August 18, 2023 • 45 mins
Ever wonder what it's like to use the universal language of music to connect with audiences and transform strangers into friends? Accomplished pianist and composer, Kelsey Lee Cate, takes us on a journey, sharing her experience of utilizing music as a bridge to reach beyond borders and create a sense of community. Kelsey lets us into her world of classical training, her adventures with improvisation, and the unique, often emotional, atmospheres she creates with her music, capturing the hearts of her audience in venues as diverse as restaurants, churches, and malls.
Our conversation also touches on an inspiring story of a young girl named Meryl, and how Kelsey's music acted as a bridge, connecting her to Meryl and many others. Kelsey's exploration into live streaming and collaborations has expanded her network and infused her creativity with new energy. She lets us in on her innovative projects, including a riveting live-streamed dueling piano performance and the recording of personalized songs, all aimed at enhancing connection through her music.
As we wrap up our conversation, we spotlight Kelsey's collaboration with pianist Jason Lux, providing a sneak peek into their inspiring improvisations on classics such as 'Edelweiss' and 'Favorite Things'. We also get a glimpse of Kelsey's upcoming endeavors, including interviewing inspiring folks, creating music videos, hosting house concerts, and crafting custom songs. This heartfelt discussion with Kelsey Lee Kate is sure to inspire you to appreciate the power of music in connecting people and creating community. Come, tune in, and let the music in.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Kelsey Lee Cate (00:01):
I have, for a long time now, said that music
is a bridge and that it allowsme to connect with people I
wouldn't normally have theopportunity to meet, and I find
that often when I'm sharingmusic, the stories that come
from people's experience withthe music come to their heart
(00:21):
and they start sharing, and sostrangers become friends in just
a very short amount of time.
Joe Miller (00:31):
Welcome, Kelsey.
How you doing.
Kelsey Lee Cate (00:33):
Hi.
Oh, I am wonderful.
How are you Joe?
Joe Miller (00:36):
I'm great, I was going to introduce you to Kelsey
Lee Kate.
Kelsey Lee Cate (00:40):
Yes, and that would be correct.
But I inherited the last nameKate when I got married and or I
should say, I changed my lastname.
So when I was looking up atKelsey Kate, there's actually a
musician in Tennessee and shereleases more country style
(01:01):
music.
She's got red hair and sobefore I got married I was
Kelsey Lee music and I figuredsomeday I'd get married.
So I just kept the Lee becauseit's a nice distinguisher.
Joe Miller (01:12):
Yeah, well, thanks for filling in that gap.
But, listen, I'm really happyto have you on and we can talk
about how we got to know oneanother, but I think one of the
things that I really appreciateabout your work and you as a
pianist, a composer and yourYouTube work is that the fact
(01:36):
that you're really a connector,and what I wanted to do to start
out the episode is to dive intoyour why statement.
Can you share that whystatement with us and tell us
where it came from?
Kelsey Lee Cate (01:51):
Oh, I'd love to .
I have for a long time now saidthat music is a bridge and that
it allows me to connect withpeople I wouldn't normally have
the opportunity to meet, and Ifind that often when I'm sharing
music, the stories that comefrom people's experience with
(02:11):
the music come to their heartand they start sharing, and so
strangers become friends in justa very short amount of time.
And this has happened over andover, not only now in person,
but also online during livestreams and even sometimes in
the comments of social mediaposts or videos I make.
And that's, that's a, but.
(02:34):
There's a lot of neat detailand color that continues to come
, but the music is a reallyunique way.
In fact, when I was probably 14or 15, we had a group from
Zimbabwe come and stay at ourhouse and this one lady was
(02:54):
talking to me.
Her name is Pastor Howe and shesaid I see you walking on music
notes to other places and toother hearts, and I've never
forgotten that and I thinkthat's a very, a very astute way
to describe how I feel.
I think someone called itperfect to go into places too,
yeah.
Joe Miller (03:14):
I think someone called that prophetic indeed
Indeed yeah.
But I also I I saw you onlineseveral times.
You're into live streaming bigtime.
Oh yeah, it's the name of your,your YouTube channel.
Kelsey Lee Cate (03:31):
So my main YouTube channel is Kelsey Lee,
kate, kate with a C, and that ismy.
That's the host YouTube channel.
And then my live stream that Istarted in June 2020, right in
the middle of the pandemic iscalled Thursday Night Live and
it's kind of sister name.
(03:52):
I tried out for a while waspeaceful piano live, but I think
I've moved back to ThursdayNight Live and it's usually
around seven o'clock Pacific andit's fun to look back and see
all of the different iterationssince I first began.
We moved houses, we've we'vecreated the studio twice now and
it's been a really specialexperience.
Joe Miller (04:12):
So there's been a lot of changes in transitions,
one of them obviously being fromcoming from the pandemic, as
you just said, but also mestarted out doing a lot of live
performance in malls and othervenues, right.
Kelsey Lee Cate (04:28):
Yes, well, I don't know how far back you want
me to go, but all the way, ifyou want.
Well, growing up there's athere's always music in the
house, the piano in the home,and my siblings and I play.
We, we would play in churchtogether and then also in our
house there's a violin and acello, and then guitars, and I
(04:49):
have a hammer dulcimer.
We've got different woodwinds,so we just love to try different
textures and playing together.
So that was my start and Iactually learned how to
improvise sitting next to ourworship leader after church and
everybody was packing stuff upand I was probably 10.
And I remember she's.
(05:10):
She came and sat on the leftside of the piano and she said
Kels, her name's Andrea Baker.
Love you, andrea.
And she said I'm going to playsomething in the bass and then I
want you to just to just playwhatever you want.
