About Kathlyn
Kathlyn’s passion for songwriting was sparked by listening to film scores. She was intrigued by the story and emotion the music conveyed. By the time she was fifteen, she had written her first song, which she performed at school. A local studio owner saw her perform and asked her to record her first song for radio. She attended Fanshawe College for Music Production and spent the next year recording her newly written songs at a studio in Toronto.
For over 20 years she has continued to write and perform, while pursuing other creative endeavours, and has a catalogue of over 200 songs. She sang jingles and performed as a background vocalist for touring acts, recorded in numerous studio’s and hosted and scripted a show called, Live at the Warehouse, which was devoted in large, to promoting Western Canadian, musical talent.
After a career as a singer/songwriter, she is now concentrating on songwriting exclusively. While her back catalogue includes songs in a wide variety of genres, she is currently directing her energy to New Country, ballads, R&B and pop/rock. Echoes from the worlds of jazz, classical music, folk and blues resonate in her songs, adding a distinct sonic texture and colour to her work.
From Kathlyn
Some of my favourites (all for many different reasons):
- Rickie Lee Jones: for her writing and performance; she’s an original, from the inside out)
- Bonnie Raitt: for her soulful, who says you can't be older and wiser self)
- Shirley Bassey: for her smooth, big band/R&B mix
- Trisha Yearwood: for her intense, emotional and truthful style
- Marc Jordan: for his writing style(like I'm watching a film), his smouldering voice
- Karen Carpenter: for singing in my room with me every day and night when I was 14, teaching me that hard work is worth it and that women can do more than just sing. (Hope she is still singing)
- James Taylor: What can I say; delectably humble, an inspiring writer and singer for how long? He is a wonderful example of how he takes snippets of life, combines them from his perspective and comes up with a song that stands the test of time.
- Joe Cocker: to me, the king of it all: nobody sings it like Joe
- There are so many, many more.
I really write for myself. That doesn’t mean to say it doesn’t feel good when someone else gets what it is I’m doing. But I would write regardless. It’s always uplifting if someone else shares in something you have put your heart into. I’m always a bit nervous putting myself out there, mainly my inner critic, but in the end, I know you can never please everyone.
What makes me write?
I think, that when the road is uncertain, when I witness struggle or triumph, these are the times of the greatest creative energy for me, the times I feel the need to sit and write. Sometimes it can be the smallest detail that provokes a creative idea. And then, I have to purge. I suppose I’m better at communicating my inner emotion this way. At least so I can understand them a bit better.