Kaia Karter ft Allison Russell – In Montreal
With Black Country very much in the news right now, Kaia Kater’s new single is a love letter to her chosen instrument, the banjo, and a nod to her early roots both in Appalachian stringband music and “in Montreal,” where she grew up.
“Simply, this is a reflection on the gravitational pull of my hometown, Montreal” says Kater of the new single, “In Montreal” which features fellow Grenadian-Canadian and Montreal native Allison Russell. “I’ve left and returned so many times that it now feels like ghosts of my former selves haunt the city. During the deep winter of 2021 with its short days and long nights, I wanted to write an upbeat song about a poet feeling lost and aimless, tectonic plates stacked in their sink—a nod to Leonard Cohen, Kate and Anna McGarrigle, and all the other incredible songwriters of Montreal.”
The song’s complex rhythms and arrangements come from Kater’s recent experimental and compositional influences. In fact, Kater’s new album, Strange Medicine (coming May 17, 2024 on Free Dirt Records) as a whole benefits from her studies in film composition. Recently, Kater was in Austin for SXSW where a new film, My Dead Friend Zoe, that she sang and co-wrote a song for, won the Narrative Spotlight Audience Award.
April 9 Savannah, GA Savannah Music Festival
April 18 Atlanta, GA Center Stage+
April 20 Hopewell, VA The Beacon Theatre+
April 21 Warrendale, PA Jergel’s Rhythm Grille+
April 23 Columbus, OH Skully’s+
April 26 Wilkesboro, NC Merlefest++
May 17 Groton, MA Groton Hill Music Center
May 18 Cambridge, MA Club Passim
May 21 Hamilton, ON Mills Hardware
May 22 Toronto, ON TD Music Hall
May 23 Montreal, QC La Sotterenea
May 24 Kingston, ON The Broom Factory
May 26 Ottawa, ON Red Bird Live
June 1 Brevard, NC NC Guitar Celebration
June 5 Evanston, Il Evanston Space
June 6 Ann Arbor MI The Ark
June 7 Paw Paw, MI The Lucky Wolf
June 12 Brooklyn, NY Union Pool
June 13 Philadelphia, PA World Cafe Live Upstairs
June 14 Baltimore, MD Creative Alliance At The Patterson
July 11-14 Winnipeg, MB Winnipeg Folk Festival *
+ Support for Molly Tuttle
++Performing with New Dangerfield
* Performing with New Dangerfield & as Kaïa Kater
#kaiakarter