This is an absolutely beautiful show, but the weather has been NASTY...thank goodness I'm indoors.  This is a photo of how happy I am to be FINALLY back in business and on the road again.

I drove my new little car to the venue yesterday and it was sooo fun zipping up the mountains with my equipment.  It took me a LOT of work to replace the Focus that I lost on August 30th in an auto accident. 

I've started updating my webpage (finally) again and I'm current on the tour dates so you can come see me in Florida.  Come hear my new "work-in-progress" due out in February 2010 at the Downtown Sarasota Festival Of The Arts courtesy of Howard Alan Events.

Blessings!

I'm buying my new road tool (car) tomorrow so I'll be offline for a day.  Then back in the studio for another recording marathon.  I'm spending my BDay buying a car (EEEEE).  All is well here--just trying to get on with the new album with Silver Hill.  Thank goodness the label "gets it" so I can get a good vehicle--my lame excuse to not be in the studio.  I'd SOOO much rather be recording.  Blah blah blah.

Miss the road.  COME SEE ME in Charlotte NC this weekend--see the website
www.kayte.com I FINALLY updated it and I'm working on keeping up now that I've found a perfect car.

Blessings

Kayte

I debuted the first songs from my first album with Silver Hill Records this weekend at Letchworth State Park and was thrilled with the response.  I've NEVER felt so great about a project before.  I'm very VERY lucky to have the guidance from this incredible producer and label.  (I was told this would be my best effort yet, but of course I had to play it to believe it!  The music is beyond my expectations!)

We are still working on the album, and I wish I could put some of it online (but I can't).  The plan is to wait until I've had a chance to do the promotion and then I can release the album on a specific day so you can buy it all at the same time....it's the only way to get this album to rank on the "charts" so it can be available nationwide.  I envision the CD to be released just prior to Valentine's Day... because of the love songs that are so important to me at this time....

....If you saw me last weekend you'd have heard them... always sooo personal....  i'll be in Charlotte, NC in 2 weeks and yes I've been bad at keeping up my calendar but that will change soon.

Please email me if you'd like a sample of one of our NEW singles! 

Email me at Kayte@kayte.com  and I'll send you a sample.... WAYYYYY COOL!

SOOO sorry it has taken me this long to update.  I even have to be brief now-- as much as I wish I couldn't.  I have signed an album deal here in Nashville and it requires all of my time.  I MUST be the best I've ever been for them!!!!!  That said, I am in GREAT hands, and the new album is coming out better than ever.  I've also had to overhaul my whole life, including a new car :) and a new studio band.  I'm also tweeting and facebooking and doing all of the required connectivity; all of this without missing a festival.  Those of you who see my website know I also repaired my health to the point where I'm back to where I can tour like crazy again.

I'm staying home for most of the month to complete the new CD.   I WILL be at Letchworth in 2 weeks, and that will be the only outdoor show for 6 weeks.  I look forward to the release of my first major release in early 2010.  It drives me crazy to have to wait that long, but believe it -- it will be worth it.  I'm learning SO much about patience but even more about what I am capable of in the hands of a great producer.  Learning to listen.....

I promise to stay more connected (?)  I'm not used to being on a label so please be understanding.  I get ALL of your emails.  I'll put some of the new stuff up when I get the permission.  My site will be updated soon.

Love y'all

Kayte

I'm here in Muskegon, MI for the Summer Celebration.  The weather is absolutely perfect and the attendance was great yesterday...maybe the best in five years.  I sang my new song "This View" with my new track mix that I finished last week.  I think what's left on the song will be some backgrounds and percussion; I was surprised how full it sounded as it stands.  When I get back to Nashville my goal is to get another song ready for the background singers (I'll let my producer pick which one).

I'm staying with author Virginia Sobel who is a well-known motivtional speaker.  Needless to say we have been "motivating" each other this weekend.  We are also sharing recent injuries to our backs, so we've been exchanging words of wisdom and comfort reguarding taking care of our bodies.  It's hard to do my job, let alone any job with a back strain, but I'm very grateful that I am able to sleep in a quiet, luxurious bed and eat delicious organic food. 

I hope you all have fun today watching the fireworks!  Tonight there is a very special event happening...a very talented young lady will be performing in Orlando at 4pm so I hope you can send out a little prayer for her.  Her name is Austin McLaughlin.  Below is a quote describing her amazing journey towards what may well be a very successful career as a country singer/songwriter.

"...Austin won first place (in the first round) with 31 percent -- making it into the top 10!!   She then went on to the next round at Wet 'n Wild in Orlando - where the contest added 2 wild card selections. Austin's performance brought the place to a "stand-still" and she was selected as one of the 8 finalists out of 12!!! The next stop is this Saturday, July 4th, in Orlando, Fl at Lake Eola with 150,000 people in attendance!!!"

She is one to watch!!!!  I'll keep you posted...I hear she has a Facebook page where you can find her.

God Bless America.

I am finally blogging again which lets you all know that YES I'm coming to Michigan!! YES I'm OK!!   No, the new album isn't done but it's coming along FABULOUSLY as I have a *great* producer helping me...come see me live and I'll sing some for you....

I haven't felt this good in two years.  I had no idea that heart disease could make you feel like you had the flu every day.  They say that women have different symptoms than men, and they are absolutely right.  I now feel confident enough to go back to yoga after working out on the treadmill the past few days.  My heart rate has gone up to 130 thus far (before the surgery my heart was unable to pump over 105 bpm).  I'm taking it slow, but just the past few days I've almost forgotten I have a pacemaker. 

