ABOUT

I’m Kat, a Russian-American singer/songwriter.

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I was born and raised in the culturally-diverse Central California and I’ve been writing music and playing guitar since the age of 13. I always knew I loved music; I joined the school choir, participated in school talent shows, but I didn’t always think I would grow to choose music as my career. 

 

When I was 13 years old, my parents filed for a divorce and I, as the shy introvert that I was, didn’t like to talk about my feelings, so I always found myself turning to music as an outlet. My adopted aunt, a close friend of the family, would pick me up after school and let me hang out with her to keep me out of trouble. She had a random green guitar laying around the house that she gave me to play around with. I started looking up songs and chords on google and youtube. I taught myself the basics and within that first year I wrote nine songs which my aunt then took me to a local studio to record and capture the essence of the songs. Shortly thereafter we got the songs copyrighted with an attorney in Marina del Rey. 

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At 16 I was accepted into vocal lessons at CSU Fresno with Dr Anthony Radford. That was also the first year I got pressured to go on stage at local restaurant Starving Artist Bistro. My aunt and uncle were so excited and the crowd was so vibin it, I was being pushed to stay on and keep going, so I played every song I knew on repeat for the next 6 hours. I also got to work with Gary Imhoff in his Musical Theatre Acting Workshops in North Hollywood. Getting to work amongst the theatre crowd made me very expression-conscious and helped me enunciate my emotional message as a musician/performer. 

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Graduating from high school at 17, I wasn’t sure what I was going to choose as a career. I was very good at school but I knew how much music was under my skin and I would get excited goose bumps thinking of singing in front of people. I would close myself in my room, dance and sing to my favorite artists. I painted an image in my mind of me signing in a restaurant lounge in an elegant dress. At the time that sounded so big to me. I wanted it. I started singing at open mics, local arthops, and eventually got noticed by the venue owners who then booked me officially. I decided that music was the pathway I wanted to go and that if I really wanted to learn about the business and establish myself as an entrepreneur I just had to DO IT. I left college after completing my general education so I could spend my time writing, working, performing, and going to LA for workshops and recording my music.

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When I turned 21 I was finally able to legally perform in bars, restaurants, and actually stay after the restaurant closes to mingle with the crowd. The more I played, the more people I met who wanted to book me for gigs. I eventually decided to pursue music as a full-time job. Doors opened. I started booking gigs all over the Central Valley in wineries, bars, restaurants, coffee shops, zoo events, football tailgates, private parties. In the meantime taking guitar lessons, vocal lessons to develop my unique voice, build vocal stamina and improve as a performer and songwriter. 

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After a few years of being a full-time musician, I decided to go back to school to earn my bachelor's degree in broadcast journalism. I loved that, with this degree, I could use my skills in photography, filming, content creation, and writing, and I could work in a field that would allow me to ask questions forever. 

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Now, music remains one of my many passions. I am producing songs, music videos, and working on recording my first album. To follow my journey in real time, connect with me on social media.