It’s no surprise that Katherine first starting playing the violin in third grade at the age of eight. She comes from classical roots and continued playing through college. When she heard the likes of Craig Eastman play, she decided that she would transform herself into an Irish fiddler. Katherine played in the Celtic Rock band Dicey Riley for 17 years. She attends weekly Irish sessions and teaches fiddle to students of all ages and levels in her music studio in Leeds Massachusetts. She has studied with Liz Carroll, Martin Hayes, Alasdair Fraser and many others. She has also traveled to Ireland and Scotland with her fiddle to play and learn traditional music. Presently, she is playing Celtic-rock in Dicey Riley, swing and old time blues in The Johnny Memphis Band as well as her own band, Katherine First and Kitchen Party which is a blending of her favorite traditional music from Scotland, Ireland, Brittany, Cape Breton and beyond. Katherine has done extensive recording and has just come out with her third record, entitled “A Moment in Time,“ which has an original waltz as the title track. Collaboration is her strength and she believes that music should be a lifetime of exploration.
Katherine First & Kitchen Party create a Cape Breton, festive atmosphere just like the good old times up north in your favorite family kitchen. The instrumentation is fiddle, banjo, guitar and percussion. All band members sing and audience participation is encouraged. In fact, Katherine frequently brings a young fiddler or two on stage to join in the musical festivities. This band brings to you a blending of traditional music from Ireland, Scotland, Nova Scotia, Brittany France and beyond. They also play old timey, bluegrass, Americana and band originals. Their most recent CD entitled, “A Moment In Time,” was just released in December 2017. Their CD release party was a sold out show at the Parlor Room in Northampton.
It’s no surprise that Katherine first starting playing the violin in third grade at the age of eight. She comes from classical roots and continued playing through college. When she heard the likes of Craig Eastman play, she decided that she would transform herself into an Irish fiddler. Katherine played in the Celtic Rock band Dicey Riley for 17 years. She attends weekly Irish sessions and teaches fiddle to students of all ages and levels in her music studio in Leeds Massachusetts. She has studied with Liz Carroll, Martin Hayes, Alasdair Fraser and many others. She has also traveled to Ireland and Scotland with her fiddle to play and learn traditional music. Presently, she is playing Celtic-rock in Dicey Riley, swing and old time blues in The Johnny Memphis Band as well as her own band, Katherine First and Kitchen Party which is a blending of her favorite traditional music from Scotland, Ireland, Brittany, Cape Breton and beyond. Katherine has done extensive recording and has just come out with her third record, entitled “A Moment in Time,“ which has an original waltz as the title track. Collaboration is her strength and she believes that music should be a lifetime of exploration.
Katherine First & Kitchen Party create a Cape Breton, festive atmosphere just like the good old times up north in your favorite family kitchen. The instrumentation is fiddle, banjo, guitar and percussion. All band members sing and audience participation is encouraged. In fact, Katherine frequently brings a young fiddler or two on stage to join in the musical festivities. This band brings to you a blending of traditional music from Ireland, Scotland, Nova Scotia, Brittany France and beyond. They also play old timey, bluegrass, Americana and band originals. Their most recent CD entitled, “A Moment In Time,” was just released in December 2017. Their CD release party was a sold out show at the Parlor Room in Northampton.