Project Kate

Project Kate es, como dice su nombre, un proyecto paralelo de Kate Reddy, miembro de 108, junto con músicos de reconocidas bandas, como Sergio Vega y Alan Cage, ambos pertenecientes en ese entonces a Quicksand (bajo y batería, respectivamente). En un segundo plano, pero igualmente meritorio, podemos encontrar la participación de otros artistas, como Norman Arenas y Garret Klahn, ambos miembros de Texas is the Reason. También aportan John Kriksciun (a la batería) e Ida Pearle (violín).

La vida de este grupo es bastante corta, y claro, si luego de muchos años de anonimato y de volver a grabar las canciones, el único disco fue lanzado con el nombre de "The Way Birds Fly". Básicamente se trata de un proyecto en el cual Kate canaliza sus sentimientos e ideas en el período de embarazo de su bebé Kaulini Reddy.

El disco, dentro de su sencillez, trae mucha tranquilidad e irradia la felicidad que Kate sentía en aquellos momentos. Las suaves y dulces melodías, sumadas al valor extra que tiene este registro como rareza per sé, hacen que este lanzamiento sea muy apreciado por los fans.

Project Kate was a short-lived, New York-based project that centered around Kate Reddy, one-time guitarist for Hare Krishna-inspired hardcore band 108, that included many East Coast hardcore scene notables. Project Kate songs were acoustically driven, laid-back ballads expressing Reddy’s private thoughts on her parents, marriage, spirituality, and love. Reddy recorded the album while eight months pregnant — and the love, warmth, and affection she felt for her soon-to-be expanding family is evident throughout the simple, yet heartfelt, recordings. Reddy began playing acoustic guitar with her friend Shannon in Shannon’s dad’s basement in 1987. But the Project Kate concept never formally materialized until 1991, when she began jamming with the then-Quicksand rhythm section of drummer Alan Cage and bassist Sergio Vega, who himself would go on to release solo material in 2000. They jokingly referred to what they were doing as “Kate” as they goofed around in a basement rehearsal space. The trio recorded three songs for free in July 1991 at Centerfield Studio. That fall, Reddy recorded a song called “California” by herself at the same place. Around this time, Quicksand signed to a major label and began touring and recording with far more regularity, so Project Kate fell apart. Reddy joined the Hare Krishna organization and eventually the band 108, married Equal Vision Records owner Steve Reddy, and began running the label with him. The two of them decided they wanted to release the Project Kate demo, but it was lost. Original engineer Mike Maineiri would later find the tape behind a dresser during a move, but before that happened, Kate Reddy had already assembled a new version of Project Kate and re-recorded three of the original songs, along with five new ones, in December of 1995 and January of 1996. These recordings, made with producer Ray Martin, surfaced as the album …The Way Birds Fly in 1996. the album carries a dedication to newborn baby Kaulini Reddy in the liner notes. The other musicians involved included then-Texas Is the Reason/later New End Original guitarist Norman Arenas (on the track “Simon Says”), bassist Vega, drummer John K., and violin player Ida Pearle. Texas Is the Reason/New Rising Sons frontman Garret Klahn was also involved to some degree.

Project Kate - The Way Birds Fly
EVR 28 - Project Kate "The Way Birds Fly" LP Test Press pictures taken from here.

Tracks

1. Simon Says
2. The Way I Am (Or Not At All)
3. Stare At My Sky
4. Father
5. Mother Kaulini
6. California
7. Bobby
8. Disappeared

Download/Bajar