Reviews

Listen to Kate talking about her music

Derek McCutcheon interviews Singer/Songwriter ‘Kate’ about her music, poetry & New Single ‘Caroline’

Derek McCutcheon interviews Kate for a catch up following the release of her Single ‘Caroline’

Cat’s Cream – ‘Caroline’ interview 21/7/21

The Friday Mix – Andy chats to Kate early doors

The Colm Keegan Show – update on progress…

Thank Folk It’s Friday – Ross gets the skinny on the final numbers…

The Full Catastrophe - living with a binge eating disorder, being a mum and wine o'clock

My guest, Kate Reid, is a fellow Scot with a beautiful voice but she talks about having such low confidence that she struggles to accept compliments. Kate talks about her struggle with a binge eating disorder, how opening up and talking was the most single helpful thing, and we muse over whether we can ever truly understand how the mind works…

Reviews

The Other Side

The Other Side

Kate – Caroline (2021)

Being inspired by another, the towering artist can have a two-fold effect on those who are inspired. It can turn into just an attempt to copy the original, or it can produce a spirit that reminds and brings something new itself. The late Amy Winehouse certainly had both songwriting and singing capabilities to inspire a multitude of oncoming artists, but many have just tried too hard to walk in her steps. On the other hand, Glasgow’s Kate Reid takes a completely different approach with her latest single ‘Caroline.’

Reid actually recorded this song a few years back and waited with its release along with a few others, so that she could release it at the anniversary of Winehouse’s death since, “…it seemed like fitting and poignant timing,” as Reid puts it herself. Actually, the track was written by Kate’s friend David McSweeney in a coffee shop in Glasgow’s West End shortly after the death of Amy Winehouse in 2011 and ‘Caroline’ is certainly a slow-burning scorcher. No big instrumentation, piano, guitar, accordion, subtle backing vocals from Reid’s sister Hazel and Kate’s delicate vocals.

While in no way tracking Winehouse’s musical steps, it still recalls the spirit of the departed great artist. Fittingly, ‘Caroline’ lasts less than three minutes to point out that Winehouse’s artistry was cut off too early. Kate Reid shares that ”Caroline’ talks about feeling alone even when you’re surrounded by other people and the dark clouds that can obscure even the sunniest soul at times. It also explores how alcohol can seem like a good solution to take the edge off those desperate feelings, but in the long run, it really doesn’t help. Having dealt with depression in its many guises for the last 25 years, it is a song I really knew I could sing.”

‘Caroline’ works brilliantly in two ways. To remind us of Amy Winehouse’s greatness and to tell us how truly talented Kate Reid herself is.

For more from Kate Reid check out her official website, Facebook and Instagram.
Liverpool Sound & Vision

Liverpool Sound & Vision

Kate, Caroline. Single Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Some people’s final moments on Earth strike at the soul perhaps more than reason or logic would suggest that they should; the ones to whom the celebrity status does not do justice for the sheer scale of input they have put into stranger’s lives, the inspiration they instil, the boundaries they demolish; it is those that we maybe mourn the loss of in a deeper way than we might otherwise believe, that strike a match of motivation in us to create something in their honour.

No matter your own thoughts on Amy Winehouse, there can surely be no debate on how she shook the world with her interpretations of music, the smoky upbeat jazz/soul melody of voice and how it melded with the times in such a way that she didn’t just capture the zeitgeist, she let it loose to run rampant and enthuse others in the wake of her life, and in her sad passing in 2011.

Glasgow’s singer/songwriter Kate Reid understands the beauty in the woman, the strength she persisted in showing to the world, even when it became sadly obvious that she was playing through the sadness and despair of the accompanying music.

In the marking of the tenth anniversary of Ms. Winehouse’s passing, a song that has been almost hidden from view and originally penned by David McSweeney, is given the release of life, and in the fierce lyrics of Caroline, the feeling of isolation, perhaps the seclusion that many of us have faced since, is enhanced, pushed beyond the sadness, and instead frames what it means to be a fragile, but openly talented, and arguably flawed human being.

To acknowledge the flaw is proof that we are capable of reaching the highs unforeseen, of achieving greatness by overcoming the narrative set out for us, and Kate Reid’s daring interpretation of the song is to be applauded for the courage of its own performance, as well as acknowledging the flaw of hero who inspired so many.

The song itself is resplendent, rich, forceful, it strides out into the world in the same dynamic manner that Amy Winehouse accomplished, but it is also tender, the accompanying accordion and piano being true to the softer side of performance, and as Caroline progresses, it reflects the message of what it means to be alone, to be surrounded by your own tangible thoughts, but hopefully feel the love expressed so elegantly by Kate Reid at the same time.

A truly wonderful piece of art that encapsulates the spirit of an icon, Caroline is marvellous song that fills the heart.

