Well, where to begin? There’s not to say much about 2020 that hasn’t already been said. I am writing this from my temporary home up in Alaska - I came up here after 3 months in lockdown in my tiny apartment in Pasadena. As things progressed with the pandemic, and my remaining work went entirely remote, I decided to give away everything I owned outside of a few suitcases and just stay in this beautiful winter wonderland. So, I am currently looking at a frozen lake outside with a bald eagle perched in a bare birch tree on the other side. Sounds like a fairy tale, doesn’t it?
Well, this hasn’t all been endlessly beautiful and magical, that’s for sure. I, like probably almost everybody reading this, have had to contend with distressing health situations in my close circle, devastating events affecting beloved friends and students around the world, deep loneliness in isolation, loss of income as a performer, migraines from rerouting most of my life into a computer screen, sleepless nights from anxiety, exhaustion and grief from current issues involving hatred, racism, exclusion, and ignorance, not to mention the vortex that has been US political news…
But time pushes on, and I believe deeply in making the most of every moment, so my mantra to myself for so much of this time has been “one foot in front of the other.” Some days have been dark and some have been really incredible. There are three things have that fueled my soul after almost an entire year spent 95% alone - connection, nature, and music. Truly. The ways we have all been able to connect in this time have blown my mind. The friends I have met, the public figures who I have stumbled on through the internet, the old and new colleagues who have come out of the woodwork through some of my calls to projects…it’s really something I celebrate every day, no matter how dark things get. The fact that I can spend hours with my family and friends on FaceTime, that I can collaborate with my colleagues from all over the world through dropbox and zoom, that I can still have meaningful connections and moments with students and fellow musicians across the planet even through a screen, is something to CELEBRATE.
I haven’t been good at updating my website and blog - mainly because of general overwhelm with this aspect of the music business I find myself still learning how to navigate (wouldn’t it be great if they taught internet marketing and networking in music school?!), but also because I have been very busy with a number of creative projects over this past year. In the first two weeks of quarantine, I wrote and recorded an album entirely on my own. I knew nothing about audio engineering, but I had a laptop with Garageband, a casio keyboard, and my dad’s old guitar, as well as some paintbrushes to pretend to play drums with and my feet to tap, etc… this album was such a labor of love and something I truly never could have imagined I’d be able to do. I released the album on Bandcamp by donation in March 2020. You can hear it here: https://katebass.bandcamp.com/album/quarantine
I also started my public online songwriting workshops this year - as a result of the lockdowns, I started offering these online to anyone around the world who wanted to participate, and had the honor or connecting songwriters and singers all over the world with each other, from the US to Lebanon to India and Europe. From that, I was inspired to start another project, which is still in progress…let me just say, this project has turned into the biggest, most profound musical experience of my life thus far, and it involves singers and songwriters from every continent and at least 15 different languages singing together and in their own styles around one of my compositions. I will hopefully be completing this project in 2021, and truly, there are no words to describe what it means to me - not simply for myself and my own story, but because of what the piece has become at its core - a statement of unity, collaboration, connection, inclusion, and, ultimately, love. You can learn more about this project on my Instagram, @katebassmusic
Finally, this year brought me another collaboration I never could have imagined or expected - to be able to work with the amazing mixed media artist and animator Justen Van Dyke on my very first proper music video for my song “Uncharted.” This was the first song I wrote in quarantine, and one of my favorites. Justen reached out and told me his thoughts and ideas on collaborating after I had asked friends for help figuring out stop-motion animation. Justen’s vision for my song was so serendipitous and beautiful - he captured my message so beautifully, and after around 6 months of hard work creating this beautiful video, I am finally able to share it with the world today! The video is available here: https://youtu.be/S9q9530dMwA
So, if there’s one word I could use to describe my 2020, it would be CONNECTION. Through all of the dark and scary and sad moments, I have been blessed this year with a constant current of connective magic that I will never forget. I hope you enjoy the music we have created so far, I hope you yourself keep creating, and never forget how much impact one person can have on another’s life. I could pinpoint so many moments this year that were unexpectedly life-changing, whether from watching a stranger’s video on Instagram, artistic collaborative moments with old and new colleagues across the world, friends’ amazing quarantine albums (check out http://www.katharinedain.com/media/regards-album/ !), feeling the fresh Alaskan breeze blowing through my hair again, meeting so many new amazing people, whether here in Alaska, or out there through the internet…
Find the light, my friends. Stay in the light. The darkness passes. We can get through this.
Sending all my love.
Kate