Tune in all this week at 3:40 pm as Jay features former Wallaceburg resident Kaitlin Kavanagh!
Kaitlin Kavanagh is the girl who made Metric and the Tragically Hip wait. Yes, you heard that right. When multi-platinum selling, Grammy nominee and Juno award winning producer Gavin Brown heard Kaitlin’s tracks, he shifted his recording schedule with Metric and the Hip in order to work with her. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves here. Let’s start at the beginning.
Kaitlin was born and grew up in London ON, with stops along the way in Chatham, Wallaceburg and, Toronto. She currently resides in Niagara Falls, ON. Kaitlin discovered her musical talent at a young age. Song writing came naturally to her, and she began writing her first tunes when she was fifteen years old. This coincided with her desire to improve her skills on the guitar.
Kaitlin writes addictive melodies and memorable lyrics in a style that seems to far surpass her age. Her song writing quickly garnered the attention of some heavy hitters in the music industry, and she met with former Sony staff songwriter and guitarist, Rick Rose (Perfect Affair, Rick Rose Band/Polygram, CBS). As a result of that meeting, a demo was suggested and Kaitlin was put in touch with multi-instrumentalist, Joe Sacco who has played and recorded early works with Paul Gigliotti & Dave Thompson from Canadian chart topping group, Wave (California, Don’t Say Sarah/Warner Music) as well as early work with Deadmau5(Virgin/EMI).
Kaitlin went into the studio with Joe Sacco and while recording fourteen songs, additionally met with Ray Lyell (Ray Lyell & the Storm: chart topping hits, Carry Me & Another Man’s Gun/Spy Records, A&M). Ray quickly saw her talent and agreed to help her out improving her vocals.
In 2011, Kaitlin returned to the studio, recording tracks in Portland with Geoff Byrd (Grammy ballot 5 times, NMA nominee, co-wrote and sang on Jim Brickman’s When It Snows, #2 in the AC charts). Geoff recorded three tracks with Kaitlin for her demo and proceeded to shop them to various tv shows and movies.
This is where Gavin Brown comes in. After receiving Kaitlin’s demo from a family friend, Brown was intrigued by the quality song writing and requested a meeting. Apparently the meeting went well as Brown shifted his busy schedule moving both Metric and The Tragically Hip and had Kaitlin in the recording studio less than 10 days after she finished high school. Brown has been quoted as saying “that I’m not really sure if any of us actually know just how talented Kaitlin is including herself”.
Kaitlin’s debut self titled EP produced entirely by Brown, features her new single, “Is This Love”, which will be hitting the radio airwaves in 2013. An accompanying video will be released on the same date.
Kaitlin has been nominated for two NMA awards for Song of the Year and Songwriter of the Year. This talented young lady is naturally hesitant to compare herself to other artists, but her music can easily be likened to the work of Adele, Chantal Kreviazuk, Michelle Branch and Ellie Goulding.
Kaitlin Kavanagh is a gifted artist whose music will catch your attention, grab your heart and make you sing along with every song!