Welcome to the
​Kathy Kallick Band

The Kathy Kallick Band is based along the west coast, from the San Francisco Bay Area to Anchorage, but their powerful mixture of original and classic music, mirroring their distinctive combination of traditional and contemporary sensibilities, has great appeal everywhere.

"Kathy Kallick has been a keystone of the West Coast bluegrass scene for decades. Her punchy rhythm guitar, sure-handed songwriting, and stellar contralto voice create a rich, engaging sound that should appeal to everyone from fans of hardcore Monroe-style bluegrass to the modal mountain melodies of mentors Hazel & Alice to more contemporary acoustic and urban folk styles … A true heroine in the pantheon of female vocalists in bluegrass, Kathy Kallick's deeply soulful voice, magnificent delivery, and  compelling musical styles shows she's one of the greatest bluegrass vocalists of her generation — or any other."
- David J. McCarty, Bluegrass Unlimited 

Kathy Kallick’s exceptional career includes winning a Grammy and two IBMA Awards, receiving a Lifetime Membership from the California Bluegrass Association, co-founding the internationally-acclaimed Good Ol’ Persons, and collaborating with the country’s top acoustic musicians – including her mighty band: Annie Staninec (fiddle), Greg Booth (dobro, banjo), Tom Bekeny (mandolin), and Cary Black (acoustic bass), all of whom are also wonderful singers.

“You’ll marvel at the individual virtuosity, group cohesiveness, and beautifully-sung Kallick originals that express both timely pessimism and tireless hope.”
- Derk Richardson, Oakland Magazine

Their shows and recordings include powerful and compelling Kathy compositions; dazzling and inventive interpretations of lesser-known instrumentals led by Annie, Greg, and Tom; distinctive covers of a wide range of songs with sources ranging from the Carter Family and Coon Creek Girls to Bill Monroe and Mac Martin to Rose Maddox and Richard Thompson; classics from the Good Ol’ Persons and earlier KKB releases; and plenty of new material. 

Led by one of the music’s extraordinary composers and vocalists, the Kathy Kallick Bandhas nearly  as much fun as the audience when performing, and their presentation — ranging from electrifying to humorous to bittersweet to soulful — is always inclusive and satisfying. And they’re truly a band, listening to and sparked by each other, contributing to the songs and the sound as a whole. 

​“Kathy Kallick makes bluegrass records that at their best — and decades into it she makes nothing less — are exciting propositions. She’s as gripping a vocalist as anybody on the scene, she has a superior band, and she writes and chooses superb material. If you ask for more than that, may the universe forgive you. Few present-day artists in the genre share her grasp of the larger folk background and older mountain music from which bluegrass emerged in the middle of the last century. Though it isn’t reviving them in any stale imitative sense, the Kathy Kallick Band knows those styles and incorporates them into its own sound.”
- Jerome Clark, Rambles

                           NEW RELEASE

Twenty years ago, Kathy Kallick released My Mother’s Voice, an album of songs learned from her mum, Dodi Kallick, who was a folksinger and educator in Chicago’s thriving folk scene of the 1950s and ‘60s. Dodi helped found the Old Town School Of Folk Music and several iconic venues – and  passed on the music to her daughter. She never recorded, but, as music producer and historian (and labor lawyer) Larry Ehrlich noted, “Dodi Kallick’s voice could be as tender as Carter Stanley, as plaintive as Piaf, or as cutting as a straight razor. It could bring sorrow to your heart or a smile to your lips; it all depended upon what Dodi wanted to do."

The only thing the album lacked: performances by Dodi herself. However, a reel-to-reel tape was discovered in the WFMT Radio archives labeled "Dodi Kallick Midnight Special, 1966 and 1969,” and that’s inspired an 18-track sequel to the 2002 album. What Are They Doing In Heaven Today? is Kathy’s 22nd release; it combines new recordings by Kathy with some musical pals of additional songs learned from her mother with highlights from those radio shows. As Brenda Hough noted in her review published by the California Bluegrass Association’s Bluegrass Breakdown, "Kathy Kallick has given us the bridge between past, present, and future with a nod to her mother, her friends and fellow musicians, and the younger performers that will be our future.”

Brenda's complete review is HERE.

And Claire Levine's feature article, "Kathy Kallick Honors Her Mother's Legacy While Establishing Her Own," published in The Bluegrass Situation on July 8, 2022 is HERE. It includes audio of "Put My Little Shoes Away," "Sittin' On Top of the World," "The Wild Side Of Life > It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels," and "Farther Along," as well as "I Can't Stand To Ramble" by the Good Ol' Persons.

