Kat Danser

Artist Information

Biography

KAT DANSER
Queen Of The Swamp Blues

Listening to Kat Danser is like traveling with your ears. Her music draws a direct line from the Canadian Prairies to the Mississippi Delta. Her third album Passin’ A Time, takes us with her from the wheat fields of Saskatchewan to the cotton fields of Mississippi. Danser has made several study trips to the Mississippi Delta and draws heavily on the rich and fertile musical climate there. This latest album is a testament to those cultural encounters.

Danser offers a new take on centuries-old premises, and is adept at taking jabs at modern-day cultural phenomena. As well as an excellent tunesmith, she is a moving singer, adept multi-instrumentalist, and engaging live performer.

Passin’ A Time, distributed by Outside Music, charted number 1 on CKUA over four consecutive weeks and number 8 on !earshot charts nationwide. It was chosen as one of the ‘Top 10 Albums of 2010’ by CKUA and voted the ‘Best Roots and Blues Album of the Year’ by the Canadian based Blues Underground Network; and also featured on CBC’s Key of A and Radioactive. As well it garnered Danser her second WCMA “Blues Recording Of The Year” and her first Maple Blues "Best New Blues Artist of the Year" nomination.

This year’s performance highlights include The Winspear Centre for The Mayors Celebration Of The Arts, Edmonton Folk Music Festival, Winnipeg Folk Festival, Yellowknife’s Folk On The Rocks and certainly the upcoming The 25th Annual Toronto Blues Society Women's Blues Revue in November at Massey Hall.

Instrumentation

Kat's Axes:
Weissenborn Acoustic Lap Slide
National Estralita Resophonic
Vintage Acoustic Gibson LG-2
Menzies Gitjo (Minstrel Banjo)


The Blue-Footed Boyz
Fretless Bass
Percussion
Fiddle/Mandolin/Keys

Discography

Passin'-A-Time
(2010) Outside Music

Somethin' Familiar
(2007) Outside Music

Hold Your Ground: Grow Up!
(2005) Compilation

Ascension
(2002) CD Baby

Official Website

http://www.KatDanser.com

Links

• Facebook
• Last.fm
• Twitter
• MySpace
• You Tube
• Flat357Project

Audio

• Little Allis - MP3
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• Miss Bessie's Blues - MP3
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• Birds n Bees Me - MP3
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Lyrics

• Little Allis
• Miss Bessie's Blues
• Birds 'n Bees Me

Video

Photo Gallery

Press

• Passin'-A-Time Review [+ Show ]
  

  "Delta blues rising out of Saskatchewan's wheat fields" If you've ever been to Saskatchewan, Canada..."Delta blues rising out of Saskatchewan's wheat fields"
  If you've ever been to Saskatchewan, Canada, you'd be hard pressed to find much Delta influence in its landscape, let alone any real presence of injustice or feelings of oppression amongst its people. Come to think of it, this proud prairie province with its wide open spaces seems more likely to promote elation over anything resembling the blues. Yet Kat Danser proves the colourful exception to the rule with the release of her third album, PASSIN'-A-TIME. This is authentic blues-featuring great songs, impassioned vocals and inventive rhythms-an invigorating collection of 10 strong originals, complete with tasteful packaging.
  Danser's key instrument is a Weissenborn Hawaiian lap slide which, when combined with her deeply soulful singing voice across highly personal lyrical content, conjures the deep blues of more southern climates-if not the very Crossroads where the blues began-with a purity seldom heard on this side of the 49th Parallel.
  
  The song, Little Allis, percolates along with its banjo-driven rhythm as wiry slide guitar (John Ellis) wraps its way throughout the song, lifted high by backup singers and inventive percussive accents. Mista Preacherman features strong harp, hand percussion and some stunning slide work from both National Resophonic slide guitar and Elliss Fender Strat. Danser's deep, earthy, gospel-charged vocals complement her significant 6-string prowess and the fact that this music was born in 2010 is beyond impressive.
  
  From her gift of approximating the sounds of old-time stringbands as she does with her band on No One Can Stop The Clock From Tickin' to divining the lazy blues of the calibre she accomplishes on the title track, Danser proves a talent that doesn't come along often. Clearly the Delta draws from the north as well as the south - one person's wheat is another's cotton.
  
