Kathy Kallick
| Kathy Kallick | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Background information | |
| Born | 1952 |
| Origin | Chicago, IL |
| Genres | Bluegrass, Folk, Americana |
| Occupation(s) | Musician |
| Instruments | Vocals, Guitar, Upright Bass |
| Labels | Live Oak Records, Copper Creek Records, Sugar Hill Records, Kaleidoscope/Flat Rock Records, Bay Records, Rounder Records, Spruce and Maple Music |
| Associated acts | Kathy Kallick Band, Good Ol' Persons |
Kathy Kallick (born September 19, 1952, in Chicago, IL) is an American bluegrass musician, bandleader, vocalist, guitar player, songwriter, and recording artist.
Kallick's mother, Dodi Kallick, was a leading member of the Chicago-area folk music scene of the 1950s and '60s. She helped establish the Old Town School Of Folk Music and was the first performer at the No Exit Cafe, introducing traditional musicians such as Frank Proffitt to midwestern audiences. Kallick's father, Bruce Kallick, is an amateur guitarist who gave Kathy a Doc Watson LP along with her first guitar.
Kallick began performing by singing harmony with her mother, and she attended numerous acoustic music concerts and festivals as a teen. Inspired by other Chicago songwriters of the time such as John Prine, Steve Goodman, and Tom Dundee, she began writing and performing her own songs at coffeehouses. When Kallick accompanied old time fiddler Michael Drayton, she switched from being a fingerpicking to flatpicking guitarist. She discovered bluegrass music while attending the San Francisco Art Institute (BFA, 1977), where the local music scene was welcoming to women and songwriters.
In 1975, Kathy Kallick, Laurie Lewis, Barbara Mendelsohn, Dorothy Baxter, and Sue Shelasky performed three songs at an open mic. This marked the beginning of the Good Ol’ Persons, one of the first all-women bluegrass bands. They released an album in 1977 (by which time Sue was replaced by brother Paul Shelasky) and enjoyed a twenty-year run, releasing five albums and touring throughout the U.S., including two appearances at Bill Monroe's Beanblossom Festival, as well as performances in Canada and Europe.
By 1980, the Good Ol' Persons lineup consisted of Kathy Kallick (guitar), John Reischman (mandolin), Sally Van Meter (dobro), fiddler Paul Shelasky (later Kevin Wimmer), and bassist Bethany Raine (later Beth Weil, then Todd Phillips). They were one of the first bluegrass bands to incorporate Latin, swing, folk, Cajun, and other musical genres into their music, as well as featuring the songwriting, lead playing, and vocal harmonies of women.
After the Good Ol' Persons disbanded, Kallick released three albums under her own name for Sugar Hill Records. In 1996, she formed the Kathy Kallick Band. Personnel for their first ten years and two albums included Tom Bekeny on mandolin, Amy Stenberg on bass, Avram Siegel on banjo, and, for the second, fiddler Brian Wicklund. The current iteration consists of Kallick, Bekeny, Annie Staninec on fiddle, Greg Booth on dobro and banjo, and Cary Black (previously Dan Booth) on bass; they have released three albums: Between the Hollow and the Highrise (2010), Time (2012), and Foxhounds (2015), and the band continues to tour widely across North America and Europe.
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