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biography
Recently selected as a Finalist in the 2005 Rocky Mountain Folks Festival Songwriter Showcase Competition, and featured on NPR’s All Songs Considered, Kathryn Mostow’s intimate songwriting and performing has steadily gained the attention of critics and fans alike.
Often compared to such artists as Eva Cassidy, Joan Baez, and Dar Williams, Kathryn’s songs speak of hope, faith and desire despite the cynicism of our times. With “a voice like a bell, pure and clear” (Indie-music.com), Kathryn has been described as a “whole-body/whole-being singer…who gives out everything she is through her voice” (Bill Fisher, Victory Review).
Yet Kathryn didn’t set out to become a songwriter. After graduating from Brown University, she spent over 10 years working in HIV/AIDS prevention and family planning. It wasn’t until 1998, when Kathryn spent a lonely Christmas with a friend’s guitar, that she discovered her passion for songwriting. In the months that followed, Kathryn continued to play and write, sharing her music with an ever-widening circle.
In 2000, Kathryn began playing the open mic circuit and the response to her was immediate. Although a newcomer, she was invited to join the Seattle Performing Songwriters, a 17 member collective whose roster included such seasoned performers as Andrew Ratshin of the folk-pop trio Uncle Bonsai.
In 2001, Kathryn gathered together some of the top folk players in the Northwest and recorded her debut full length CD, Gratitude, released May 2002. A dynamic, sonically beautiful CD, Gratitude received national airplay and was selected as a Top 12 Do-it-Yourself Album in the November 2002 issue of Performing Songwriter.
Kathryn’s second release, Dreamers Everywhere (May 2005), features noted jazz pianist/organist Wayne Horvitz, cellist Jami Sieber, dobro and pedal steel player Dan Tyack, fiddler Paul Elliot and bassist Garey Shelton. The 10 songs weave Latin, blues, folk and a capella traditions into a decidedly more roots-based and acoustic album. Dreamers Everywherehas already been featured on NPR’s All Songs Considered Open Mic website, and was highlighted in the Winter 2005 issue of Sing Out! Magazine.
Kathryn lives in Fort Collins, Colorado, with her husband and young son.