Listening Lyrics

Kat Gallardo, known as “katgrüvs,” is riding the new wave of modern fingerstyle guitarists. A self-taught artist with a solid sense of time and rhythm, she discovers new ways to nurture her passion for percussive fingerstyle guitar arrangement and composition.

The name “katgrüvs” captures her innate feel for “grüv” and pocket, a trait steeped in years of playing in jazz, funk, and rock ensembles. A graduate from the University of California, Davis in Mechanical Engineering, she aspires to marry her lifelong passion for music with creative engineering. 

Kat has shared the stage with and opened for internationally-renowned fingerstyle guitarists such as Van Larkins, Adrian Bellue, Nick Johnson, Janet Noguera, Forest Bailey, and more. She recently performed at the House of Blues in Anaheim in January 2020 alongside fingerstyle legends Kaki King, Muriel Anderson, Christie Lenée, and Vicki Genfan, as part of Fretmonkey Records' Women in Fingerstyle Concert.

Kat's debut EP, "Get Grüvy," has been mixed and mastered by Alex Anderson of Candyrat Records and Tree of Life Studio, with album artwork and design by Sean De Burca. "Get Grüvy" has been released on all streaming platforms and in physical CD format on June 26, 2020. All proceeds from the sales of this EP will go to benefit the UC Davis Medical Center COVID-19 Fund. 

From Pieter: If you enjoyed this program, please hit the like button on the Listening Lyrics Facebook page. If you're interested in appearing on the show, hit me up at [email protected](link sends e-mail) episode was recorded in my home studio, using a MacBook Air, Bose QuietComfort 15 headphones, Airpods Pro, Yedi BLUE microphone, Zoom (for the interview), Garageband, and iMovie (to process the MP4 Zoom file to an audio MP3 file).

"Americana" is alive and well thanks to Jason McNiff, who hails from the coast of Southern England. Jason also introduced us to Sarah Gillispie, and we ended the interview playing one of her songs.

British troubadour Jason McNiff has made five albums which people call folk, or Americana, or alt country. There is an Englishness in his guitar playing, however, and you might think of Bert Jansch or Wizz Jones meeting John Prine & Townes Van Zandt. “McNiff’s quiet, intimate, fragile-sounding vocals draw you into his world," wrote Time Out in London, "an almost timeless place through which he drifts, a romantic loner, a dreamer, at home with the blues.” He is often touted as one of the UK’s most overlooked musical treasures, as a songwriter and fingerpicker.

His album April Cruel (Fledg’ling) was nominated for best album in the alt country category at the Independent Music Awards in 2011. A double CD anthology, Rain Dries Your Eyes, was issued in 2017. A new record made during lockdown will be coming soon.

From Pieter: If you enjoyed this program, please hit the like button on the Listening Lyrics Facebook page. If you're interested in appearing on the show, hit me up at [email protected]. This episode was recorded in my home studio, using a MacBook Air, Bose QuietComfort 15 headphones, Airpods Pro, Yedi BLUE microphone, Zoom (for the interview), Garageband, and iMovie (to process the MP4 Zoom file to an audio MP3 file).