Welcome

Kate Mann’s songs take you on a southwestern journey of the nighttime world with snapshots of love lost and dangerous encounters. A deeply resonant, unique vocal quality, atypical chord progressions, and compelling and intelligent lyrics come together to bring a sound that is all her own.

Kate grew up at the foot of the Sandia Mountains in New Mexico, and the texture of the desert subtly sculpts her music. She has been influenced by singing cowboys, heartache, eighties hair bands, old rock and roll, troubadors, bourbon, travelers, and gentle souls.

Kate moved to  Portland Oregon in the mid-ninties, where she cut her musical teeth as a member of several bands before branching out on her own.  A former high school teacher, she had an awakening of sorts in 2005 and dedicated herself to music full time.    She traded in her car for a van, fixed up her mother’s old 1963 Gibson acoustic, and started touring the Western United States, playing venues from farmers’ markets to cafes to dive bars.  Kate has shared bills with such notable acts as Todd Snider, Jackie Green, Brett Dennen, and Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band.  She was a finalist in the 2009 New Folk competition at the Kerrville Folk Festival, received an honorable mention in the 2009 International Songwriting Competition, and has twice been a finalist in the Americana category of the Independent Music Awards.

Kate has recorded four solo CD’s (“Rattlesnake on the Road,” 2012, “Things Look Different When the Sun Goes Down,” 2009, “Devil’s Rope,” 2007, “November Songs,” 2005) as well as duo CD’s with cellist Mark Dudrow  (self-titled, 2017, and The Pink Church Sessions, 2020).  Her work has garnered positive reviews in Nine Bullets, Venus Zine, and many other regional and national publications .  She currently lives off-grid in the mountains of Northern New Mexico with her husband,  dogs,  cat, chickens, and horses.  When not making music she can be found watching birds, singing with coyotes, knitting sweaters, and playing in the mud.