(For the curious, I was diagnosed with Sick Sinus Syndrome in the early 90's at a very young age, and I've just been holding out for the right time and doctors to repair my heart.)

This weekend finds me in Grand Haven, MI, then I drive to St. Louis and fly to Oregon for the week.  I am in the studio every day with specific orders not to talk too much until I sing :(  Too much is riding on it.  Shhhh!

Back to the microphone!  Work that heart!

xoxoxo

Hello everyone.  It's been way too long since I posted anything, and even though I've got a pretty good excuse I apologize.  I'm  baaaaaack!

Today finds me *dry* and well at a festival in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.  We've been getting rainy weekends the entire month, and today is no exception.  I think back on the the times when I was first doing outdoor festivals and the weather used to traumatize me.  It takes a lot more than a little rain to do that now...

I have this really neat pastel green rain jacket that keeps me comfortable, and I'm counting my blessings that I rented my tent this weekend.  Packing wet tents at the close of a show is not pleasant.

I started cutting my new album in earnest last week.  I had a lot of pain and health issues to work through before I could do it, and I am definately on the "happy" side since the operation two weeks ago. 

I wish there had been someone to tell me that the procedure would be life-altering.  There are blogs out there, but nothing really "heartfelt".  There is a whole emotional component that is hard to quantify until you start communicate with other heart disease survivors.  I *only* had a pacemaker implant and a catheter ablation in an effort to stop my heart from further deterioration, so I didn't really feel like I was undergoing anything serious until I started talking with the Doctor right before the operation. (!)  Hmmmm.

Then there's the huge ???? of being able to go back to work.  I can say thankfully after my first week in the studio singing and one whole 14 hour day performing that I'm glad I fixed my heart.  Just the comfort knowing that I won't faint while so far away from home is worth it, as I've lived with that fear for too long.  I now have a perfect EKG.  I even come with a warranty.

What do I miss the most?  I miss introducing a new album, I miss travel, and I miss you!  I'm baaaaaaaack!

I want everyone to know that we had a Fabulous Concert here in Bismarck.  The crowd was so full of energy and filled the venue with their great applause and a standing ovation at the end.  I can't say enough nice things about the musicians, the venue, the sound crew, and the promotional people that treated me so wonderfully.  My special thanks goes to the Bismarck Art and Galleries Association and the North Dakota Historical Society for bringing me to the Belle Mehus Theatre.

My accommodations were stellar--I just spent the week in the Presidential Suite where I am writing from right now.  Tonight I had dinner and played Wii for the first time with the concert contractor and his wife over at their beautiful home.

Tomorrow I fly home to Nashville and get everything sorted out that has been on the back burner for months.  Believe me, it's a big ol' pile of work, too.

I have lots and lots of video to go through of the show.  But first I have to shoot a music video for the TV station up here before rocketing off to Florida next weekend.

Thanks to everyone again!!!!!

Blessings

Kayte

Friends:

After getting up at 5 am to do laundry and clean my home and pack...I made it here to ND among people who had been sleeping in the airport since yesterday to get "my" flight.  Then we get on the flight and the pilot announces to us all that he has enough gas to make it to Bismarck, and then he might turn around and get back to Minneapolis if the narrow weather window doesn't hold.....no flights are getting thru and many of the interstates are closed.

No buses, no taxis, but the Radisson Shuttle gets to the airport (one of few) and takes us to safety.  Now tell me God doesn't have a hand in this!  So here I am, being treated as nicely as can be....beautiful view of the the city and the snow and first class treatment.  This is why I LOVE Bismarck!!!

I found out on the incoming flight that I have a phenomenal band behind me
and my first TV appearance is tomorrow.  I'm SO wiped from the rehearsals in Nashville.  I can't let them down, and I won't.  So I rehearsed to tape 2X and did all the wardrobe changes. 

This hotel suite has lights that turn on when you walk in the room....and all the sofas are leather.  So many rooms, and I've set up the rehearsal area today so I can work nonstop.   It's a HOUSE!

I'm such a simple girl that all this star treatment is not taken lightly.  Yeah, I might have earned it, but frankly I am the most grateful person that can be after working this hard. 

I want everyone to know that I am using Aveda products for the show on my hair as my stylist asked me in Nashville and I said that's all I like now.....this is not an AD just a nod to what works!

How scary to have such support.  Thank you everyone.

xoxoxo   Kayte

Last night we had all of the tornado sirens going off here as funnels passed by.  As I prepared my "safe spot" (my linen closet inside the bathroom) I asked myself, "What do I need to put here in my safety area with me?"  I recall times when in So. Cal. flames had come right up to our homes and I had the wedding and family photos and some clothes and some music gear thrown in the getaway car....not the same with a tornado.  There is no "getaway".

Yesterday I took the sole box of the charts I had written for the gig on Thursday and assured myself that's what I would hang onto for dear life.  We were lucky and the tornadoes skipped our area again, just like earlier this year. 

I'm going to be taping the show today here in my studio, and getting my toes and nails done to match the outfit I bought for the TV interview on Tuesday.  It's really cute and it was on sale, too!

I keep thinking that all I want to do when all of this is done is hop on a plane home to see Dad (he doesn't see the internet so I can say it here) for his birthday as a surprise.  Then I want to go skiing.  It will seem warm after this week.....lol.

Kayte