--> OR BUY *SIGNED* FROM Katuš USING PAYPAL BELOW -->
"The DVD is brilliant, I can't fault a minute of it even if I wanted to. I can recommend anybody who loves you, loves your music and if they have been to SOLFEST and seen you on THE VERY BEST STAGE IN ALL OF ENGLAND then this DVD is THE VERY BEST DVD ONE CAN BUY!" Dry Stone Stage
DOGSHIT & USED BUS TICKETS extract of DVD available from FOLKDEVILS.CO.UK see belowKATUS AT SOLFEST 2007 "MRS JOHNSON"
eTO PURCHASE KATUS' CD + DVD GO TO WWW.FOLKDEVILS.CO.UKOR BUY *SIGNED* BY Katuš USING PAYPAL
.. --> DVD - KATUS Live at Solfest 2007 - 12 songsCD - Katus - Live at Solfest 2007 - 12 songs CD - Katus - SMILE - 2006 - 14 songs
Influences
DVD-Live At Solfest 2007
This is special and you’ll be loving it
A true measure of any artist will never be an accurate reading when based only on the records they release. The technology of today is often incredibly generous and wonderfully charitable when showering its flattering magic upon the occupants of a recording studio. The real test of their merit is to convey that ambience, unchanged and without the majesty of production, when playing live. Katus has done this quite perfectly here.
This low budget DVD of her performance at last years Solfest is neither self indulging or parcelled up in the superficial binding of narcissistic editing. Katus is a truly gifted human being with an incredible amount of depth and natural ability. Her debut album ‘Smile’ is one of the most refreshing pieces of originality and substance that you’re ever likely to hear and it loses none of its qualities when she’s singing it live. Her voice has verve, charm and it’s undeniably sexy sometimes. The live setting suit the consistency of her voice, and her abilities when it comes to singing will never ever be questioned.
The footage is very sympathetic with regards her surroundings. A vast array of cameo shots, depicting the crowds, the tents etc ensures this DVD doesn’t become a simple vanity project with little concerns for the surrounding festival. She’s very generously included as much as space would allow, which in turn has brought an almost touchable ambience to the screen.
On stage she is incredibly charismatic and her interaction with the crowd is endearingly honest and genuine. The real magic though is, as always, in her voice and her songs. From tender sentiment to esoteric observation it’s sparingly beautiful and devoid of patronisation. Katus is a true spirit. What you see is most likely what you get and I’m glad.
This is more than worthy of taking up space in your DVD collection. It will be impossible to watch it once and never again after because hers is a magical world and it’s better than this one at times - and we all just want to be in it. She’s also very very good. Very pretty and very blessed. She should be ruling the world by now! 2008 will be her year. Trust me.
Alan Baillie.
‘Reviewer’
Subba-Cultcha
This is one of the most original and captivating records I’ve heard in a long time. Katus should be nurtured and encouraged to grow! She is an important and necessary compound for a genre so often overlooked and dismissed by today’s predominantly rock n roll environment! This is folk music with its creative spirit intact. A genuine and creative medium of story telling.
Opening track ‘Hey Hey’ is such a gorgeous entrance into this world of hers. Acoustic guitar played arpeggio style, coupled with a voice that lilts and floats, never landing but always gently sailing past, is her modus operandi! Everything about this song, and indeed the majority of this album, is a world in flight. How easily her voice, instruments and lyrics paint concise imagery.
She sings in tribute to her deceased grandmother on ‘Maggio’. She wrote ‘Elle Coupe’ in Nova Scotia, dancing on the sand. Listen to ‘The Mermaids Call’ and it’s the sound of inspired genius! This is a record of wonderful story telling by a voice that you just can’t help being drawn in by! The tales Katus has to tell would keep you entranced for the rest of your days. Her wonderfully interesting experiences are in obvious attendance throughout this charming slice of bohemia.
You really need to give this record a listen. I can’t do it justice with words. Believe me. It’s a collection of 14 songs that can never be described, only felt. Katus is the whistling wind of diversity and change coming from every direction to blow sticky cobwebs formed from the dust of jaded and satiated musical formulas this country is sometimes guilty of producing! It’s great to know she’s out there somewhere!
