From her teenage years onward, Kate Davis displayed prodigious jazz talent by presenting her rich, layered vocals and primary instrument, the double bass, across interpretations of standards and at venues such as the Kennedy Center. Transitioning into original composition during early adulthood, she later collaborated on the adult-alternative single “Seventeen” (2019) with Sharon Van Etten. Her own refined yet exploratory indie-rock approach surfaced on the 2019 debut Trophy, issued under her name as a clear-voiced singer/songwriter. Following a collection of Daniel Johnston covers, she incorporated elements of art rock, folk, synth pop, and additional styles into the predominantly melodic 2023 release Fish Bowl.
Kathryn Davis entered the world in West Linn, Oregon, during 1991 and commenced violin lessons at five. Interest in jazz emerged by middle school, prompting her to begin double-bass studies at thirteen; she performed on both instruments with the Portland Youth Philharmonic. High-school engagements soon featured her singing and playing bass, while she also secured membership in the Grammy Jazz Ensemble on bass. Further teenage honors comprised an NFAA youngARTS Silver Award, several Downbeat Magazine Student Awards, and selection for the Brubeck Institute Summer Jazz Colony. The self-released jazz set Introducing Kate Davis appeared in 2008, succeeded by A Kate Davis Holiday in 2009. Named a Presidential Scholar of the Arts that year, she performed at the Kennedy Center before relocating to New York to enroll at the Manhattan School of Music on scholarship. During this period she absorbed the work of Elliott Smith, Beach House, and Death Cab for Cutie while developing her own indie material.
In 2012 Davis began mixing jazz covers with original songs at New York City clubs, later adding Bowery Ballroom, Carnegie Hall, and Lincoln Center to her performance history. Subsequent years brought onstage appearances alongside Herbie Hancock, Alison Krauss, and Ben Folds, plus bass and vocal contributions to recordings by Joshua Bell, Son Lux, and Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox, all while she refined her personal songbook. The track she co-wrote with Sharon Van Etten reached the Top Ten of Billboard’s Triple A Songs chart in early 2019. After signing with Solitaire Recordings she delivered her singer/songwriter debut, Trophy, in November of that year.
Her second Solitaire album, Strange Boy, paid tribute to Daniel Johnston by covering his 1984 release Retired Boxer and interleaving tracks with brief interview segments of acquaintances recalling the songwriter; it arrived in early 2021. The subsequent LP introduced the central character FiBo while addressing isolation, existential themes, and transformation. Marked by abundant tunefulness and concise hooks, Fish Bowl constituted her Anti- label debut in early 2023.
