A loss; a hiatus

Dear friends and listeners,

This is just to let you know that I'll be taking a time-out from musical things for a little while, as I try to absorb the sudden death of my beautiful, talented mother, Donna Louthood. If you think I can sing, you should have heard her. 

I may still do the show scheduled for Sept 26 in Victoria at the Well, with Gabrielle Papillon and Kim Wempe. Other than that, however, I'm going to have to cancel some shows and pull back for a while, just to recover from this shock and support my family.

Not forever, though. Stay tuned for new projects and live dates. As my Mum would always wisely say, life goes on.

Much love,

Kaya

PS: Please call your mum and tell her you love her.

 

Goin' back to Hali

Hey guys,

Just a quick note to say hi. I'm in Halifax right now. Somewhat sadly, I'm not here for musical reasons--but very happily, they are reasons to do with a new baby about to join the family. My sister is due, well (checking watch) any minute now. So I'm here for moral support and to help celebrate the big birthday when it comes. I have learned a whole lot about the human reproductive system in the last little while. I will refrain from sharing that knowledge here; all I can say is, it's pretty effing amazing. If you get a chance to share this experience with someone, TAKE IT.

Anyway, as you can see, I have a few shows coming up around BC. This is good, and I hope to see some of you, dear readers, at these events. I'm very hopeful that just playing live a little more often will help unstick the writer's block I have been experiencing. 

I also think buying a new guitar might help. But my bank account would probably disagree.

Okay, back to family time. I'll check in again soon.

Bi-coastally yours,

Kaya

New gigs...

Hey, I have a few gigs coming up! You can see them in the new gig widget here on my website. Still playing with how things look but at least the info is here now. So is some music for you to listen to. 

More bloggage to come, I promise. 

Love,

Kaya

PS: NXNE was super fun. Many, many thanks (belatedly) to all who came out!

NXNE update

Just a little update about my North by Northeast appearances next weekend.

I have two sets, both on Saturday June 18.

Set one: 11:30 am at Harbour Square Parklands. This one is outdoors, free, and all ages. Did I mention free? I'll be playing solo for this one.

Set two: 9 pm at Czehoski, 678 Queen St. W. This one is indoors, and it costs $10 at the door if you don't have a wristband. I'll be backed up by Jonathan Davis on drums and Chris Ingram on upright bass.

Hope you can make it!

Remember, until my website is fixed, music samples are on my EPK: http://www.sonicbids.com/kayafraser

xo K.

Reminder...

Just a reminder that the music player is still under construction on this site, but you are welcome to listen to me on my e-presskit:

http://www.sonicbids.com/kayafraser

Sorry about that! Fix to come soon!

Love,

Kaya

NXNE

Hey friends,

Happy news: I've been invited to play North by North East in Toronto next month! Here's the skinny:

  • Saturday, June 18th
  • 9 PM
  • Czehoski
  • 678 Queen St. W.

Admission: 1-day festival wristband is $25. More info at http://www.nxne.com

Come one, come all! It's been a long time since I've played in Ontario, so I'm really hoping to see a lot of familiar faces. My much-missed bandmates from London, ON will also be joining me for this one.

See you in T.O.!

Love,

Kaya

PS

I'm having some trouble with the music player on this site, and it doesn't have samples of my most recent work. I'm working on getting this fixed. Please accept my apologies and, if you want to, check out these other places to hear me:

http://www.myspace.com/kayafraser

http://www.sonicbids.com/kayafraser

Love,

Kaya

Update

Hi everyone,

It's certainly been a while, but I'm still here, I swear. I've been taking musical things more slowly lately, due to the pressures of everyday life, working, and several other unromantic things. But slowly, the artist in me is waking up from her hibernation. Yawning. Blinking at the light. Stretching her limbs. Etc.

Open Horizon is out there now, available on iTunes:

http://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/open-horizon/id389039241

...and on CD through my manufacturer, Indie Pool:

http://indiepool.com/estorelayout1.asp?n=51473

(You can also get my first record in both places, too, of course.)

I have a couple of upcoming shows, with Ambre McLean and Gabrielle Papillon, in Duncan BC and Victoria BC, April 8 and 9 respectively. I'll paste the info below. Oh, and if you want more frequent updates on what I'm up to, feel free to follow me on Facebook and/or Twitter.

A deep thank you to all who have expressed their support, even though I've been quiet lately. You give me courage to keep doing this, in whatever fashion I can.

With much springtime love,

Kaya

Friday April 8: Duncan BC @ Duncan Garage Showroom
201-330 Duncan St
8 PM $12 advance / $15 door

Saturday April 9: Victoria BC @ Moka House on Hillside
103-1633 Hillside Ave
7:30 PM $10 door

www.kayafraser.com
www.ambremclean.com
www.gabriellepapillon.com

 

 

 

Open Horizon - first review!