What Are They Doing In Heaven Today? was released in mid-June on Live Oak Records, and has already garnered significant radio airplay as well as chart action:

• What Are They Doing In Heaven Today? is #3 on the Folk Alliance International Top Album Song Chart for July, 2022, up from #4 on the FAI album chart for June, 2022.
• "What Are They Doing In Heaven Today?" is #3 on the Folk Alliance International Top Song Chart for July, 2022 (#21 for June), and "Put My Little Shoes Away” was #6 on the FAI song chart for June, 2022.
• Kathy Kallick is #7 on the Folk Alliance International Top Artist Chart for June, 2022; July artist chart tba.​
• "Footprints In the Snow" is #10 on the Bluegrass Today Grassicana Weekly chart for Sept. 2, 2022.
• “What Are They Doing In Heaven Today?” was #4 on the Bluegrass Today Gospel Weekly chart for Aug. 12, 2022.
• For the month of June, What Are They Doing In Heaven Today? was the #2 most downloaded folk/bluegrass album (#8 overall) on AirPlay Direct.
• What Are They Doing In Heaven Today? is #25 in the Cashbox Magazine Bluegrass Top 100 for August, 2022.
• What Are They Doing In Heaven Today? was the almost added album for the week ending June 24th on the NACC (North American College & Community Radio) Folk Chart. It has since charted between #7 and #11 throughout July and August, 2022.

Individual tracks as well as the entire album now available on Bandcamp
for both the physical CDs and downloads.

Tour Schedule

Next up: Bay Area house concerts in October!

​Check out the SCHEDULE page for details.

Feature Recording

Listen to Horrible World

KATHY KALLICK (guitar, vocal)
with
1. MOLLY TUTTLE (guitar, vocal): Put My Little Shoes Away - listen HERE
2. TRISTAN  SCROGGINS (mandolin): Sittin' On Top of the World
3. CLIFF PERRY (guitar, vocal) & LAUREL BLISS (dobro, vocal): Little Moses
4. JIM HURST (guitar, vocal): Jimmy Brown the Newsboy
5. KATHY KALLICK BAND: Footprints In the Snow
      Annie Staninec: fiddle; Tom Bekeny: mandolin; Greg Booth: banjo & dobro; Cary Black: bass
6. KATHY KALLICK BIG BAND: The Wild Side Of Life > It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels (see live performance video below)
      Annie Staninec: fiddle; Tom Bekeny: mandolin; Greg Booth: dobro; Cary Black: bass plus 
      Juniper Waller and Riley Thompson: vocals; Paul Shelasky: fiddle
7. ANNIE STANINEC (fiddle): Handsome Molly
8. MIKE COMPTON (mandolin, vocal) & JOE NEWBERRY (banjo, vocal): Farther Along
9. LAURIE LEWIS (fiddle, vocal) & SUZY THOMPSON (guitar, vocal): What Are They Doing In Heaven Today?

DODI KALLICK

1. What Are They Doing In Heaven Today?
2. I'm A Long Time Traveling
3. Cotton-Eyed Joe
4. One Hundred Miles
5. Row Us Over the Tide
6. Red Clay Country
7. Down In the Willow Garden 
8. My Home's Across the Blue Ridge Mountains
9. The Parting Glass
All tracks (except as noted): Dodi Kallick – vocal, dulcimer
      4: Dodi Kallick – vocal, guitar and 9: Dodi Kallick - vocal
All tracks (except as noted): The Midnight Special, WFMT, 1966 or 1969
      7: with Hobart Smith (fiddle), 1963 and 8: Frank Proffitt Memorial concert - Old Town School Of Folk Music, 1966

Thanks to Irene Young for recording Kathy’s 9-19-18 concert, “My Route To 66,” at the Freight & Salvage in Berkeley. Two of the new songs got their debut on that occasion.

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Featured Video

Foxhounds Kathy Kallick Band

The Wild Side Of Life > It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels
Live at the 2022 California Bluegrass Association’s Father’s Day Festival

THE KATHY KALLICK BAND -
Kathy Kallick: guitar, vocals
Annie Staninec: fiddle
Tom Bekeny: mandolin
Cary Black: bass
Greg Booth: dobro
plus
Paul Shelasky: fiddle
Juniper Waller: vocals
Riley Thompson: vocals

CONTACT

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