Kate Campbell (w/ John Kirk)

As a child of the South, Kate Campbell ‘s musical tastes were forged in the tampered, smoky fires of soul, R&B, Southern Rock, country and folk music. From deep within her Southern memories and music come poignant memories, whimsical characters, searing observations and powerfully universal truths.

Now, celebrated singer-songwriter KATE CAMPBELL writes and sings memorable songs infused with undercurrents of delta blues, folk, pop, and country that originate from a musical landscape spanning the less-travelled back roads from Nashville to Muscle Shoals to Memphis. She continues to resist the temptation to follow musical trends but instead chooses to set the pace for her unique musical journey.

Kate’s endearing, clear-water vocal delivery and her eloquent gift for storytelling have drawn repeated comparisons to such bastions of the Southern literary tradition as Flannery O’Connor, Eudora Welty, and William Faulkner. Her easy command of a full range of American musical styles has earned Campbell recognition as a formidable talent by critics. Time Out London proclaimed her a “major talent” while Chicago Daily Herald described her as a “world-class singer-songwriter.” Perhaps Roots Time best summarized the extensive arc of Kate’s 18-album career by stating, “What a great talent Kate Campbell represents is made clear by the legends in music that appear as guest artists on her albums.” Americana stalwarts Emmylou Harris, Rodney Crowell, Nanci Griffith, Guy Clark, Maura O’Connell, John Prine, Mac McAnally, Buddy Miller, Spooner Oldham, and the heart of the Muscle Shoals classic soul and R&B hitmaking machine are both admirers and collaborators in her distinctly literate musical vision.

Originally from the Mississippi Delta and the daughter of a Baptist preacher, Kate’s formative years were spent in the very core of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960’s, and the indelible experiences of those years have shaped her heart and character as well as her songwriting. Her music and songs continue to inspire and excite a growing and engaged audience. Her Two Nights in Texas CD received the prestigious Mississippi Institute of Arts & Letters Award. Ballet Memphis featured several tunes from her song catalog as well as a live performance by Kate and band at a ballet entitled South Of Everywhere. Three of Kate’s songs (“Ave Maria Grotto,” “William’s Vision,” and “Fordlandia”) were recently featured in documentary films (Brother Joseph and the Grotto, Chipping Away, and Fordlandia) about Brother Joseph Zoettl, the tiny Bavarian hunchback monk who built Ave Maria Grotto; William Edmondson who was the first African American to be awarded a solo show at New York’s Museum of Modern Art; and Henry Ford’s city in the middle of the Amazon Jungle. A variety of artists have recorded Campbell’s songs including Laurie Lewis, Missy Raines, Ronnie McDowell, and the Nashville Bluegrass Band who covered her compelling snake-handling song “Signs Following.”

Kate Campbell has performed at a number of esteemed venues such as Cambridge Folk Festival, Merlefest, Philadelphia Folk Festival, Port Fairy Folk Festival, Timpanogos Storytelling Festival, and the National Storytelling Festival. She has been featured on NPR’s “Morning Edition,” “All Things Considered,” “Live From Mountain Stage,” and “The Bob Edwards Show.” Her quirky song “When Panthers Roamed In Arkansas” was included in the debut issue of The Oxford American‘s ultra-hip Southern Music series.

“Lauded by both the Farm Journal and NPR, Campbell’s music perches comfortably between country and folk…a distinctive talent” USA TODAY

JOHN KIRK

His richly lyric voice, humor, and versatile instrumental skills have earned him widespread admiration in folk and traditional music circles. On fiddle, mandolin, guitar, banjo, keyboard and ukulele, he performs a seemingly endless array of musical traditions. With his wife Trish Miller he performs as Quickstep; he has appeared with Pete Seeger, Tom Chapin, Kate Wolfe, John Sebastian & The Burns Sisters, among many others.