Katie Elevitch

KATIE ELEVITCH is a singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer and band leader who fearlessly forges a sound straight from the Source; Her songs and live shows lure you into a sonic devotional journey across sensual landscapes of rock, soul, folk and jazz that carry you into meditations on longing, loss, liberation, the spiritual state of the universe, and the transcendence of love.

Katie thrives on live collaboration, improvisation and composition that challenge musical boundaries. She is currently completing work on a new EP "Kindling for the Fire", recorded mostly live in three days with band members - including bassist Jonathan Maron from 2007 Grammy nominated band Groove Collective. The title track was recorded completely live, has no overdubs and was composed entirely in the moment.

Her debut album, 2005's 'Now Is The Destination', which was produced by Tony Maimone (Pere Ubu, They Might Be Giants), successfully fuses elements of improvisation heavy 70's rock and funk, the flavors of old school r&b, the story telling and poetry of folk, and the big hooks and lushness of pop music.

It has been praised by the Village Voice (Voice Choice 6/04 and 4/05, Chuck Eddy), The Big Takeover (Issue #55) and many artists including visionary NYC-based musicians Chocolate Genius and Carl Hancock Rux.

The daughter of an American born Jewish-Lithuanian WWII veteran, published author - and cousin of Bob Dylan - and a mother whose is a descendent of singing Bulgarian Gypsies, Katie was reared as a performer from an early age, acting in musical and dramatic community theater and singing Mozart, Debussy and Vivaldi in choirs.

In 1992 she moved to New York City and studied Jazz Voice and Piano at Mannes College of Music and began rehearsing at Georgio Gomelsky's now infamous music studio in Chelsea which at the time housed Jeff Buckley, Jesse Malin and Ed Pastorini (Beth Orton, Elysian Fields, 101 Crustaceans), and at one time, Sonic Youth. Katie's focus and learning intensified during this period, as she quietly absorbed all that was around her, both in the music scene at large, and literally, coming through the walls of her basement studio where she practiced and taught herself guitar, bass and drums and began composing her own songs.

Eventually she began performing throughout NYC, as well as at venues in San Francisco, Seattle, Toronto and Montreal, Canada, Cologne, Hamburg, Leipzig and Berlin Germany. Recently, she was invited to perform in Russia by Art Critic Art Troitsky who has hosted such artists as Anthony and the Johnsons.

Katie's recording and live collaborators have included: producer/bassist Tony Maimone (Pere Ubu), producer/guitarist Riley McMahon (Spottiswoode & His Enemies, Preston Clarke, One Left), engineer/mixer Joel Hamilton (Martha Wainwright, Ani DiFranco, Sparklehorse, Player's Club), drummer Marlon Browden (Vernon Reid, John Scofield), Chris Brown (Ani DiFranco), Suphala on tabla (Perry Farrell), drummer Lee Farber, bassist Jonathan Maron and multi-instrumentalist Peter Apfelbaum (Jai Uttal, Harry Belafonte, Heiroglyphics).

Katie has shared bills with such diverse artists as drum n' bass soul singer Imani Uzuri, indie rock outfit Tilly and The Wall, Persian rock-folk singer Haale, Pharaoh's Daughter, hip-hop poet/activist Rha Goddess, Afro-Cuban Soul Group Bryan Vargas & Ya Esta, and many more.

She has played all the major intimate and mid-sized venues in New York City, including Joe's Pub, The Blue Note, The Mercury Lounge, Southpaw, The Living Room, The Knitting Factory and CBGB's.
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