Who is Kate Bollinger?
Kate Bollinger transcends genre playing with whimsical fluttering folk, bedroom pop, indie, and jazz influences. The Virginia-born songwriter grew up surrounded by music thanks to her mom, a music therapist, and her brothers, both in bands. Kate majored in Cinematography at the University of Virginia while pursuing her musical projects. Bollinger’s music career took off to her surprise, but it is clear her ability to bring art to life is one of a kind. On October 1, I got the chance to see Kate Bollinger with Sam Burton play at The Blue Room @ Third Man Records.
Who is Sam Burton?
‘Burton didn’t try to make a retro-sounding album, but he was drawn to well-worn songwriting tropes of the past, reframing them to fit his circumstances as Burton found himself after a breakup, no job, no apartment, no record deal. Burton moved to upstate California to work on a farm to make ends meet. Upon his return to Los Angeles, he hooked up with producer Johnathan Wilson to make his second album, Dear Departed. It heavily draws the influence of the 1960s and 70s singer-songwriters like Glen Campbell, Harry Nilsson, and Jackson Browne.
The low-profile 32-year-old singer-songwriter opened for Weyes Blood back in February of this year. He got the prestigious gig from doing a tarot card reading for her.
On to the show!
Modern-day cowboy Sam Burton set the stage for Bollinger. He was the perfect opener because his music emulates an essence of the past, like Bollinger’s.
Kate has an old-timey quiver to her effortlessly calming voice, which “twirls and tumbles without ever touching the ground,” as put by Pranav Trewn. Her silky smooth melodies lulled the crowd into the sonic world of Bollinger’s dreams. Time froze in The Blue Room for Burton and Bollinger, making for an special, intimate experience.
She squealed from embarrassment, thinking I had caught her at a weird time, but she was beaming in every film photo.
When we thought the show was over, Bollinger pranced back onstage to play one last song.
A super-fan named Dylan, whom I met in the front row, said he’d seen Bollinger several times and had never seen her perform an encore until that show.
As if my night could get any better, Sam Burton took this photo of Cate, Kate, and me after we waited to meet them at the merch stand. Kate told Cate she exuded Drew Barrymore vibes, which made our nights. Signing her “new signature,” she signed our posters.
Kate’s Creative Process
Kate Bollinger writes her songs letting her subconscious lead, an open-ended process she likens to dreaming. On ‘Diandra Reviews it All’, Diandra asks Bollinger about similarities in filmmaking to songwriting. Kate says, ‘Writing a song and thinking of an idea for a music video or short film both can feel like they happen in my presence rather than because I am creating them. I think of those creative experiences as I think of dreams: often, they’re both an act of the subconscious.’
All her music videos have been collaborative projects with her friends, and “You At Home,” her newest single, was written and recorded in collaboration with Dave Longstreth of Dirty Projectors. It’s the latest in a string of standalone singles following her 2022 debut EP released on Ghostly International, Look at it in the Light. The song comes with a music video directed by Nikki Milan Houston and shot on 16mm; a 1940s-style surrealist collage of vignettes. Surrounded by vaguely religious imagery, Bollinger dances between black and white and saturated color, through a haunting and bewildering fever dream with the whimsy and absurdity of films like Věra Chytilová’s Daisies.
Click here to keep boogying with Kate with a playlist of her music on Spotify 🙂
BOOGIE WITH EMMA 