Kara Golemba

Releasing her debut EP, Every Little Light, resulted in a bag of mixed emotions for Kara Golemba.

A singer/songwriter based in Indian Head, Golemba released the six-track EP on Sept. 23 with a release party in Regina at The Artful Dodger. Golemba admitted to having some butterflies prior to the release but she also understood that she was experiencing exactly the same emotions most artists feel when unveiling their work to the world.

“I think for all artists there’s always a bit of nervousness involved in putting what you create out into the world and waiting for that feedback because no artist can be everyone’s cup of tea,” said Golemba in a recent telephone interview. “Also, when you create there’s a little piece of yourself, a piece of your identity and soul, that goes into that. So there’s lots of emotions involved — nervousness, pride, apprehension, excitement.”

Golemba, who won the 2016 CKRM Proudly Saskatchewan Showcase, joined forces with Jason Plumb at Regina’s Studio One Recording for the album. Plumb, the frontman for the Regina bands The Waltons and The Willing, has developed an impressive reputation as a producer. Golemba was thrilled with his input and assistance on the project, which initially was to be an acoustic-based recording.

By the time the EP was finished, the tracks found themselves with full band treatments. Yet while the sound and arrangements may have been altered, changed or tinkered with, Golemba feels the finished product remains true to her songwriting.


“The biggest accomplishment that (Jason) put toward this record was that he really uncovered the truth of the songs,” said Golemba. “For example, the song Butterfly, from how I wrote it and how I recorded it, didn’t really change at all in structure. There were a few chord arrangements we played with but it stayed true to the original feeling of the song. Now with Fog, the arrangement changed quite a bit more. I felt quite proud of how he found the truth and the core emotion in that song and helped to bring that forward.

“That’s one of Jason’s biggest strengths — he’s really good at keeping the song true to what it is, even when changes are made. He’s a great arranger.”


As a prolific songwriter, one of the challenges for Golemba was selecting which six songs would make the album. So while some songs didn’t make the cut this time around, that doesn’t mean they’ve been locked away for good.

“Like Jason said, those songs just don’t disappear. He was joking that I have my next album half written,” Golemba said with a chuckle. “They’re not songs that will go away, some are really strong songs. I had a list in my head and I sent a whole bunch of demos that I’d done in the basement at home and he listened to those . . . We were on the same page right from the beginning with which songs to work on. In preproduction we looked at another two or three songs.

“Two of them were quite new, I’d just freshly written them, and they ventured a little bit into new territory for me stylistically so we thought that would give me some place to go next time.” - Leader Post Regina

Saskatchewan singer-songwriter Kara Golemba takes to the Empty Room stage for a second time with her song Puzzle.

Golemba is originally from Kelowna, B.C., but her prairie heritage called her to the province to settle in Indian Head, Sask.

She has now further solidified her Saskatchewan connection, having been named the winner of the 620 CKRM Proudly Saskatchewan showcase and the Spirit of Saskatchewan songwriting award.

She just released her debut EP of original material titled Every Little Light, and it was recorded just down the hall from the home of CBC Radio's The Morning Edition, in Studio One. The album was produced by Jason Plumb.

Coming up this month, she'll be performing in Fort Qu'Appelle on Oct. 22 and in Grenfell on Oct. 28.

Last time she hit the Empty Room Series stage, she performed her award-winning song, "Mason Jar Of Memories". - CBC

If you’re like me, your first thought when hearing this EP will be, “What a terrific voice!” This project includes terrific songs to match, too – my toes were tapping uncontrollably to “Ghost Highway,” and “Mason Jar of Memories” has one of my favorite lyrics (and titles) so far this year. Hopefully a full-length project is in Kara’s near future – an EP just isn’t long enough. - Great Dark Wonder