Kate Campbell is a southern singer-songwriter who writes and sings memorable folk songs infused with undercurrents of delta blues,folk, pop, and country that originate from a musical landscape spanning the less-travelled back roads from Nashville to Muscle Shoals to Memphis. Over thecourse of 20+ years since her acclaimed debut album Songs from the Levee, she has resisted the temptation to follow musical trends but insteadchooses to set the pace for her unique musical journey clearly palpable in herlatest release Damn Sure Blue, aheart-felt collection of tunes that pays a respectful nod of admiration to the Man in Blackandreverberates with the soulful sounds of award-winning Americana guitar whiz andproducer Will Kimbrough.
Kate’s endearing, clear-water vocaldelivery and her eloquent gift for storytelling have drawn repeated comparisonsto such bastions of the Southern literary tradition as Flannery O’Connor, Eudora Welty, and William Faulkner. Her easy command of a full range of American musical styles has earned Campbell recognition as a formidable talent by critics. Time Out London proclaimed her a “major talent” while Chicago Daily Herald described her as a “world-class singer-songwriter.”Perhaps Roots Time bestsummarized the extensive arc of Kate’s 18-album career by stating, “What agreat talent Kate Campbell represents is made clear by the legends in musicthat appear as guest artists on her albums.” Americana stalwarts Emmylou Harris, Rodney Crowell, Nanci Griffith, Guy Clark, Maura O’Connell, John Prine,Mac McAnally, Buddy Miller, Spooner Oldham, and the heart of the Muscle Shoals classic soul and R&B hitmaking machine are both admirers and collaborators in her distinctly literate musical vision.
Originally from the Mississippi Delta and the daughter of a Baptist preacher, Kate’s formative years were spent in thevery core of the Civil Rights Movement of the1960’s, and the indelible experiences of those years have shaped her heart andcharacter as well as her songwriting. Her music and songs continue to inspire and excite a growing and engaged audience. Her Two Nights in Texas CD received the prestigious Mississippi Institute of Arts & Letters Award. Ballet Memphis featuredseveral tunes from her song catalog as well as a live performance by Kate andband at a ballet entitled South Of Everywhere. Three of Kate’s songs(“Ave Maria Grotto,”“William’s Vision,” and “Fordlandia”) were recently featured in documentary films (Brother Joseph and the Grotto, Chipping Away, and Fordlandia) about Brother Joseph Zoettl, the tiny Bavarian hunchback monk who built AveMaria Grotto; William Edmondson who was the first African American to be awarded a solo show at New York’s Museum of Modern Art; and Henry Ford’s cityin the middle of the Amazon Jungle. A variety of artists have recorded Campbell’s songs including Laurie Lewis, Missy Raines, Ronnie McDowell,and the Nashville Bluegrass Band who covered her compelling snake-handling song “Signs Following. ”
Campbell has performed at a number ofesteemed venues such as the Cambridge Folk Festival, Merlefest, Philadelphia Folk Festival, Port Fairy Folk Festival, Timpanogos Storytelling Festival, and the NationalStorytelling Festival and been featured on NPR’s MorningEdition, All Things Considered, Live From Mountain Stage, and The Bob Edwards Show. Her quirky song “When Panthers Roamed In Arkansas” was included in the debut issue of The Oxford American‘s ultra-hip Southern Music series.