Music by Kate

I play music — cello, bass guitar, upright bass, guitar, vocals, and piano/keyboards, to name a few instruments. I’m most comfortable on cello and bass, and I’ve come to be known as “Bass Clef Kate.” I’m also known as “One Take Kate,” which comes in handy in the recording studio. And I can write or arrange pretty much anything you want. (Podcast theme song? Done.)

I recorded a solo album back in 1999 called "Mostly Late Night Music." I'm not linking to that here because if you're not embarrassed by your past work, you're not progressing as an artist, right? JUST KIDDING, happy 25th anniversary to my album, here it is on Bandcamp, finally.

When I wrote this text a few years back, I said, “I can play solo cello or guitar/vocal gigs, but I’m most comfortable when I'm part of an ensemble.” I don’t even know that person anymore, probably. She was pretending not to have an ego.

Anyway, check out some of the bands I play (/have played) in below.

Other Musical Works of Note

"The Unimpeachable EP" (2005) and "I Am Magically Happening!" (2007) (seriously I’m only linking to that review because it says, ahem that they should LET ME SING MORE) were albums released with The Alphabetical Order, a band I played bass guitar and sang in from 2004 to 2008. Man, that was a long time ago. They’re actually on Spotify, as it turns out, along with a third album that is definitely not by the same band but we somehow can’t get it removed? Love that for us.

I've also appeared on numerous other recordings and in live performances with several D.C.-area and national bands and songwriters, including the Beanstalk Library, Casper Bangs, the Casual Occupation, Chaim Rubenstein, Constant Alarm, David Kitchen, Exit Clov, Gaslight Society, Kitty Hawk, Latristic, Peter Maybarduk, The Posies (fuck Ken Stringfellow though, seriously), Quadruplestop (Jawbox covered by cello quartet, the brainchild of Gordon Withers from Office of Future Plans), These United States, Tree River, and the Black Cat's "Run For Cover" benefit shows, playing everything from Nirvana to Nintendo game music. I do a lot of my recording at Bias Studios (heart you 4ever, Mark) and Mixtape Studios, both located in my hometown(-ish; I still love you South Arlington) of Alexandria, Va.

There's classical performance among all this as well. I've played as principal cellist with the Washington Sinfonietta (for which I was also a board member and active volunteer for several years) and as an occasional sit-in with the Pan American Symphony and the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra of DC. These days, I most frequently play solo and ensemble gigs for weddings, corporate events, religious services, and the like, or I just get together with like-minded nerds and read some Shostakovich. You know, for funzies.

Oh, and musical theatre, I didn't forget about you. I've performed with Constellation Theatre Company, The Arlington Players, Capitol Hill Arts Workshop, and the Georgetown Gilbert & Sullivan Society -- usually cello, sometimes bass, and more rarely they even let me say words on stage. What's up with that?