Katie Tait & Thirty Years Different
“Life is exciting, fun, challenging and totally worth the ride.”
This take on life is not the expression by an ancient philosopher, but by Yukon’s own singer Katie Tait.
With this positive attitude on life it’s a pleasure to have Katie back on our show. We presented a few songs by Katie in Jam Live!, episode 9, recorded at the open air stage of the Village Bakery in Haines Junction. That was Summer 2013 and during that performance a ghastly thunder storm developed. It was a memorable scene; the cold rain pouring down while Katie and her band played on, entertaining a cheery crowd.
We invited Katie back and on March 20th, 2014 she and her band performed at the St. Elias Centre, in Haines Junction. The audience was treated to a colourful musical potpourri ranging from jazz, swing, pop, blues to show tunes.
Katie has a natural gift for singing. She has been singing in the car and shower as long as she can remember and, with a few good pushes in the right direction she developed a passion to learn and create music.
She started singing publicly just three years ago and her singing extravaganza has snow-balled into a variety of adventures and projects such as becoming the lead singer in Whitehorse’s Frantic Follies, a world renowned vaudeville revue and performing at Yukon’s prestigious Kluane Mountain Bluegrass Festival.
For this concert, Katie is joined by her band Thirty Years Different with Ray Tucker on guitar; Alana Martinson – violin, backup vocals; Scott Wilson – double bass and Olivier De Colombel on saxophone, rhythm guitar, vocals and backup vocals.
Ray Tucker
Ray first picked up the guitar at age ten, studied half-heartedly for a few years, then in his teens developed an interest in finger-style guitar and folk music. In recent years his interest has turned to jazz, but he still likes to spend time nourishing his folk roots by playing with vocalists and other musicians in a variety of styles
Alana Martinson
Alana started music early, learning the violin at the age of 2 and the piano at 4. After 15 years of classical training during childhood, she took a long time away from music for studies, travel, and a variety of other pursuits. After moving to the Yukon two years ago she started becoming involved in again – this time exploring many different genres of music, all in the name of fun and spending time with good people.
Scott Wilson
Scott took up saxophone at age 15 in his native Nova Scotia. After a long hiatus and a move in 1989 to Whitehorse he returned to playing the horn. An interest in bluegrass and acoustic roots music drew Scott to the double bass in 2007; that and looking for a bigger, heavier instrument to carry around.
Olivier De Colombel
Olivier de Colombel began the playing the saxophone at 11 years of age in the south of France. After classical studies, he turned his interests towards jazz and improvisation. Influenced by music styles such as classical, Indian, blues, and folk he also plays an assortment of wind instruments and the guitar. After playing for 10 years with different bands in Paris, he moved very recently to the Yukon looking for new musical adventures.