CD Release Tour with Grant Simpson! - 'Beneath the Yukon Moon'

I'm heading out on tour this fall with Grant Simpson (stride piano player/vaudevillian) to promote our new release "Beneath the Yukon Moon".  The album features original material from both Grant & I with instrumentation ranging from banjo to erhu.  We'll be touring BC, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Saskatchewan.  For a full list of dates check out the calendar page on my website.  The album will be available to purchase on-line SOON!  For a sneak peek, check out the EPK page on my website.

I recently had the opportunity to perform on 'the Canadian', VIA Rail's cross-Canada train from Toronto to Vancouver.  It was a really unique performance opportunity, as well as a beautiful way to see Canada.  I met alot of great people on the train and was sad to see the trip come to an end!  However... at the end of the trip I headed up to Whitehorse and got to play a few shows with Keitha Clark & Home Sweet Home, which was alot of fun.  I also did an interview with Jennifer Hawks for her on-line podcast radio show "My Yukon Life".  It will debut November 7th, be sure to check it out.

In August I spent 18 days in Scotland with my family and got to see LOTS of bagpipers - which was great!  We unintentionally timed our trip to be in Glasgow for an international piping competition.  We were also in Oban for the highland games and paraded down the street with everyone on the way to the games field.  The picture above is from a casual evening performance by the highschool pipe band.  It was really wonderful to see the piping tradion thriving and to get to hear so much music first hand.

For now.... I'm on Gabriola Island, getting ready to head out on tour and enjoying the lovely salty air!

Till next time......

Kate

ohhhh it's a busy life....

Hello Everyone!

I'm in Ontario right now, visiting family and friends and looking back through pictures from a busy spring and summer in the Yukon.  The photo above is of a hiking trip I did in the Bonneville Lakes valley.  The view is from the top of a ridge looking down to Fish Lake, where I mush sometimes in the winter.

The spring was packed with Home Sweet Home tours to communities throughout the Yukon.  We went up to Old Crow, released our debut CD and taught fiddle classes in Teslin, Watson Lake & Carcross. We performed at Canada Day in Whitehorse, the Adaka First Nations Festival and the Atlin Arts and Music Festival.

In June I participated in the Chilkat International Bike Relay from Haines Junction, Yukon to Haines Alaska.  I was on a 4 person team and was thrilled to pedal through alpine tundra and then decend into the coastal rain forest. 

Grant Simpson and I have finished recording our CD "Beneath the Yukon Moon" and will be touring throughout central Canada and Ontairo this November and December.  We're also looking forward to our CD Release in Whitehorse on January 21st, 2012.  Stay tuned for info on how to purchase "Beneath the Yukon Moon".

The photo of all the well-dressed folks is from Blue Skies Music Festival, post-parade celebrations.

thanks for reading,

Kate

Home Sweet Home - New CD!!!

Home Sweet Home has a new website!!!
Be sure to check it out:  http://www.homesweethomeyukon.com/

Home Sweet Home is a trio featuring Keitha Clark and Boyd Benjamin on twin fiddles, and myself on guitar and vocals.  We are releasing our debut, self-titled CD with 2 new original songs of mine, and a mix of northern fiddle tunes.  You can purchase the CD by visiting our site on CD Baby:

www.cdbaby.com/cd/homesweethome

Or by sending cheque or money order for $20 to:

Kate Weekes
Box 31262
Whitehorse, YT

Y1A 5P7
Thanks so much for your support, we're really proud of this CD and look forward to sharing it with you,

Kate

Frostbite Music Fest and CD... almost ready...

Hi Everyone,

I performed at Frostbite Music Festival this past weekend in Whitehorse with Home Sweet Home.  We had alot of fun playing the tunes we've spent the last few months working & arranging for our studio project.  Our CD is closer to being ready - we've finished up in the studio and are working on the artwork & reproduction details now.  We're really happy with how it all sounds and can't wait to share it with you.  Two of my new original songs will be released for the first time on the upcoming CD.

I was involved with the S.A.C. Bluebird North songwriter's workshop at the Frostite Festival with Manfred Jannsen, Kim Beggs & Ryan McNally.  It was a real treat to be on stage and collaborate with these folks. 

In other news, I'm peforming Feb. 27th at the Copper Moon Gallery here in Whitehorse.  Barbara Chamberlin and I will each be playing a set, with fiddle accompaniment from Keitha Clark.  The show starts at 2pm, tickets are $10 at the door.

The light has returned to southern Yukon.  I always love February up here.  We tend to have cold, clear days and it feels glorious after the cloudy, dark days of January.  I handled for the Yukon Quest 300 a couple of weeks ago and found it really interesting to see such an extreme event from the inside.  Our dogs are all happy & healthy at home now and it's been feeling good to mush in these long days.

Now, back to work!

Kate

Back from China & into the Studio...

Hello Everyone,

Welcome to my snazzy new blog spot! 
I had a great time in October & November touring in China with Five Finger Rapids.  We played at the 2010 Nanjing Jazz & World Music Festival which included performances in Nanjing & Sushou.  It was exciting to arrive at the Shanghai Airport and hop on a bus full of musicians from all over the world.  We met a lot of great people and I really loved getting to hang out with the Chinese students that spent the week looking out for us.  While eating buffet food for days on end became a bit sickening, I admit that it was nice to have a really comfortable place to stay while we got over the jet lag and made our way to gigs.  When the festival ended, two of the band headed back to Canada & two of us hopped on a train went to explore China!  We went to Yangshuo & spent a few days biking along the Yulong River…. Eating oranges & gawking at the beautiful karst formations wondering how we managed to be surrounded by something so magnificent.  The next part of the trip was spent exploring Yunnan province.  Highlights were hiking up a mountain path to visit a Yi minority village, as well as being blessed by a Tibetan Lama in Shangri-la.  I heard an orchestra in Lijiang comprised of traditional Chinese instruments that exist only in this one part of China because they were buried in the ground during the Cultural Revolution.  I heard a song composed by a past Chinese Emperor with poetic words about his fears that the kingdom would fall. 

It will be good to spend the winter in Whitehorse.  Home Sweet Home is going back into the studio this month to complete our album.  We are looking ahead to a busy spring/summer with more visits to Yukon schools as well as festival appearances. 

That’s all for now!

Kate