I met Kate Mann when I was visiting Jill Badonsky at her Creativity Retreat in Taos (she does this once or twice a year and it’s a great way to get in touch with your most creative self.
Kate performed at the retreat. I was pretty much mesmerized by her music. She offered CDs ona what-you-can-pay model and I think I had like $3 in my wallet. But I did have a Petite Plume with me which I gifted her (along with all my cash) and played her music all the way home!
Kate’s voice is bluesy, gritty, and full of heart. Her lyrics are great and seem very much of the southwest… She has generously offered us her CDs to include in our Plume Plus box and we’re beyond excited! She’s not touring these days but we hope she’s still creating: music and words.
PLUME: When did you know you were a song writer? A musician?
I’ve been a musician in one way or another for most of my life…piano lessons, flute in elementary and middle school band, high school and college choir…
I taught myself to play guitar at age 22 and started dabbling in songwriting, but everything came out way too corny for public consumption. I would have to say that it was through taking writing workshops when I was a teacher that I started to realize I could be a serious writer too.
PLUME: Where do you get your ideas?
I feel like songs just come to me and tell me they need to be written. There is usually a connection to something that is immediately present in my life that I am ruminating about…the wind, a bad neighbor situation, something I am longing for, a snake I saw in the road…it’s all fair game.
PLUME: How supportive is your local community for writers? Tell me about living in Taos? I know they have a vibrant literary
community, do you participate there as a writer?
There is a very active literary community here, largely through an organization called SOMOS (Society of the Muse of the Southwest), and I have intentions of plugging into them at some point. However, I’m really somewhat of a lone wolf when it comes to writing. I’ve had great experiences in songwriting workshops in the past, but there really isn’t anything like that offered here that I’ve come across. I’ve tried to start songwriting groups with other songwriters in the area, but we all
tend to be rather introverted and reclusive, as well as living far away
from each other, so those attempts have been short-lived. My experience
of the local musical community is that it is very supportive. We are
lucky to have so many top-notch musicians and songwriters in such a
small place.
PLUME: We consider you a successful writer–How do you define
“success” for a writer? For yourself?
I feel most successful as a writer when I engage in a regular practice. What that looks like goes in phases for me. Sometimes I will get on a roll and write every morning. Other times I might be struggling to find another verse to a song that has been in the works for a long time and that will be ruminating in my head, or I will be polishing something that I consider mostly finished.
For me, the finished tangible product (in my case a CD) is secondary to the process.
PLUME: Do you even consider yourself a WRITER? Or do you only consider yourself a musician?
I do consider myself a writer. I’ve dabbled in other genres (fiction, personal essay, poetry) and could see delving deeper into those as time goes on. But my primary job is as a songwriter.
PLUME: Do you have a writing shero? Or a music shero A fellow woman writer from whom you get inspiration?
I wouldn’t say I have a specific Shero, but I have great admiration for women who write or make music with integrity and a sense of staying true to themselves.
PLUME: What are you currently working on?
I have a new CD coming out that I recorded with cellist Mark Dudrow at a
tiny adobe church on his property in Jaroso CO. Its a mix of originals
and traditional folk songs, all recorded live in a single afternoon. I
also have a few songs that are in various stages of completion
PLUME: Tell me about your writing space–do you have one?
I walk every morning, and songs seem to start themselves on my walks. This happened to me when I lived in the city and continues to happen now that I live in the mountains. I think it must be something about the random swirl of my thoughts combining with the rhythm of my footfalls. Usually I remember to take my phone or a little notebook and pen with me to capture the ideas as they come, but sometimes I have to run home with the words cycling through my head so I can get them down before I lose them.
I am challenged for a designated indoor writing space these days. I
moved to raw land with my partner a few years ago and we’ve been slowly
building our little house as we can. We’re currently working on an
addition that will provide dedicated art/music/writing space and I’m
really looking forward to that.
PLUME: Do you have any favorite books about writing? Or creativity?
The latest books I’ve been reading about writing/creativity are
Songwriting Without Boundaries and Writing Better Lyrics, both by
songwriting instructor Pat Pattison. He gives lots of specific
exercises and examples, which I really appreciate. Sometimes it helps
to have someone give you some direction.
PLUME: What are you reading? Or listening to?
Right now I’m re-reading Women Who Run with the Wolves by Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes. I’ve read it a couple of times before, but for some reason it called out to me from my shelf and I’m finding that it is speaking to me on a whole new level this time around. I’m also reading a book called A New History of Witchcraft…I’ve always had an interest in the occult and supernatural, and decided it is time to deepen my understanding on a historical level. I’m hoping some of the things I’m learning from both books will find their way into songs at some point.
BIO
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 combine to conjure comparisons as varied as Michelle Shocked, Lucinda Williams, John Prine, and Townes Van Zandt.
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 a self-titled duo CD with cellist Mark Dudrow (2017). 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 partner, dogs, cats, chickens, and horses. When not making music she can be found watching birds, listening to coyotes, and playing in the mud.