Kat Goldman is a Canadian singer-songwriter from

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Ontario.

Biography

Kat Goldman grew up in Toronto, Ontario. She began her career as a singer-songwriter while attending university in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, Massachusetts in the early 1990s. She began frequenting

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

coffeehouse A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café (), is an establishment that serves various types of coffee, espresso, latte, americano and cappuccino, among other hot beverages. Many coffeehouses in West Asia offer ''shisha'' (actually called ''nargi ...

s and

busking Street performance or busking is the act of performing in public places for gratuity, gratuities. In many countries, the rewards are generally in the form of money but other gratuities such as food, drink or gifts may be given. Street performa ...

Harvard Square Harvard Square is a triangular plaza at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue (Boston), Massachusetts Avenue, Brattle Street (Cambridge, Massachusetts), Brattle Street and John F. Kennedy Street near the center of Cambridge, Massachusetts, C ...

."Biography" at www.katgoldman.com (now defunct), accessed August 6, 2008
link to page at archive.org
She returned to Toronto in 1996 and began playing local venues. Gavin Brown (producer for

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and

Billy Talent Billy Talent is a Canadian Rock music, rock band from Mississauga, Ontario. They formed in 1993 with lead vocalist Benjamin Kowalewicz, guitarist Ian D'Sa, bassist Jonathan Gallant, and drummer Aaron Solowoniuk. There have been no lineup change ...

) took an interest in her music and in 2000 they collaborated on the album, ''The Great Disappearing Act''. Her website describes this as the "break-out achievement in her career," noting that after this she was opening for artists like

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the Waifs The Waifs (originally styled as The WAiFS) are an Australian folk rock band formed in 1992 by sisters Vikki Thorn (harmonica, guitar, vocals) and Donna Simpson (musician), Donna Simpson (guitar, vocals) as well as Josh Cunningham (guitar, vocal ...

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the Strawbs The Strawbs are an English rock band founded in 1964 as the Strawberry Hill Boys. The band started out as a bluegrass group, but eventually moved on to other styles such as folk rock and progressive rock. They are best known for their hit " ...

Dar Williams Dorothy Snowden "Dar" Williams (born April 19, 1967) is an American pop folk singer-songwriter from Mount Kisco, New York. Hendrik Hertzberg of ''The New Yorker'' has described Williams as "one of America's very best singer-songwriters." She ...

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, and

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. The album's title track earned Goldman an honorable mention in the Pop/Top 40 category at the 2002

International Songwriting Competition The International Songwriting Competition (ISC), founded in 2002, is an annual songwriting contest for both amateur and professional songwriters. There is no physical event to attend as the competition is held online, and anyone in the world can en ...

. It was also around this time that she was picked up by the New York City based management firm for Williams and

Shawn Colvin Shawn Colvin (born Shawna Lee Colvin, January 10, 1956) is an American singer-songwriter. She is best known for her 1997 Grammy Award-winning song "Sunny Came Home". Early life Colvin was born Shawna Lee Colvin in Vermillion, South Dakota, and ...

. Goldman began doing shows at venues like The Bottom Line,

the Bitter End The Bitter End is a 230-person capacity nightclub A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a Bar (establishment), bar and discotheque (usually s ...

, and

the Living Room The Living Room was a music venue on Metropolitan Avenue in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, which was originally established on Stanton Street of the Lower East Side in Manhattan, New York City in 1988. The Living Room was co-owned ...

. In 2002, a fan of Goldman's shared with

James Keelaghan James Keelaghan (born October 28, 1959) is a Canadian folk singer-songwriter. Born in Calgary, Alberta, Keelaghan is now based in Perth, Ontario. Many of the lyrics in his songs display a concern about social problems and justice in society. Ex ...

two cassette tapes of her music. which Keelaghan passed on to the Winnipeg band,

The Duhks The Duhks were a Canadian folk fusion band, formed in 2002 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Featuring banjo, fiddle, guitar, percussion, and vocals, The Duhks blended folk music together with various Canadian and American traditional styles, inc ...

. The Duhks then recorded Goldman's song, "Annabel" on their 2002 album, '' Your Daughters & Your Sons''. Leonard Podolak says the band took quickly to the song: "'Annabel' we got from Kat Goldman, who's a great songwriter from Toronto. The song was written when her grandmother died. When I played it for Jessica Havey, it just naturally came together. When we arranged it, it took about 15 minutes. A lot of songs are like pulling teeth, but this one just happened. It's one of our favorite ones." In 2004 Goldman was planning to move to New York when she was severely injured in a freak accident (a car crashed into the storefront of a bakery she was visiting). She spent the next two years in recovery. In 2006, while returning to the music business, she sang backing vocals on

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's debut album ''Songs from Highway 15''. In 2007 Goldman released the album, ''Sing Your Song''.

calls the album "wonderful–I can't imagine the world without it." Some of the songs, such as "Driving All Night", have received favorable attention on

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

programs. One reviewer called the album "a record to play at night when you’re feeling a bit introspective and maybe even lonely." Another describes the album as "consistently life-affirming until the end and more importantly, without betraying a hint of sentimentality." Goldman's performance of the title track, "Sing Your Song" once again earned her an honorable mention at the International Songwriting Competition for 2007.International Songwriting Competition 2007 winners
, official site, accessed August 8, 2007 Later in 2007, several songs from Goldman's earlier album, including "Everyone's Getting Married", were included on the soundtrack to the

Lifetime Television Lifetime is an American basic cable channel that is part of Lifetime Entertainment Services, a subsidiary of A&E Networks, which is jointly owned by Hearst Communications and The Walt Disney Company. It features programming that is geared toward ...

film '' I Me Wed''. As of 2008 her upcoming gigs include performances at places such as

Club Passim Club Passim is an American folk music club in the Harvard Square area of Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was opened by Joyce Kalina (now Chopra) and Paula Kelley in 1958, when it was known as Club 47 (based on its then address, 47 Mount Auburn Stre ...

in Cambridge, a visit to

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

's the '' World Cafe'' in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, and a couple of dates opening for

Colin Hay Colin James Hay (born 29 June 1953) is a Scottish-Australian musician. He came to prominence as the lead vocalist and the sole continuous member of the band Men at Work, and later as a solo artist. Hay is a member of the band Ringo Starr & His ...

(formerly of

Men at Work Men at Work are an Australian rock band that was formed in Melbourne, 1979. They were best known for breakthrough hits such as " Down Under", " Who Can It Be Now?", " Be Good Johnny", " Overkill", and " It's a Mistake". Its founding member and ...

). Goldman adapted her song Annabel to serve as the theme of '' Kenny Hotz's Triumph of the Will''.

Discography

* ''The Great Disappearing Act'' (2000) * ''Sing Your Song'' (2007) * ''Gypsy Girl'' (2012)

References

External links

*
Kat Goldman
at

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Kat Goldman biography
at maplemusic.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Goldman, Kat Canadian women singer-songwriters Canadian singer-songwriters Singers from Toronto Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Canadian women folk musicians 21st-century Canadian folk musicians