Hey look! It's a review of my almost-released new record, thanks to the lovely Rachel Sanders at Exclaim.ca!

(More news--such as how to get a hold of this baby for yourself--to follow soon!)

Kaya Fraser
Open Horizon
By Rachel Sanders

With jazzy interludes and melt-in-her-mouth vocals, Kaya Fraser's first full-length release is a journey of considerable emotional range. Daughter to Canadian songwriter Allan Fraser (of '70s psych folk duo Fraser and DeBolt), the Victoria, BC-based musician has built upon the foundations she laid with her 2007 EP, the elegant Tremor and Slip. With Open Horizon, she offers a diverse collection of songs that explore passion of every variety, from the blissfully upbeat "Good To Be Home" to the achingly brief and emotionally wrenching "A Hundred Days." Other highlights include the banjo-licked "Made To Mend" and the brooding, Al Purdy-inspired "Cariboo Horses," which highlights Fraser's rich voice and her ability to create vivid moods within her songs. Produced by one-time Blue Rodeo guitarist Kim Deschamps (who also contributes pedal steel, dobro and banjo), the album flirts with soul and blues, jazz and country, but ultimately, hangs together as a beautifully cohesive and promising debut. (Independent)

On the Horizon...

 Wow, it HAS been a while since I've blogged. My apologies. I've been updating Facebook and tweeting, etc., but I'll try to distill it here.


My second record, Open Horizon, is just about made. The music part of it, at least. In early January I flew out to Ontario to work at a wonderful studio south of Hamilton, on the Six Nation reserve, called Jukasa. Check it out:


This studio is a brand new, multi-million dollar facility; I don't know much about gear, but I thought it was a good sign that they have the SSL mixing console from Abbey Road studios (you know, the one that recorded that record by those guys?). Pretty incredible. Anyhow, I can't recommend this studio and the people who run it enough. They were all so incredibly kind and helpful. A special shout-out needs to go to Sean Gugula, who did a fantastic job engineering the whole thing. First Nations rock star Derek Miller, who is kind of the artist-in-residence at the studio, was also extremely nice and generous in lending us some of his gorgeous guitars for the sessions (I still have dreams about that Gibson). His music, by the way, is excellent: watch for his new album this year.

Anyway, the studio was GREAT and of course, I had a pretty phenomenal team working for me. First of all, my producer Kim Deschamps, who is not only an astounding musician, but also a really really nice guy. I was also lucky enough to have the incredible Al Cross playing drums for me, and Paul Intson playing a gorgeous upright bass. Those two are also really really nice guys. These three men were my whole band, and man, it worked. There is a very live feel to the tunes, since most of the music was recorded live off the floor, and the musicianship all around me was humbling in the extreme. We worked well and FAST, but it was also fun and friendly; it was such a pleasant experience. 

Paul mixed the record with Kim's input, and Paul is also mastering it. It's just about done as we speak; we're just working out the sequence of the eleven tracks. However, the artwork and manufacturing still needs to get done, so I'm afraid you'll have to wait a little longer before you all arrange your listening parties: I'm hoping for a March release date. Stay tuned.

It was a new experience on many levels, not least of which was that it took comparatively long to put this album into existence. I wrote the songs mostly about two years ago, and then it was a long process of working out the means to this end. But with the help of a lot of people, it finally happened. I have to say, it's not like having a baby, which is the simile most people use (not that I know what that's like, yet, but whatever). Babies don't take two years to make. Babies are not an archive of your own hopes and loves and devastations, etc. etc. etc. Babies are not art. I don't know what it's most like, but what I do know is that it's both ridiculously hard and ridiculously fun. There were moments (many) when I thought: why am I doing this? I'm never going to try to conceal that. But then, when it's happening, all I could think was, I'm so glad I'm doing this. I realized that not knowing whether it will be worth it is part of the joy of the experience. You don't know what this thing is going to do, out there in the world, once it's made (okay, maybe that part *is* like having kids). You can't control it. So you just try to make it strong, try to give it integrity, so that it can maybe weather it out there. Kind of like trying to make a really good boat, and then floating it out on the tide.

But I'll tell you one thing that makes this feel worthwhile. A friend of mine has a daughter in her teens, and this daughter is a big fan of my first record. She just got her first guitar this Christmas, and she wants to learn "The Stars" so that she can play it at her school's coffeehouse. You see, that girl was me, except with a different song, about 15 years ago. It makes my heart glow that something I made is making someone pick up a guitar, learn a song, and go sing it for people. If nothing else comes of this thing that I do, that simple fact is really recompense enough.

Much love and gratitude,
Kaya