The Badass Blues Of Kat Heart
Photo by Sam Ray-Johnson.
I came to Black Rabbit Mead Company predicting a chill, lowkey night. It was the first concert I attended in months since the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic hit and I was definitely hungry to be near live music again. The dark cloud of the coronavirus still hung through the cozy bar. I was not allowed to leave my seat, I had to wear my mask and everyone was oddly spaced six feet apart. By the grace of the meadery though, they seated me smack dab in the first row, right in front of the stage. Despite feeling lonely up there, I was hopeful for a good time, but did not go in expecting to have my face melted.
Kat Heart is a one-woman show. The former psych nurse has been playing music for nine years and you can’t judge her music based off her website alone. Her stage presence is a force not to be underestimated. Her sweet, charming and albeit clumsy personality has a spicy, fierce side — if you wait through a few cheerful, happy-go-lucky songs, she’ll let you know.
“I try to make sound that resonates with how somebody feels, every song I’ve ever written has been about a specific moment, a specific angle, a specific perspective,” Heart said. “I had this feeling and I expanded on it… That’s how I let it out.”
From Heart’s voice to her immaculate guitar playing, she is truly the most talented, quality musician I’ve seen in well, months. Most of her performance was original pieces, each with their own emotion, spot-on to the aesthetic. One track took us through a sunny California day with gentle strumming and soft, saccharine melody, the next made you want to “pull [your] hair out,” thinking about an ex, with guttural, smoky vocals and a flying guitar solo. Each song tells a story and highlights snapshots in time, from heartbreak to comedy to the small things, like your partner asking you “where do you want to go?”
“The last batch of songs I’ve written have been more challenging,” Heart said. “I’m always learning and always pushing myself a little harder.”
Not only is her own writing pretty darn good, but her covers are next level. I’ve been waiting for a local artist to cover ‘Feeling Good’ (you know which one I mean) and Heart knocked it out of the ballpark. Her skill has a wide range, capable of moving from jazz to blues, folk to rock, soft to lively and back again. In fact, she plans on releasing four EPs soon: each from a different genre.
The pandemic hasn’t put a damper on her shows or her songwriting either. Heart is a part of a Heavenly Village group, which allowed her to play at her choice of venues throughout the Lake Tahoe area over the summer, outside of course. While she says she’s played fewer concerts, she’s not too sad about it.
“Honestly it’s been positive in a lot of ways,” Heart said. “This has forced me to slow down... not singing four gigs a week so I have a voice left to write a song.”
Heart’s performance at Black Rabbit Mead Company was a rejuvenating experience to say the least. Getting to talk to her was even more inspiring. Her art was exactly what I was craving coming out of my quarantine-holiday break. It was empowering, romantic and raw. It perfectly encapsulates what music is all about for me, that it’s a mode of storytelling and an expression of what it means to be human, the good and the bad, full of life, loss and love. The strength of Kat Heart’s background and her work reminded me about why I do what I do.
“There is something about music that should connect to what you feel,” Heart said. “I’m really blessed by a lot of beautiful people in my life.”
To listen to Kat Heart, visit her Tunetrax profile here.
To follow her on Facebook, like her page here.
