folk, Roots, and World Music Magazine), Kate has five albums under her belt: Kate Reid (ep, 2005), Comin’ Alive (2006), I’m Just Warming Up (2009), Doing it for the Chicks (2011), and Queer Across Canada (2013), which is a collection of songs based on interviews she conducted with LGBTQ+ families. They also have a bunch of singles that include collaborative songwriting projects with individuals, and compositions for a research project at the University of Toronto. Kate performs at live music venues, folk and music festivals, Pride festivals, conferences, and in people’s living rooms. She also combines musical activism with teaching by facilitating workshops and giving concerts and keynote addresses in secondary schools, post-secondary institutions, and community service organizations.
Kate holds a BA from the University of Guelph, and a B.Ed and an MA from The University of British Columbia. In their MA work, they explored how queer genealogies, kinships, and identities are constructed through songs, songwriting, and performance. Currently, Kate is a PhD candidate in the department of Curriculum, Teaching, and Learning at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto where she is conducting research on how queer folk songs can be used as curriculum tools to teach about gender and sexual diversity.
pronouns: she/they
"Entertaining. Sharp. Honest. Funny. A woman who breaks the stereotypes and makes us all think as well as laugh. Anyone who'd write a song called "The Only Dyke at the Open Mic" deserves a medal. And when she follows it up with "I'd Go Straight for Ridley Bent" and "Co-op Girlz" (about trying to pick up chicks a health food store), Kate should be eligible for the Order of Canada". - Richard Flohil, Toronto, ON
"Gut-splittingly funny. This kind of precocious is precious and altogether rare." - Stuart Derdeyn, The Vancouver Province, Vancouver BC
"Kate Reid is, quite simply, one of the best songwriters to emerge from the Canadian folk roots scene since David Francey." - Tim Readman, Penguin Eggs Magazine, Edmonton, AB
"Kate Reid is one of the best songwriters I've heard in years. I'd put her on a stage any time, any where." Gary Cristall, Vancouver, BC
Check out Kate's work in schools and community organizations on the Keynotes/Workshops/School Concerts page.