Veteran perfomer Kate Evans has performed professionally as a musician since age 16. Having cut her teeth in the pop scene for several years as lead singer with the seminal New Brunswick world/funk/rock big band All Gods' Children, she began performing her original songs with her own band, ISOE in the late 90s.
ISOE's CD, "Manhattan Lullaby," charted in the top 10 of many regional college radio stations, and was highly praised by critics. Following ISOE's untimely demise in 1997, Kate began her solo career, putting out her first solo CD, "Release," in 2001. She has since toured regionally to support the album.
Kate grew up in rural Kansas. Her parents were a classical musician and a bluegrass guitarist who exposed her to a wide range of music: gospel, soul, jazz, country, folk, rock, and classical. Today, all of these influences are evident in Kate's music.
Press Info
current and past reviews:
"the lyrics are inspiring, the voice is one-of-a-kind, and the overall sound is as beautiful as music gets. it is evident that evans loves music as she pours her heart into these inspiring songs. the lyrics piqued my interest on the first track and it stayed piqued throughout the cd." -maureen keller, indie-music.com
"sometimes she's funny, sometimes she makes joni mitchell's "blue" sound like they might be giants, but she can really sing those beautiful melodies she writes. spare and a little chilling, maybe. look for it. carefully. soon." - pj rieder, idiot's delight digest
"fronted by kate evans, isoe creates a classy and varied mix of strong songwriting, pop, r&b, and jazzy textures, and strong musicianship...by the time evans's silky vocals enter--falling somewhere between the soulfulness of lisa stansfield and the simplicity of suzanne vega--you
are already hooked...intelligent, provocative music." - rich lupescu, modern music monthly
Similar Artists
suzanne vega, tori amos, sade, ani difranco, norah jones, bille holiday, and peggy lee
Influences
randy newman, paul simon, suzanne vega, stevie wonder, ani difranco, tori amos, mahalia jackson, aretha franklin, tom waits, billie holiday, ella fitzgerald, ray charles, and abbey lincoln
Bio
Kate Evans woke up one morning to find herself a vice president of a medical publishing company. She’s not sure how that happened. In real life she’s clearly destined to be a performing musician and continues to plot her escape from corporate America by writing and singing gorgeous, cerebral, and passionate music.
She's gotten used to the 'head snap'--the double-take people do when they hear such a big, soulful voice come out of a woman who looks--let's face it--like she's a corn-fed girl from the midwest (which she is).
Evans is a veteran performer who began working professionally as a classical flutist at age 16. While studying jazz performance at Rutgers University in the 1990s, she cut her teeth in the pop music scene as the lead singer in the New Brunswick world music big band All Gods' Children. In 1995, Evans began performing her original songs with her own band, ISOE.
ISOE's CD, "Manhattan Lullaby," charted on dozens of regional college radio stations, in the top 10 on many, and was highly praised by critics. Robert Makin of the Gannett Courier-News and The Aquarian named Evans "best female artist" and "best songwriter" in his annual independent music awards, and named "Manhattan Lullaby" album of the year. ISOE's music eluded categorization, but drew comparisons to that of Suzanne Vega, Ani DiFranco, Sade, and Tori Amos. Other significant influences include Randy Newman, Paul Simon, Aretha Franklin, Tom Waits, and Abbey Lincoln.
Evans put out her first solo CD, “Release,” in 2001 and has since promoted the album by touring locally. Maureen Keller of indie-music.com described the album by saying, “The lyrics are inspiring, the voice is one-of-a-kind, and the overall sound is as beautiful as music gets. It is evident that Evans loves music as she pours her heart into these inspiring songs.”
Evans, who grew up in rural Kansas, grew up surrounded by music. Her mother was a professional classical musician and her father an amateur bluegrass musician and radio DJ. Music lives in Evans’s heart and her music lives in the hearts of others.
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Additional reviews:
"sometimes she's funny, sometimes she makes joni mitchell's "blue" sound like they might be giants, but she can really sing those beautiful melodies she writes. spare and a little chilling, maybe. look for it. carefully. soon." - pj rieder, idiot's delight digest
"fronted by kate evans, isoe creates a classy and varied mix of strong songwriting, pop, r&b, and jazzy textures, and strong musicianship...by the time evans's silky vocals enter--falling somewhere between the soulfulness of lisa stansfield and the simplicity of suzanne vega--you
are already hooked...intelligent, provocative music." - rich lupescu, modern music monthly