Peter Katz returns to Canmore this Saturday (April 27) for his fourth time playing the Valley, at Communitea Cafe.
His last appearance, one year ago, came just as he was releasing his second studio album, Still Mind Still. Since then he’s been extensively touring and working on a new project with fellow musician Emma-Lee.
“I’ve toured a lot, I went to Europe several times, and now Emma-Lee and I – the other artist I’m touring with – have started a new project together,” said Katz. “We’re not exactly sure what to call it yet.”
Both from Toronto, Katz and Emma-Lee have been working off and on together for many years, he said.
“I sang on her first record, and she sang on my latest record, and we’ve played many shows together,” he said. “We started writing together more seriously the last few months when the tour started coming together, and there was enough of a spark to actually call it a new project, and it’s been really refreshing.”
What the pair sound like together is different from their individual careers, he said.
“She leans a bit more toward the alt rock country pop world, and I lean more toward the folk world – but when we come together, it’s a bit more about having fun,” he said. “We’re not bound by the expectations of what we normally do; it’s a new thing, so it’s a little less cerebral and less intense and serious, it’s more about having fun and playing around and the interplay that you get when doing duets and locked harmony.
“It’s a whole different can of worms, so it’s really fun – that’s one of the key words – not that I don’t have fun doing my own music, but it’s a different thing when it’s just me and you’re used to doing a certain presentation of yourself. Now you’re only 50 per cent of the puzzle, so you have to reinvent yourself in a way.”
Last week Katz and Emma-Lee released a new single, “What’s On Your Mind.”
“It’s a fun duet – Emma-Lee had this little melodic hook idea and we started writing some hilarious lyrics and they morphed into something cheeky and fun,” he said. “It’s a duet about a couple going out on a drive and getting it on in the bushes – but at the core of it, it’s a touching subject too – not the regular subject matter of my own music.”
The next step, he said, is for them to work on an album together.
“It may be an EP or a full-length, it depends on where life takes us, but the plan is to take it further than just a tour,” he said.
For this tour, Katz and Emma-Lee will each play a solo set, at times joined by the other, and will then play a third set of their collaborative music. For all three sets, they will share an accompanying musician, Karen Kosowski.
“Karen is an amazing signer-songwriter in her own right, these days she’s mostly a producer, and she tours with other artists like Sarah Slean and many big artists,” he said. “My show is a bit different than last time in that we’re sharing a band member and singing on each other’s sets. So it’ll be a bit more of a fuller sound.”
The current tour began in early March in Quebec and has wound its way west toward the B.C. coast. Following Canmore, they will continue west before doubling back in early May.
“This was the timing that made sense -– I try not to tour in the mountains in February any more for the sake of my family,” he said. “It’s a good time of year, people are still around, and we had the opportunities we were looking for as far as the shows, so it made sense.”
And getting to play Communitea again is an experience he wouldn’t pass up.
“It’s just awesome, Marnie and Alex are good folk – they take good care of you – and the audiences are great,” he said. “A lot of times the best shows are out of the big cities, where people are just there and they’re excited and having a good time.
“I’ll never discount the smaller places, because those are where the magic often happens.”
Immediately after this tour, Katz heads to the northeast U.S. for a tour of big cities there.
“I’ve done a little there, but not much – I go to Europe a lot and it seems crazy that I’ve dedicated so much time to playing so far away from home,” he said. “So I should invest some time and energy into trying to make it work in some places that are closer to home. It’ll be back to the drawing board in those markets.
“After that tour mostly the focus is going to be writing new records – new Peter Katz and the new project with Emma-Lee. I’m trying to do both.”
For more information on the artists, visit their websites at peterkatz.com, emma-lee.com and karenkosowski.com
