Kaia Kater

  • May 26, 2024 8:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m.
  • Red Bird

    1165 Bank Street
    Ottawa, Ontario K1S 3X4
Ticket Price (CAD) $20.00 Buy Tickets
Description

Montreal-born Grenadian-Canadian Kaia's jazz-fueled voice and deft songcraft have garnered acclaim from NPR's Tiny DeskThe GuardianRolling 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 MahalAllison 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 

Date & Time

Sun., May 26, 2024 8:00 p.m. - 11:00 p.m.

Venue Details

Red Bird

1165 Bank Street
Ottawa, Ontario K1S 3X4 Red Bird
Red Bird Live

Red Bird is an intimate, 80 capacity music venue with excellent sound and sight lines from every seat.

We are licensed and have a selection of locally crafted beers and ciders plus a small but fine selections of wine and spirits. 

We also carry a selection of non-alcoholic beverages such as locally made sodas and non-alcoholic beers, and a small menu of snack foods such as pressed sandwiches, hot dogs, soft pretzels and pastries.

Unless otherwise noted, all shows are all ages. Everyone must have a ticket, regardless of age. 

Doors open one hour ahead of the performance time. 

Parking is available at the south end of our building and on side streets (please be respectful of parking restrictions).

Regrettably, our space is not accessible. There are six gradual and wide steps to our front door with railings on each side. Once inside, everything is on one floor including an accessible washroom. 

Event end times will vary depending on the artist.

There is no phone number for the venue. Please email bookings@redbirdlive.ca or reach out via social media with inquiries. 


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