Hey Hey Whatcha Say? Kate Sloan at the Riverdale Perk

Images courtesy of Kate Sloan

Kate Sloan is in love. That wonderful, dizzying, terrible, intoxicating, confusing, beautiful, horrible kind of love that shifts and mutates and evolves all the time. She’s in love with the girl in her English class, the older guy treading the boards, the boy she can’t have, you, me, and everyone else. And between every buzzing moment of infatuation, it’s all she can do to pour her heart into a breathy song that manages to be touching and observant and nostalgic (for us older folks) and funny and endearing all at the same time.

She’s awesome.

I had the privilege to see Kate perform this weekend at a small show at the Riverdale Perk, a cozy cafe tucked away just behind Danforth in Toronto. I always have a hard time relaying stories of concerts because they’re so experiential, so dependent on actually being there. I’m not quite so accomplished a writer (yet) to make you really think you were there. But I can tell you just how wonderful a time I had and how moving it was for me.

I’d watched more than my fair share of Kate’s homemade videos and live footage from her channel at Youtube, so I felt I was prepared for the show. But while I was familiar with a lot of the songs, I was caught off-guard by the open feeling of the performance. Kate’s work is deeply personal, bubbling up from sensitive high school senior, but unlike most people exhibiting moments that are admittedly “not [their] finest hour”, she’s unashamed. You can feel the sincerity radiating from her (although it may have been her fever; Kate was still fighting off a nasty flu at the show) and it encloses the audience, draws them in, and makes them a part of her experience. So many people “know” what high school relationships were like and therefore would be apt to dismiss this 17 year old’s lyrics. And that would be a mistake. As we sat sipping our coffee (or chai lattes, in my case), Kate escorted us through a whirlwind of longing, lust, and loneliness that the 15-60s crowd all tapped along with songs so cleverly crafted that the listener is transported back to a rosy memory of their own loves, past, present, and future. While she covered a few other artists’ work – John Legend, Fleet Foxes, and The Weepies – the focus was clearly on her own songs, her own expression of the deeply-felt emotions that we inexplicably forget once we pass into our twenties.

I feel like I’m making a big deal about Kate’s age, but it’s not intended as a slight. It was truly wonderful to hear her sing about feelings I thought were long past for me, and in a way that carried no hint of being jaded or forced. It’s rare to come across someone in the indie music world anymore that doesn’t come off as trying too hard. Kate constructs each of her songs with an openess of heart and spirit that is impossible to miss when you’re listening.

But, like Levar Burton said on Reading Rainbow, don’t take my word for it…

Quick Breakdown

• Inspirations: Teegan and Sara, Fleet Foxes, Bryce Kulak, Norah Jones
• Sounds like: Lilly Allen, Rilo Kiley, Ani DiFranco, Regina Spektor
• Suggested tracks: Sinner’s Plea, Stellar, I Told New York I Loved Her, Your Youth, Icarus, A Nerd Like You, Girly Girl, Crazy Over a Boy
• Most likely to be on the radio: Normal People

And you can have some Kate of your very own! She sells both a DVD of a live performance ($12!) and a brand-spanking new CD with 21 tracks ($10!) over at Etsy and MP3 downloads at Boost Independent Music. You can also check out her Youtube channel, listen on Last.fm, become a fan on Facebook, and stalk her on Twitter!

So what are you waiting for? Get in touch with being love all over again. Warm fuzzies and heartachingly beautiful melodies are just waiting for you to find them!

Posted: August 10th, 2009 under reviews.

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