Q&A WITH NEWSONG FINALIST KATE WATERS

Kate Waters is a neurologically-trained and Board-Certified music therapist. She has used music to help autistic and terminally ill children, veterans with PTSD, survivors of strokes, and people of all ages with developmental disabilities. Her passion for its power is evident, and personal. Hope—specifically the kind that’s hard fought-for—is the undercurrent of Waters’ new full-length album. She finds light in every hardship, and never spares us the dirty, difficult work of searching for it. That honesty to the process lends even her most anthemic offerings a human authenticity, the feeling that we’ve stood by her side in every battle, and she, ours. 

NewSong Music: What sort of music was playing in your house when you were growing up?
Kate: My grandparents were classical violinists, and my parents were guitar-strumming singing hippie pastors. So, I was trained with classical music—raised on all the folk greats (Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, Simon & Garfunkel, and Peter Paul & Mary, to name a few), and singing hymns every week and prayers before dinner. My dad was also into bluegrass, country and jazz (Alison Brown, Alison Krauss, Garth Brooks and Paul Winter) that influenced me. I fell asleep to either Enya or Ace of Base every night. And while I had a bajillion tapes and CDs, it was the women singers that I loved the most—The Spice Girls, Alanis Morissette, The Dixie Chicks, Shania Twain, Celine Dion, and Whitney Houston.

What was your journey to music?
Music was a huge part of my world and my family’s world. Going to the symphony and musicals with my mom, singing in the car with my dad, performing and competing as a pianist and choral/solo singer. Some of my favorite memories growing up were watching my parents play guitar and lead songs as a family together around the campfire. I continued my studies and got my college BME degree in music therapy, with piano as my primary instrument.

What is the first song you wrote that you were proud of, and why?
My cousin and I were collaborators early on, and our first family hit was “One Peace” at age 6—covered later by my great aunt as a gorgeous solo piano piece. Though I think we probably preferred our other tune, “Dum de Dum Stupid Head” 

 

 

What is your writing process like?
It’s such a flowing, delicious process, never exactly the same. Sometimes I’ll write from a poem, or hear a musical idea, or groggily record into my iphone voice memos—both music and words—as I’m falling asleep. Typically when I’m ready to write the whole song, it falls out. Then I’ll do some tweaking. I primarily use acoustic guitar and piano to compose, and both bring out different aspects of my writing. I don’t need any particular location, though travels can inspire me for sure.

Share a musical adventure from this summer with us.
Well, I released an album (Some Comfort) this summer—a 20 year labor of love, and my first time really trying to get it to the world at large. So, a long undertaking full of hard work. The shows were a lot of fun. But what stood out to me was one serendipitous opportunity to record another album with two friends in New Mexico, about a month before Some Comfort‘s release. We did mostly live takes as a trio, with lots of harmonies. I was so nurtured by that experience—in the midst of all of this “other stuff” around a release, for most of a year—to just get back to making music. I’ve decided now that’s the only way to survive the release process—make sure to record a whole other album before your current album is released.