Kaia Kater

Montreal-born Grenadian-Canadian Kaia’s jazz-fueled voice and deft songcraft have garnered acclaim from NPR’s Tiny Desk, The Guardian, Rolling Stone and No Depression. Through her artful banjo playing and lush songwriting, Kaia draws on influences rooted in Quebec, the Caribbean, and Appalachia, all of which reflect the diversity of her background; her ties to the Canadian folk music scene; her college years spent soaking up Appalachian music in West Virginia, her father’s experience growing up in Grenada, and her recent work in film composition.

Kaia Kater’s new album, Strange Medicine (coming May 2024 on Free Dirt Records/ acrönym in Canada) was created during a period of deep self-reflection and reinvention.  Taking the helm as co-producer, alongside Joe Grass (Elisapie, Barr Brothers), the album finds Kater expanding her creative scope with cinematic arrangements, and working with guest artists such as Taj Mahal, Allison Russell and Aoife O’Donovan. The album celebrates the power of women and oppressed people throughout history, while also sharing meditations on her own life.

Kaia released her first EP Old Soul (2013) when she was just out of high school. Since then, she’s gone on to release several albums, Sorrow Bound (2015), Nine Pin (2016) and Grenades (2018) and Strange Medicine (May 2024).  For the JUNO-nominated and Polaris Music Prize long-listed Grenades, Kaia leaned into a wide array of sounds and styles in order to convey a broad range of emotions and topics, most notably her Caribbean ancestry and her father’s experience as a refugee in Canada.

In 2020, Kaia took part in the Slaight Music Residency at the Canadian Film Center, leading her to write original music for The Porter (BET+ 2022), for which she garnered a Canadian Screen Award.  She also wrote and performed music for the new film, My Dead Friend Zoe (March 2024).

“…plaintive, mesmerizing…writes and performs with the skill of a folk-circuit veteran…”
– Rolling Stone

“You want some authenticity in your folk music or bluegrass – I give you Kaia Kater.”
– No Depression

“A star in the making…”
– Folk Alley

“…One of the most remarkable Canadian folk records in some time…Kater’s music is somehow ancient and brand new at the same time.”
– Tom Power, CBC Radio 2