The best songwriting often reflects personal change. For neo-traditional Americana songwriter/singer/musician Kate Macleod, recent life changes have infused her career and creative work with new themes.
Originally from the Washington, DC, area, MacLeod has lived in Utah for many years. Recently, however, she’s been brought back to her “eastern roots” with a return to the region. She now lives part-time in Utah and part-time in Harper’s Ferry, West Virginia, where she cares for an elderly parent.
“I’m enjoying the way the West Virginia landscape and culture is affecting my songwriting and my playing, where there are countless musicians to learn from,” MacLeod explained. “I’ve been a caregiver for many years in my life, have raised three children, and I’m very family oriented. I’ve enjoyed reconnecting with Mom and helping her remain in her home for as long as she can.”
This process might show up in her work in a very specific way.
“I have written a few songs based on some family history, and one based on a story that Mom tells frequently, resulting in a song called ‘Bread on the Morning Train.’ Maybe I’ll record that soon,” she said.
Now, she performs and records as Kate MacLeod’s Mind the Gap, a band she formed at her new base in Harper’s Ferry.
“I’d say the band’s inception is due to how good things can come from doing good deeds,” she explained. “To make it possible for me to be with Mom as much as I needed, I also needed to find work in her area. So, I began booking concerts and asked these wonderful musicians to join me.”
She said that in addition to being “wonderful musicians,” the guys she gigs with now are “artistic deep thinkers” and that “everything they are comes through in the music.”
Speaking of what makes up the core of a musician, MacLeod shared a peek at how she came to know herself and her inspirations. She was well aware of what drives her at an early age. As a vocalist, guitarist, fiddler, pianist and mountain dulcimer player, the performance bug bit her hard and hasn’t let go.
“I knew I wanted to play the violin at as young as five or so,” she recalled. “I don’t know where that ‘lightbulb’ inspiration came from, but I suspect I inherited it from a long line of musicians who were professionals from where my families came from in Europe.”
She confessed that she tried to do other things for a living instead of becoming a professional musician but was reluctant. “And I raised a family, and at times, didn’t take myself seriously. But the more I work in music, the more I want to continue. For me, working in the music business has been a very slow crescendo.”
That crescendo has certain high points. Musicians such as Laurie Lewis and Mollie O’Brien sing her songs regularly. She’s toured the U.S., Canada, and Western Europe. Her music has been used in documentaries aired on PBS stations, including “My Canyonlands: Kent Frost,” “We Sagebrush Folks,” and “Zion Canyon Song Cycle.”
She dropped a single this fall. “Never Looked So Good to Me Before” features MacLeod with her vocals, guitar and piano and bandmates Paul Hammerton (vocals and guitar), John Bryant (vocals and bass), and Matthew Metz (vocals, mandolin). It was recorded at Cabin Studios in Leesburg, Virginia with engineer Dustin DeLage. The cover art for the single features a watercolor painted by MacLeod.
Kate MacLeod’s Mind the Gap has been busy this past fall, touring across the East, Midwest and Northwest America. For this month, however, she’s in break mode.
“I normally take time off in December and January for recording time,” she said. “I plan to be working on recording more music with Mind the Gap, and I have a large collection of songs I’ve written on white water river trips to record, from annual river trips with a commercial river running company.”
As part of her volunteer and community efforts, she said, “I'm organizing a holiday song ‘sing-in’ fundraising event for my church meeting, the Salt Lake Society of Friends/Quakers, on Sunday, December 15,” she said.
“I always spend Christmas with my children,” she added. “We meet in Salt Lake City from wherever we live.”
With life happening in two different parts of the country, MacLeod makes time for family in both regions. Hopefully, these rich experiences of connecting will continue to inspire her songwriting.