Garrett Kato

Born in Vancouver, Garrett Kato sampled an array of sounds during adolescence, progressing from hip-hop and metal toward folk and Americana composition. A 2010 visit to the southeastern Australian coastal town of Byron Bay prompted the 23-year-old to relocate there permanently, where he advanced from busking and small-venue appearances to a publishing arrangement with Sony/ATV on the strength of his introspective indie folk tempered by understated pop rhythms. Nettwerk Records released his debut album That Low and Lonesome Sound in 2015, and one track, "Sweet Jane," was placed on the soundtrack of the 2016 comedy Bad Moms.

Kato toured with Damien Rice and Ziggy Alberts while also producing Alberts' platinum-selling EP Four Feet in the Forest and collaborating with additional Australian artists such as Kyle Lionhart. Streaming success arrived in 2017 via the gently strummed ballad "Take It Slowly," which surpassed ten million plays. Further singles followed, among them the 2019 EP Distant Land. In 2020 he issued the EPs s. hemisphere, chronicling his Australian years, and n. hemisphere, recalling his Canadian period; these were merged that December into the full-length Hemispheres, which added acoustic versions and previously unreleased material. The singles "Be" and "Firestarter"—the latter co-written with Australian singer/songwriter Ainslie Wills—appeared in early 2021. Kato returned with the album Small Town Rituals in 2022, containing the tracks "With You" and "Drugstore Houses."