kate schell

My name is Kate. I play keyboards/piano, trumpet, and I write all my songs. I am hungry to play everywhere and anywhere I can in order to get my message out there. I started my music career when I was 13 years old. My younger brother was diagnosed with leukemia and music was my only outlet with that because I am really bad at talking to people about my emotions. (Keep in mind that my little brother and I had always been the best of friends our whole lives). After the news of his cancer, I did not know how to deal with it, so I spent all of my time in high school coping with his cancer through music. My parents had a Baldwin baby grand piano and I would spend all of my spare time there writing and singing about all of this. I was in choir, I played in marching band, jazz band, concert band, etc. all my life; I even majored in music/philosophy at Loyola University Chicago. I became more driven than I've ever known myself to be, and I am still that driven to get this message out there. I raised over $25,000 at one show in Detroit for 'Special Days Camp,' which is a camp for kids with cancer. I've played all over the country for over 10 years trying to support the awareness of this. During this time, I was recognized by Nora Jones who judged the VH1 singer/songwriter award of the year, which I won. I've played with musicians such as Lumineers, Grace Potter, Smoking Popes, etc. All of these things happened during my time in Chicago while I was at Loyola University.  After college, I joined a band called 'Paper Thick Walls' who were named in Rolling Stone magazine as the top 5 bands to watch in Chicago, Deli magazine 3rd best band in Chicago, and we played with Lumineers. Pretty cool. The band ended like the old story of Fleetwood Mac and Pixies. (Never date anyone in a band). I am back to being a solo artist again, I have been through a lot of dark shit in Chi, and I have had even more to write about as I have come to accept the things that continue to happen. I'm like a Tori Amos or a Kate Bush, so they say.  My music always been about trying to make a change and trying to inspire.