Earl

Songwriter Kate Earl spent her early years in Chugiak, Alaska, where her initial style merged the vocal phrasing of Cat Power and Björk alongside the folk-chanteuse approach of Joni Mitchell. Though deeply active in her local church community, she relocated to Los Angeles in 2004 and soon attracted local attention through airplay on KCRW and Indie 103.1, which drew the interest of Venice-based Record Collection and led to a signing. While maintaining a schedule of West Coast shows, she tracked her debut full-length with producer Tony Berg, resulting in the official arrival of Fate Is the Hunter in 2005.

Although that first release carried echoes of her soul leanings, the self-titled follow-up that appeared in 2009 leaned far more explicitly on her gospel roots. The album invited comparisons to Joss Stone and Amy Winehouse; its fusion of soul, pop, and gospel elements also earned it strong digital sales chart placement. In 2012 she issued her third studio album, Stronger, which returned to a rootsier folk-rock palette and included work with Blake Mills and Brett Dennen. After parting ways with her label over creative differences, she shortened her performing name to Earl, financed several brief tours through crowdfunding, and enlisted engineer Gary Noble (Amy Winehouse) to shape her first post-reinvention EP, Ransom.

Earl moved to North London in 2015 and submitted the tracks “Good Witch” and “We Promised” to the BBC Introducing portal, which secured her a slot at Hyde Park Festival. A BMG representative approached her after the performance and urged her to pursue her jazz interests, prompting the Ella Fitzgerald-inspired Tongue Tied that surfaced in 2017. Prior to that album’s release, she received an invitation to support Rick Astley on his U.K. tour.