Ian D. Hall
Truthbook

Truthbook

My guest, Kate Reid, is a fellow Scot with a beautiful voice but she talks about having such low confidence that she struggles to accept compliments. Kate talks about her struggle with a binge eating disorder, how opening up and talking was the single most helpful thing, and we muse over whether we can ever truly understand how the mind works…

I invited Kate onto Truthbook because I have loved her honesty and openness through poems, songs, and Facebook posts. In her own words, she has always had an insatiable appetite for wanting to understand why she feels the way she feels and has found solace in talking.

Our paths crossed in the early 2000s, during her days in the Scottish band The Midden-where she was the lead singer and guitarist with her sisters, Meggan and Hazel. A measure of their success-playing in front of 25,000 at Glasgow’s Hogmany in 2004 with Snow Patrol! I remember a particularly vibrant and foot tapping night at the battle of the bands in the Scotia bar in Glasgow and celebrating their win with a pint of Guinness.

Since then, Kate has continued to keep life interesting; she is a singer, songwriter, she has written a book of poems and has a novel in the making. She spent 9 years teaching French, German and Music and more recently she is a radio presenter with Dunoon Community Radio. She is a Top 200 UK chart singer (check out Kate’s newly released song Caroline below). At the age of 40, in 2019, she became a MUM to Alexander….

Kate and Alexander live in one of the most beautiful parts of the world on the North Coast of Scotland.

But behind the scenes of these positive images, Kate has battled with a binge eating disorder pretty much since puberty. I remember when she first spoke about it on FB and thinking wow, I had no idea…

https://truthbook.buzzsprout.com/1137044/9215317
Northern Sky Reviews

Northern Sky Reviews

Anyone with even a nominal interest in Beatles B sides will know that “Yes It Is” is the flip side to “Ticket To Ride”, released in April 1965, which went on to become the Fabs’ seventh consecutive number one single in the UK. The Lennon/McCartney song is revisited here by the Scottish singer-songwriter Kate Reid, who treats the song to an emotive performance, her voice reminiscent of the wonderful Bridget St John circa 1969, while maintaining the original’s commercial properties. Recorded at North Park Studios and mastered by David McNee, “Yes It Is”, is likewise backed with another remarkable song, Tim Buckley’s ethereal “Song To The Siren”, a composition co-written by Larry Beckett, learned from the Buckley original we’re led to believe, Kate having been a fan of Jeff Buckley, who chose the ‘newborn child’ option, rather than the puzzling ‘oyster’ reference, as did Liz Fraser in her notable reading of the song under the guise of This Mortal Coil a few years ago. It’s nice to see that Buckley is still picking up fans almost half a century on. A double A side in the truest sense.

https://northernskyreviews.com/2021/10/01/issue-14/
Celtic Music Radio

Celtic Music Radio

Station presenter Kate Reid releases her latest single this week (Friday October 1) – an enchanting version of The Beatles’ 1965 song, Yes It Is.

And she will be chatting about it all on the Friday Mix with Andy Hood on Friday at 9.40 am (live) and will follow this up later in the day with another live interview on Thank Folk It’s Friday with Ross Macfadyen at 8.30 pm.

Kate, who hosts the weekly Mix Tape Show on Sunday evenings, is a talented singer/songwriter, admitted she had taken “a bit of a gamble” with her choice – but bringing a female vocal to the emotive Lennon/McCartney track 60 years on has paid off as her version is warm and hopeful, building in intensity.

Kate, who’s been a presenter with Celtic Music Radio since 2012, said: “In the 60s when life was simple and music was great, artists would sing whatever songs they loved. Judy Collins and Barbara Dickson often covered Beatles songs just because they loved what the Liverpool lads had written.

“With this release, I’m taking a bit of a gamble – it is notoriously difficult to do a good cover of a Beatles song.”

Yes It Is, the original B-side to Ticket to Ride, is her dad’s favourite Beatles’ track.

“He introduced me to the band when I was tiny and I have loved them ever since,” she said. “I know all the lyrics to every song and am the proud owner of The Big Gold Book, a Beatles songbook of epic proportions.

“The Beatles provided the foundation for all pop music so it would just be amazing to get them back into the charts 60 years later. I hope that bringing a female vocal to the track adds an interesting twist to this gem.”

The single was recorded at North Park Studios and was mastered by David McNee, formerly of the Paul McKenna Band and The Fleet. David also played guitar and keyboard on the single, as well as mixing and producing it.

This release follows on from her last single Caroline, a track inspired by the late Amy Winehouse, which peaked at number eight in the iTunes singer-songwriter chart.

Kate, who authored the 2017 poetry book ‘Balnakeil’, has been a fixture of the Scottish music scene since forming the successful folk band The Midden with Cat Chisholm, Karen Hannah and her sister Meggan Reid.

They won a Danny Kyle Award at Celtic Connections in 2001, toured acclaimed folk festivals across Europe and supported Snow Patrol at Glasgow’s Hogmanay in 2004 in front of a 25,000-strong crowd.

Yes It Is will be available to stream and download on all digital platforms from Friday 1st October 2021.

https://www.celticmusicradio.net/our-very-own-kate-reid-covers-the-beatles-in-latest-release/https://truthbook.buzzsprout.com/1137044/9215317