Local queer musician debuts album with a Deep Ellum release party on Saturday
dallasvoice.comQueer indie-folk singer Katherine Paterson of McKinney debuts her new album at Deep Ellum Art Co. in January (Courtesy photo) Local queer musician debuts album with a Deep Ellum release party on Saturday RICH LOPEZ | Staff writer rich@dallasvoice.com The next few days are gonna be big for singer-songwriter Katherine Paterson.
On Sunday, she will drop her first album Wake at Deep Ellum Art Co. with a release party and show. Co-produced by Dallas Social Queer Organization (DSQO), the night features Paterson performing songs from the release along with performance by nonbinary artist Kaatii. “I am really excited to share my debut album Wake with a live audience,” Paterson said in a press release. “This project is so close to my heart, and partnering with DSQO to cultivate a safe space for LGBTQ+ musicians and music-lovers to come together gives me so much hope.” The Dallas-based singer talked about the album’s themes of grief as she readied for this weekend’s show as well as where her inspiration stemmed from. “I was reading the last volume of Neil Gaiman’s Sandman while I was working on these songs so the title was inspired by that,” she said. “In large part, this album chronicles my journey of grief and all the different complexities within that.” The 28 year-old explained that the loss of a childhood friend left her with an array of feelings to sort through.
Paterson tried navigating and reconciling feelings of guilt and things left unsaid. But to do so her way was to write songs. “It’s hard to sit in those feelings and I had my perspectives in my songwriting,” she said. “When the whole thing was in front of me, I had this new vantage point.
Now it feels nice to now be able to share this with people. That’s what songwriting is about – connecting and sharing. That feels wonderful.” (Photo by Erik Espinosa) Her songs such as “Eulogy” and “Brittany” are described as those that grapple with the pain of losing someone while “Muscle to Bone” and “Priscilla” for her