By Alan Baillie
TO PURCHASE KATUS' CD + DVD GO TO WWW.FOLKDEVILS.CO.UK
We've just returned from our second "BEAUTIFUL" tour of New Zealand , playing extra-ordinary venues from a boutique cinema in Fiordland, The Penguine Club in Oamaru ( where the penguines actually come out to dance), the Festival of Lights, New Plymouth, all light up in a magical park amid fairy lights..and many more..such as the Flower Festival, and a library and a Celtic Pub in Palmerston North, and our favourite swiss restaurant in Picton, and the Wildlife reserve / hotel "Lochmarra Lodge"...its been a time of nature and nurture..In between our 14 NZ dates we had a week in Sandgate, Queensland Australia , courtesy of MUSIC BY THE SEA FESTIVAL - a wonderful world music festival and organisation who treated like us royalty - to not only some great gigs but also to trips to the bush and the rainforest in NSW..all by Zoli in his 280 E Mercedes..And back in NZ we spent 3 weeks with our friends the beautiful Maoris of Tetii and Kureruriki- fishing,snorkling,eating,drinking,passing my guitar round, laughing,at a tangi, lighting fires, watching stars and befriending dolphins who came to play several times on many days..They all have stories to tell and songs to sing...NOW I AM TAKING SOME TIME OUT TO WRITE SOME NEW THINGS..so watch this space..and you know where my heart is..in Kureruriki.. :-)
Katus was nominated for two awards at the Buxton Fringe Festival, Best Performer and best Musical Entry. She won the BEST PERFORMER 2008
"Sensational!" Cambridge Folk Club
KATUS SINGS IN EVERY TONGUE FROM CZECH TO ENGLISH AND BY A STROKE OF INSPIRED GENIUS, SHE SINGS THROUGH HER FLUTE.
Last summer Katus has played 3 sell our shows at the Buxton Fringe Festival , and was awarded "BEST PERFORMER AWARD", which is quite incredible since their shows were among the smaller amid this two week long Arts Festival thats boasts Opera, Theatre,Literature Comedy, Classical and World Music.
She was also invited to do a Showcase at the Cambridge Folk Festival, which has been described as " Sensational", and she performed at several other festivals in Czech Republic, LOMECEK , and the UK such as the Stone& Compass Festival, Solfest ( an impromtu 2 hr set), and she played the Paradiso in Amsterdamm, and Patronaat in Harlem aswell as another House concert, and several artsy /theatre venues in the uk.
She also did a gig in Santa Monica, California and spent an elastic 5 days on Venice beach living the American dream..before going back to New Zealand.
In 2008 January to March they did a their first 28 date tour of NEW ZEALAND, and also played gigs in San Francisco. Look in the BLOG to find out more- ..
In 2007 KATUS played SOLFEST, , SAZAVA Festival , Glastonbury, where she was made the official mascot by the Joe Strummer Stage who are using her song "Hey Hey" as their anthem, and on their new DVD. She also played the Cambridge Folk Club & many other festivals and venues around Britain, as well as touring Croatia, Bosnia and Czech Republic , where Katus performed in Europe's largest Monastry.
Singing and composing in English, Czech, French, Elfin, and also singing Bulgarian, Gaellic, Russian, her natural switch between languages is brilliant.
In June 2007, A French documentary crew filmed their entire tour in the Czech Republic..
In 2006 she toured with Seth Lakeman, and Lenka Dusilova (CZ), and Katus has toured the West Coast of Ireland and around Europe many times since she began playing, wooing audiences, leaving them hankering for more..
In only 7 years of playing and writing, arranging music, her itch for the road and expert cultivation of the magic of the off-beat gig, have seen her pop up at sessions with Nigel Kennedy , Kroke and Donovan in the Polish Tatry Mountains , playing concerts in remote Romanian orphanages and singing to a packed houses at the London Jazz Cafe and Glastonbury. A real Troubador, She has learned her craft on the road forging her own path amid rip -roaring tours of Ireland, France and Eastern Europe. Between 2002 and 2005 she worked with multi-instrumentalist Tony Wrafter, and since early 2006 has been working and touring as a duo with sound engineer and percussionist JB , creating a sound that can only accurately be described as Katus music.
" I've been a traveller and artist all my life- my music is inspired by Czech ,French, Catalan and and Irish of my Grandparents and the many cultures i've lived in. I write my own music, my own style.I do not wish to mimic ,so if i sing a traditional song, i just happen to feel it strongly. Music is a spiritual language, and sometimes i sing sounds which communicate beyond language. My journey first took me to Prague where for money i used to busk on Karlov Most playing an old wooden piccolo. I then went to France where i worked on a goat farm for a year or so, still painting, then love took me to America, where i travelled all over, and Canada and Mexico, recording what i saw in small travell books and watercolours. My mother who is an art restorer and gilder, taught me to gild when i was a child, and so i often picked up work in this trade. It was in Canada that my musical fire was ignited - i learned to play some harp and so went on a mission to Mexico to find my own harp and learn about their medicine. When i returned to the UK i begun to study Chinese herbal medicine, and my creativity was channelled into that until i went to China to do my clinical hours in a hospital. An explosion of painting, writing,music and songwriting and a passion for guitar is what i learned most in China- And so when i returned i qualified and put all of my attention to music. Segovia and Paco de Lucia are my inspiration, and I began performing straight away and travelled all over Eastern Europe, especially Bulgaria where i learnt many traditional songs and travelled with a folk group. I travel with music, this is what inspires me, and live performance is also a journey- this is what makes me feel alive." katus
Performing at such venues and events as The International Gypsy Guitar Festival,The CAmbridge Folk Club,Broadstairs Folk Festival, Big Green Gathering,Smallworld,N16 Fringe,The Troubador, Sazava Festival,Roisin Dubv Galway, Xianti Balkan Music Festival. She has guested many radio shows ,She was interviewed by the BBC Worldservice in Prague. You can hear this interview if you click on the link by the FOLKDEVILS logo, where you can also buy the DVD/CDs..
