Kate McDonnell
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Kate McDonnell is an American
folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...
singer and songwriter.


Career

In her teens and early 20s, she was part of a duo with her sister, Anne McDonnell. They self-produced the LP, "Middle Flight," in 1980, through Owen Productions. From 1989 to 1992, she was part of the duo McDonnell–Tane with Freddie Tane. They opened for
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. McDonnell released her first solo album, ''Broken Bones'' reissued by
Waterbug Records Waterbug Records is a small independent record label based in Glen Ellyn, Illinois specializing in singer-songwriters and traditional folk musicians who do original research. The label was founded as an artist cooperative label in 1992 by singer-s ...
in 1994. She was voted #1 singer/songwriter in the
New Haven Advocate New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...
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New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound. With a population of 135,081 as determined by the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, New Haven is List ...
, in 1994. Her 1998 album ''Next'' was reviewed in
the Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...
: "Arrangements ... centered on McDonnell's soaring
soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...
vocals, expressive acoustic guitar finger picking"... "With her poetic songs... she shares life with an unforgettable impact". She has played at the
Falcon Ridge Folk Festival The Falcon Ridge Folk Festival is an annual American folk-oriented music and dance festival currently held at the Fairgrounds in Goshen, Connecticut History The first festival was a two-day event in 1988, held at a ski slope. In 1991, the festiv ...
, and the
Kerrville Folk Festival The Kerrville Folk Festival is a music festival with camping, held for nearly three weeks each year, in late spring/early summer, at Quiet Valley Ranch near Kerrville, Texas. The festival draws around 30,000 people. It aims to present establish ...
. In 2001, her CD "Don't Get Me Started" was released on the Swiss label Brambus records.
Rani Arbo Rani Arbo and the band Daisy Mayhem, consisting of Andrew Kinsey, Anand Nayak, and Scott Kessel, are an American musical group whose style combines folk, country blues, progressive bluegrass, jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated i ...
in Acoustic Guitar wrote: "Kate McDonnell applies a polished and subtle musicianship to bluegrass, swing tunes, and classic single–songwriter fare." When the finger picked or flat-picked, the guitar is rhythmically solid, fleet and energetic... best of all, McDonnell's voice has a sweet patina that complements her stylized yet unaffected delivery and stays fresh throughout". That year, McDonnell performed at the
Newport Folk Festival The Newport Folk Festival is an annual American folk-oriented music festival in Newport, Rhode Island, which began in 1959 as a counterpart to the Newport Jazz Festival. The festival was founded by music promoter and Jazz Festival founder Geor ...
, and in 2002 she won first place at the
Mountain Stage ''Mountain Stage'' is a two-hour music radio show, first aired in 1983, produced by West Virginia Public Broadcasting and distributed worldwide by National Public Radio (NPR). Hosted by Larry Groce from the show's inception until 2021 and curr ...
Festival new song competition for "Go Down Moses."


Discography

* ''Middle Flight'', Katie & Anne McDonnell (1980) * ''Volcanic Rendezvous'', Kate McDonnell–Freddie Tane (1991) * ''Broken Bones'' (1992) * ''Next'' (1998) * ''Don't Get Me Started'' (2001) * ''Where the Mangoes Are'', (2005) * ''Ballad of a Bad Girl'' (2021)


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McDonnell, Kate Living people 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American singer-songwriters 20th-century American women singers 20th-century American singer-songwriters American women singer-songwriters American folk singers 1961 births