Classic Appalachian originals delivered in a dusky, expressive alto filled with emotion and humor, including Kate's original of Whoâll Watch the Homeplace, an IBMA Song of the Year.

13 MP3 Songs
FOLK: Appalachian Folk, COUNTRY: Americana

Details:
Warm and down-to-earth in performance, Kate Long writes classic songs that have been recorded by dozens of artists and won national awards, including the International Bluegrass Music Association Song of the Year. Rooted in Appalachian traditional music, she branches into swing, blues and jazz.

Her voice - which Rambles Magazine called âa rich, deep forceâ â is instantly recognizable, full of emotion and humor.

Kate creates insightful glimpses of ordinary people dealing with lifeâs dilemmas. She wants her songs to do four things: help listeners see the extraordinary in the ordinary, make them laugh, make them cry, stir them spiritually. A West Virginia native, she has developed a musical following all over the country, and her songs have been recorded on four continents.

Pieces of Heart, an Appalachian classic, opens with Kateâs original recording of âWho Will Watch the Homeplace.â As Rich Kirby of Kentuckyâs Appalshop wrote, âLong takes a journey through a landscape of work and pleasure, hardship and job, dreams broken and mended, and through several generations of musical history as well. The recording is full of tenderness, humor, sorrow, and the surprises that always come from looking at a familiar place through a fresh eye. My guess is that Pieces of Heart will be treasured by the people who get to hear it.â

Songs from Pieces of Heart have been recorded on four continents: Whoâll Watch the Homeplace, an IBMA Song of the Year; the audience invitational, âListening;â âLittle Girl God,â about a little girl who wonders if she might be the female Jesus, âAinât Got Much Money, So What Did I Do Wrong?â

âDonât Tell Me Just Pick Up and Leaveâ has often been used in programs about domestic violence. âWhat Is Past Is Goneâ and âListeningâ are used a capella in spiritual gatherings.

People who come to Kateâs concerts laugh a lot between songs - sometimes during songs such as: âLift Me to Heaven before I Turn Mean,ââGo Try and Dump It When Nobody Is Around,â or âAinât Got Much Money, so What did I Do Wrong.â They may also be moved to tears by ballads such as âTime Has Slippedâ (a wife watches her husband slip into Alzheimers) or âMcNamaraâs Tearâ (a woman remembers her lover, lost in Vietnam).

âExpect to laugh, cry, think, and come away with a full heart.â Meryle Korn, who produced two of Kateâs concerts for the Portland (OR) Folklore Society.

Recording artist Charlie King: âKate has a keen eye for the surprises in everyday things â hope in turmoil, sadness in silence, irony that exposes the hazards of business-as-usual. Every story took me someplace different than I expected to go, with a skill that let me enjoy the journey.â

Laurie Lewis, Rounder recording artist: âShe writes with a depth of love and understanding that is all too rare in the world.â

A national award-winning songwriter and fiction writer, she has performed at the International Storytelling Center, the Kennedy Center Millineum Stage, and a variety of camps and venues and has taught at Augusta, Swannanoa and other camps. She performs regularly for public interest and spiritual groups and has three CDs of her own songs.

She is also a West Virginia public radio producer and newspaper writer. Her songs and reporting showcase her heart, humor, and down-to-earth ability to connect with people.

âKateâs songs make you think, but â more important â they make you feel.â â Gaye Adegbalola, Uppity Blues Women

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