"She can sing. She can play. She's gorgeous. She'll make it!" Nigel Kennedy
"I can't beleive she sings through the flute..Truly amazing!"
" Better than red stripe! Tales of love, fate & passion, culminating in a range of A-capella songs that staple you to your seat." N16Fringe,London.
"Her commanding, soulful voice with the breadth of her guitar playing merge into a fresh sounding musical genre uniquely her own." The Troubador.
When asked how to describe Katus' music, Simon Friend,song-writer of UK band The Levellers,smiled, tilted his head,and said, "Her music is beautiful."
"A mobile, self-generating, acousto-electric, time -travelling, singing-flute playing songwriter!" Hot-Press.
email : katuscz@gmail.com
"If you're lucky enough to see Katus perform live, the first thing that'll melt is your heart, closely followed by your preconceptions. There's a fragility and delicacy about her physical presence that belies the strength of her music and the often powerful edge to her lyrics. This is no 'coffee-table' folk music. Katus's music leaves you at times feeling challenged, amused, disturbed and moved, but above all entertained. Katus imposes her artistic will on her songs in a way that blows away all cobwebs of predictability. The guitar work is particularly notable in this respect - Katus seems to create new styles of playing for each song based on what the song needs, not what has gone before. The result is a stunning series of arrangements matching the creativity and inspiration of the songs as a whole. The CD "SMILE", is a collection of highly unique and creative songs with catchy tunes, memorable lyrics and inventive guitar playing, but it's also capable of
entertaining at a much deeper level which will reward anyone giving the CD the attention it deserves." Mally, Mad for Music
Katus - Smile “The whistling wind of diversity and change. This record will one day be regarded as the most important folk release to caress the mainstream.” Allan Baille, favorite albums of 2007.
I hope all is well and good and I just wanted to let you know I've just put up a new track called ECHO so I thought you might want to have a listen. :o) It's just the instrumental version I did not long ago but I do have a full section of vocal to arrange into this track so I'll keep you posted on the outcome! :o)
I appreciate your time and support and any comments posted.
strong... it is all a facade me too been ill finally have a status in france so i can go see the doc so already had a little surjory and me back is gone :-( but i smile cuz i aint got nuffink better to do u in the uk at the mo?
Hey, I'd love to hear your song. Send it to music.freak@live.co.uk Yes I do have a little boy, he's called Mikey and hes 18 months old :) And i'm going to be having a little girl on the 7th october, going to have lots to do! My mum and Ron are still in Romania, they've done so much more since they've been out there, some of the kids your saw have probably died now though. Her websites www.lovelightromania.com if you want to have a look. I told my mum about you today actually and gave her your myspace. xxx
Hello, I don't know if you remeber me, but i'm Becky from Romania :). I've been looking online for you for years trying to find your songs again. Their so awesome. Hope all is good. xx
Thankyou for adding Sonic World Festival, 4/5th September 2009. Tickets are available from www.sonicworldfestival.co.uk and www.myspace.com/harveybainbridgemusic as well as our own myspace site. £30 for the whole weekend, indoor toilets, free showers, free camping, bars, bar meals and restaurant, indoor venue. PLEASE READ OUR BLOG ON IMPOSTERS!
What hope do we offer the nuclear race? And what do we do with the nuclear waste? We can’t bury it down, it can’t swim in the sea, So what do we do with this grim legacy? Well I’ll tell you the truth, and I’ll make it quite plain, We can’t shoot it in space, or let it wash down the drain.
So we leave it behind for the kids yet to come, That bittersweet taste of the nuclear bomb.
Well the kids of tomorrow have no words to say For the world we leave and the price they will pay.
Caretakers are we and for what do we stand? For the love of the life on this sacred land.
What hope for the child in this world of ill care Lies deep with the meek on a wing and a prayer, That these Gods will see reason for the land, sea, and air, And the hope in the future for the life that lives there.
Caretakers are we, and for what do we stand? For the love of the life on this sacred land.
What reason for money when you can’t breathe the air? And the oceans and lakes they lay barren and bare, And the streams and the rivers run sewerage and poison With no drink to spair, Caretakers are we, and for what do we stand? For the love of the life on this sacred land.
The ice caps are melting thers holes in the sky, we poison the earth for the sake of a lie, its time for the one and the all standing by to take hold of the reigns and put an end to this crime for we are the meek and now is our time,,,,caretakers are we and for what do we stand,, for the love of all life on this sacred land www. goodisplanetearth.
