Kat Devlin

On the December 3rd edition of “TREBLE CLEF LIVE” host Leigh Swansborough welcomed Santa Barbara based singer song writer Kat Devlin. Performing songs from her debut album “The Voyage Out”, the California Celtic Country singer openly talked about her move from Brooklyn to Santa Barbara, and her experiences as an indie artist in Santa Barbara.

- KCPRadio

On the December 3rd edition of “TREBLE CLEF LIVE” host Leigh Swansborough welcomed Santa Barbara based singer song writer Kat Devlin. Performing songs from her debut album “The Voyage Out”, the California Celtic Country singer openly talked about her move from Brooklyn to Santa Barbara, and her experiences as an indie artist in Santa Barbara.

- KCPRadio

File Under: Singer songwriter, acoustic folk
From: California
For Fans Of: Dar Williams, Ani Difranco’s Not So Soft album, herbal tea, spice gardens, hemp.
- AfterEllen

File Under: Singer songwriter, acoustic folk
From: California
For Fans Of: Dar Williams, Ani Difranco’s Not So Soft album, herbal tea, spice gardens, hemp.
- AfterEllen

If you¡¯re anything like me, you probably spent most of the 90¡¯s ignoring all music that wasn¡¯t girls with acoustic guitars, and worshipped blissfully at the altars of Ani, Dar, and the Indigo Girls. Newport Folk Festival? I manned the recycling booth the summer after 9th grade, thank you, and saw all 3 of the folk-dyke Holy Trinity on the same day¨C way before Lilith Fair was even dreamed up down at girlpower headquarters (and yes, yes, I know Dar Williams isn¡¯t a dyke. But try telling that to a mob of Smithies, and you will get beat down). If this in any way resembles your adolescence, if you enjoy the soulful and only occasionally angsty strummings of scrappy young riot grrrrlz with something to say and the voice to belt it, then get thee down to Brooklyn for a visit to Park Slope¡¯s Perch Cafe. If you¡¯re lucky, you¡¯ll catch a set from Kat Devlin.

You don¡¯t have to wait around for your Thursday night to open up, either, you busy little city girl! Just cruise on over to www.katdevlin.com, where you can listen to sample tracks, buy music, and check show dates. If ¡°Touch of a Girl (Gay)¡± doesn¡¯t bring a wiseass grin to your face, you are not only not queer, you are in fact dispossessed of all human qualities (I¡¯d find a therapist if I were you). I sat down with the Minnesota-born singer/songwriter over brunch at Sotto Voce last Sunday, and over unlimited mimosas and homemade pound cake, discussed musical identity, roots, and how to pick a good song for church.

Jenny Aisenberg: As a young, up and coming musician in New York City, do you worry about being pigeonholed as a queer artist? Do you want to be known as a lesbian musician? Is that something that boxes you in, or is it simply descriptive?

Kat Devlin: I think it¡¯s absolutely the latter. The music industry is a really tough place, and you have to find your niche¡­I think there¡¯s a real deficit of out singer/songwriters. A lot of my music is about that process¡­ I remember listening to music as a kid and changing the pronouns, you know? There are songs out there that are so obviously about being gay, but they were always afraid to talk about it. I mean, come, who are you kidding? I think the pronouns are really important; the stories are there, and I didn¡¯t feel like they were being told by the music I was listening to. Am I worried about being pigeonholed? No. I think it¡¯s fine if I¡¯m thought of as a lesbian singer/songwriter, but I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll appeal only to lesbian audiences. I think with my music, I just had to embrace it and be honest about it; it was too hard not to talk about it. And no, I¡¯m not going to have a thousand songs about ¡°thank you for making me gay¡­¡±

JA: I love that song! (laughter)

KD: Right¨C to be able to say it, and then move beyond it.

JA: You can¡¯t move beyond it unless you¡¯re able to say it.

KD: Exactly.

JA: Like when I was in all these creative writing seminars in high school, and my friends would always say, ¡°you know, all your stories are about gay people. Don¡¯t you think you should try to write some different kinds of characters?¡± But at the same time, all their characters were straight, because that¡¯s what they knew.

KD: Right! It¡¯s the same situation. You¡¯ve got to tell it like it is.

JA: What are some of your main resources as an emerging musician in the city? Other than open mic night at Cattyshack, I mean.



KD: New York City is the best place for someone in my situation. I could play every night of the week¨C and sometimes I do! Because you¡¯re always reaching new audiences. Maybe I go to some open mic night, and 4 people go to my website; but that¡¯s 4 people who haven¡¯t heard of me before. After that, it¡¯s all about getting my CD out in the next few months.

JA: That¡¯s really exciting¨C have you always known that this was what you were going to do with your life? Have you always been writing music?

KD: I have. My sister and I got our first guitars when I was 12 and she was 16; we got these $99 shit Epiphone guitars. And ever since we¡¯ve been playing and writing together. I still have most of those early songs, and they¡¯re really bad. (laughs) But you have to do it, and I guess it¡¯s better to write those songs when you¡¯re 15 instead of waiting till you¡¯re 25. But at that age, I lacked a lot of confidence¡­actually, my girlfriend Shannon has really changed that. Having someone there who sees you and says, ¡°wow, you got it. You just have to, you know, DO it.¡± And that¡¯s been a big thing for me since I moved to New York: being a musician, not just someone who plays music.

JA: Did you do a lot of formal training as a kid? Or were those $99 Epiphones the beginning?

KD: Growing up, I did the whole piano lesson thing. And I played French horn in the school band¡­

JA: That¡¯s the one with the big loop-de-loop, right?

KD: Yeah! (laughs) I played that for years.

JA: I haven¡¯t seen that at Cattyshack yet.

KD: No, no, I haven¡ - Velvetpark Magazine