  Eric Thom

• CBC Feature Review [+ Show ]
  

  “Kat Danser has something very special in her recent album, Somethin’ Familiar. She presents a rich...“Kat Danser has something very special in her recent album, Somethin’ Familiar. She presents a richly textured approach to blues music with outstanding songwriting as a jumping off point. Kat’s talent is evident not only in her songwriting ability but also in her vocal prowess and gift of striking the right groove everytime. With the support of a very talented group of musicians, Somethin’ Familiar is an album that will be remembered for a long time!”
  Le Artiste Feature – Radio Canada (CBC) – Montreal

• Lunenburg Folk Harbour Does It Again [+ Show ]
  

  LIVE PERFORMANCE REVIEW "Kat Danser, Queen of the Swamp Blues, writes feisty, bawdy lyrics and h...LIVE PERFORMANCE REVIEW
  
  "Kat Danser, Queen of the Swamp Blues, writes feisty, bawdy lyrics and howl-outs full of challenging sexiness, but her vocal and instrumental style includes unusual sensitivity to the warps and tone-bendings of the blues vocabulary, following them out to the end of a breath with an almost unvoiced upward resolution. Simply amazing and standing ovations well deserved! "
  
  
  
  
  
  

• Edmonton Journal [+ Show ]
  

  "The Saskatchewan-born singer-guitarist is responsible for the 11 songs that fill out Somethin' Fami..."The Saskatchewan-born singer-guitarist is responsible for the 11 songs that fill out Somethin' Familiar, her impressive, arresting second release...with the combined forces of stellar musicians and the moving strength of her deep voice, Danser has come up with one of the best sounding roots music albums in recent memory, a release that should certainly win her attention far beyond Alberta."
  
  

• Pipes or What? [+ Show ]
  

  "Kat Danser has developed a unique expression of music that finds blues, roots and gospel at its cor..."Kat Danser has developed a unique expression of music that finds blues, roots and gospel at its core. She generates a powerful sound based on early acoustic roots and blues musicians yet with all the sensibilities of contemporary stylings. She is definitely Canada's Queen of the Swamp Blues."

• Edmonton Sun [+ Show ]
  

  "Somethin’ Familiar is beautifully written and performed…her lyrics tell a story while also generati..."Somethin’ Familiar is beautifully written and performed…her lyrics tell a story while also generating evocative and poetic scenery…and the production is stunning." Kat is "brilliant in the same way that Marcia Ball is brilliant...this disc is really, really damn good! (4 of 5 stars)"

• Winnipeg Free Press CD Review [+ Show ]
  

  "Saskatchewan born, Edmonton based singer songwriter Kat Danser began her passionate affair with the..."Saskatchewan born, Edmonton based singer songwriter Kat Danser began her passionate affair with the blues after hearing Bessie Smith. This passion continues on her second disc, Somethin' Familiar, where she showcases her powerfully husky yet velvety smooth vocal as she belts out "swamp blues", a hybrid of blues, roots & gospel. With a wealth of fine musicians they create one of the finest acoustic roots blues albums to come out of western Canada in some time."

• Canada Produces Another Stellar Female Musician! [+ Show ]
  

  “Acoustic blues is so beautiful in Kat’s hands. Somethin’ Familiar sounds really fresh and the arra...“Acoustic blues is so beautiful in Kat’s hands. Somethin’ Familiar sounds really fresh and the arrangements on the album are deep, memorable and very interesting. They create a certain mood and atmosphere. Her singing is emotional and sexy and together with first class backing musicians, audiophile sound and mixing quality it makes “Somethin’ Familiar” a stand-out CD, for all lovers of blues and gospel music!”

Setlist

Kat's sets consist typically include 2-45 minute sets of original music and occasional cover songs with entertaining the audience as the primary goal.

Kat will design a performance that best suits the venue from the following genres: roots-blues, blues or blues-gospel.

Basic Requirements

PDF Rider

Kat Danser Stage Plot & Tech Rider

Calendar