My Creative Friend: Kate

My creative friend, Kate, is a musician in the Providence local music scene. We met through working together at the museum, and our relationship has evolved from co-workers to creative pals. Kate and I love to get together to chat about our creative work, to encourage each other, and to get inspired through music - like our recent trip to a Weepies concert in Boston(!). I'm excited to have Kate share a bit about her creative practice here.

What is your creative medium and how did you get started with it?
I would say that music is my creative medium - and that for most of my life, my voice has been my only instrument. I have just recently started playing ukulele and guitar, and I perform covers and originals out and around Providence both solo and in collaboration with other local artists (which is always wonderful and super fun).

I think singing just seemed like a natural part of life to me. Neither of my parents were musicians, but they both had a love and passion for music that they passed onto my brother and me. There was always music in my house - whether it was my mom singing to us, or my parents playing their favorite artists, like The Beatles and James Taylor. Music and singing were also ingrained in my early education at Meadowbrook Waldorf School - we sang folk songs and rounds, and played recorders every day - which I always loved.

{ kate on the left, strumming away }

What are your creative fears?
I think my biggest creative fear is a common but irrational one - that I do not have the capability to improve upon my skills or that my creative well will run dry - but, I like to think that there is a neverending source of creativity in the universe and that if I allow myself to be open to creative experiences without putting my own perameters on them, I will continually be able to grow as an artist (and I believe that everyone has this potential).

Sometimes I am also afraid of getting too serious about pursuing music, because I fear that it will lose its magical quality if it becomes something that I feel like I have to do and get better at in order to make a living or "make it" in some way. I think being aware of this fear helps remind me to always a keep a sparkle of fun and playfullness in what I do musically (and hopefully otherwise too!).

When you work, do you love the process or the result? Why?

I feel like this sounds like a cop out, but, I think I love both. Getting started is always a little bit hard, but once I get going working on song and am in a zone, whether it is by myself or with others, my experience has been that there is this momentum and energy that is super exciting. Then again, having a goal - say, to finish a song - is what helps frame what I am working on. And once I am able to perform or record a song there is a whole other kind of excitement. Both experiences require you to be vulnerable and present. I also believe (although sometimes I have to remind myself) that the "result' , often in my case a song, always has the potential to morph and change, and will on some level be different every time it is played or performed.

What is your creative ambition?
I know that it is good to have goals, but I feel like I do not necessarily have one definitive goal for myself and my music - I just want to be able to continue creating and performing music, which for me would involve continuing to collaborate and learn from other artists; improving my skills with my voice and the instruments I play now (and experimenting with new ones); and growing as a songwriter. If I can actually figure out a way to do this for a living in a way that does not make it the experience lose its lustre, that would be great too - but, it is not essential.

You can hear Kate sing at the weekly Sunday night open mic at Tazza on Westminster Street, or check out the website for Dan & Kate's music. And check out the website for Rock-a-Baby, where Kate performs children's music and leads music classes for kids! Thanks for sharing, Kate! And thanks for being my creative friend!

**My Creative Friend is a series of blog posts featuring the creative practices of creative women in my life, posted on the last weekend of each month. By sharing our processes, my hope is that we can all learn, grow, and be inspired in our own work. To view previous posts, click on "my creative friend" under labels on the right side of the screen. If you're interested in being featured, please contact me!**