Kathy's - Bio

Kathy comes from a small country town in NSW and is one of 12 children. She has always been surrounded by country music, as a child at home her mother played the piano, acoustic guitar & Lap Steel, her brother the organ & a sister played the piano. There were always plenty of sing-alongs and all the children were encouraged to join in & have some fun. Kathy learnt to play the classical guitar, recorder & to read music in primary school.

When Kathy was a teenager she was visiting her sister in Dunedooo & they heard about a Talent Quest in Parkes, so Kathy’s mother & sister took her over to participate. She didn’t win, but she met a fellow there that was the President of the Hunter Valley Country Music Association & that was the start of regular practice nights, guest spots around the Hunter Valley & participation in Charity Events & Talent Quests, at which she won many trophies.

It was at one of these Charity events that Kathy met her future husband Kelvin, who was a well respected musician in the Country Music Industry. From then on they were inseparable & formed a 5 piece covers band called “Rawhide” that played around the Hunter Valley area for many years with Greg Franks & Grant Richardson being a part of the band at different times. Kathy played acoustic guitar in the band, performed a 1/3 of the main vocals as well as backing vocals & harmonies. The venues she played in were huge, big auditoriums full of people that danced all night, it was fantastic & gave her invaluable experience in live performance.

Around 1999, duo’s were more appealing to the entertainment venues than the bands & so, gone were the band days & Kathy & Kelvin started working together as the duo called “Double Deal” in which they both shared lead vocals. Kathy learnt how to play the Bass guitar & she taught Kelvin how to play the acoustic guitar, as he was the drummer in their previous band. She has played a huge number of gigs as the duo "Double Deal" at clubs, pubs, Weddings, Tocal Field days, Steamfest & the 4wd expos at Maitland & the Central Coast. Double Deal was also the resident band at the “Old Texas Ranch” for a period of 7 years & for the past 2 years have played at “Buttai Barn” near Newcastle on most Saturday nights with their “Buckin’ Country Show” providing live music, teaching bush dancing, organising games together with mechanical bull rides on “Nutcracker”. People come back time & time again to see us as they love our live show which is full of variety, entertainment & lots of energy & great country music. They always tell us “That was the best night we’ve had in a long time”.

Kathy attended a song-writing workshop in Tamworth in January 2006 where Allan Caswell was the tutor & it was this that inspired her to start to write her own songs. Kathy entered one of her songs “One Piece at a Time” in the National Country Song writing Competition in Tamworth in 2009 and was a top 5 finalist. This spurred her on to record an album of all original material, which was completed in September 2009 with a release date of 22^nd November. Kathy also attended the “Jaws 2009” masterclass with Renee Grant-Williams, Karin Paparelli, Bill DiLuigi & Gary Tally from Nashville which covered, voice, guitar & song writing.

Kathy’s Album “Waitin’ on a Good Man” contains 12 beautiful country songs about life, love & emotions that we all go through. The first single from the album “Little Piece of Heaven” was released to radio on NFS 137 in December 09 & reached the Final (top 5) of the 2010 TSA National Country Songwriting Awards in Tamworth, Traditional Section.

The album was recorded locally at “Longhorn Studios” at Kurri & was produced by Rob Wilson. All of the musicians that contributed to the Album are well respected in the Country Music Industry being; Michel Rose, Brad Bergen, Mick Albeck, Greg Franks, Karen O’Shea & Rob Wilson.

Kathy originally recorded this album for herself, as this was something personal she wanted to do & she didn’t care if she didn’t sell 1 copy because the number one reason you play music for is the love of it, not the money. It just so happens that the album has turned out absolutely beautiful & she wants to share it with people out there that love true country music and songs that touch the heart, the kind of songs that make you cry and the ones that make you smile.

Being able to connect with people through music is a beautiful thing & Kathy hopes that her songs will reach out & touch the hearts of many country music loving people.