And so she did a little chordprogression and I started
playing along and I rememberfeeling so excited and also
(05:30):
amazed that I could make my ownmusic.
And so that was.
I was making music from when Iwas really little.
We listened to a ton of musicall the time growing up, and
then I was.
I was in classical pianolessons all the way from five
till middle of high school andall the while doing?
(05:51):
Being involved with worshipteams, so learning how to play
with other musicians, listeningfor the sweet spot of where
where does the piano belong inthe midst of all of the other
instruments?
And then also incorporating the,the, the sound of the whole
band.
As a pianist, trying to havethat be a puzzle of how do I try
to incorporate those elementswhen I'm a solo pianist.
(06:13):
And then I started playing forin restaurants, and particularly
one of my favorites was playingat the Sky City restaurant up
at the Space Needle, and that Idid for a good long time before
the restaurant closed forrenovation and yeah, so there's.
(06:34):
There's other parts of thestory, but what I'm currently
doing is still one of myfavorite gigs at Bellevue Square
Mall in downtown Bellevue.
Joe Miller (06:44):
Yeah, so so again you're, you're outside of
Seattle and that's where you'reconnecting from.
Yes and in there, you grew upthere, yeah more or less.
Kelsey Lee Cate (06:56):
We grew up in the country Carnation and then
moved to Baffle, so BaffleEverett is where we are.
Joe Miller (07:04):
So classically trained and I think it's really
interesting you're talking aboutlearning to improvise, because
lots, lots of classicalmusicians never go there, or
they don't go there as much asone might think.
It's a different kind of athing.
Kelsey Lee Cate (07:22):
It is.
Joe Miller (07:23):
And having the grounding and being able to read
and understand the structureand the harmonics, harmonic
nature of music is important tobe able to improvise, not
mandatory, but it sure helps.
But I'm know, you know, likeyou know my wife Barb as well,
and she was classically trainedon piano and was with her major
(07:45):
instrument in college and it'ssomething she hasn't done that
much of.
But she can read well, you know.
But it's a different, it's sortof a different kind of gifting,
I think.
Kelsey Lee Cate (07:57):
Oh, yeah, yeah, yes, it's a.
It's an interesting box to fallin, where that would actually
be my default.
Sometimes when I was practicing, I would get lost playing a
scale and there would be somesort of interval that just
touched my heart and then Istarted playing with it.
(08:17):
Or I would be playing with a,an arpeggio sequence or
something like that, and all ofa sudden I was just following
the creative butterfly and thenI'd hear Kelsey, that's not
practicing, come back, come back.
Yep, but I love that, yeah, butwhat I noticed was that, through
(08:39):
also being able to understandmeter and different patterns and
such that are very present inclassical music and structure
and telling a story through themusic, that really helped me
when I was working on my owncompositions too.
So I do love to just flow, Ilove a chord chart.
(09:01):
And just a fun little tip, incase any of your listeners or
viewers are interested inlearning jazz, check out the app
IReelPro, and it is an awesomefake book that's amazingly
customizable and it's a greattool for anybody that wants to
get into standards.
And there's a whole lot more aswell, but that's something I've
(09:24):
learned a lot.
Joe Miller (09:25):
We'll put that in the show notes.
Thanks for sharing that Forsure.
So let's spin back to thisagain, this connecting with
others using music as a bridge.
So I'm just curious.
I mean, that's such ainteresting turn of words, Music
as a bridge.
I think we kind of knowintuitively what that means.
(09:45):
But how did that come to you?
Do you remember?
Was it all at once or did itjust sort of over time?
Kelsey Lee Cate (09:53):
I've noticed, playing in public allows me to
also watch and I see a lot fromthe piano and I have the
opportunity, especially where Iplay, they don't want you to
have music in front of you, soit's a nice clean aesthetic.
So I'm playing by heart andoften and I'm the most common
(10:17):
setting I'm picturing for thisis Bellevue Square Mall, but
sometimes also in the lounge ofCandlest Restaurant down in
Queen Anne, and there areopportunities that I've had to
connect via eye contact from afar distance and or across the
room at a private event andthere's an exchange that happens
(10:38):
where they can tell I see themand it's pretty special.
There's a moment where at leastmy hope is, they feel seen, that
they feel known, noticed, andwhat I love is that being open
(10:58):
and being approachable as muchas I can be it encourages folks
to come up and to actuallyconnect and there's been a lot
of really special stories thathave happened from that.
In fact, some people from themall, for example, will walk up
and they'll share their thankyou for playing that song.
(11:19):
Dream a Little Dream of Mereminds me of my grandma and
they'll share a story that justbrought up that emotion and
sometimes there's tears and it'sjust beautiful to pause
everything and to hear that andhear their heart and to connect
and really music takes a backseat often in those moments and
in the best way it is, it is aum the road.
Joe Miller (11:42):
Yeah, so I would use the word a catalyst, because I
have a scientific background asa chemist.
Some term catalyst meanssomething and I think music is a
catalyst in that case ofconnection, because how many of
us can remember, as you justtalked about that woman who came
(12:03):
up?
When you hear a tune, it's likeit's a different pathway to a
memory and it provides a richconnection to that memory.
I find this happens probably tomany people at Christmas time,
you know, when I hear certainChristmas music play constantly
(12:26):
in my home Andy WilliamsChristmas album.
Kelsey Lee Cate (12:30):
I can't go and wore that out.
Joe Miller (12:32):
Even as an adult.
I can smell pies cooking, I cansmell turkey, I can smell all
the things around the holidayseason, Right and um, how many
of us have listened to certainpieces of music and been brought
to tears, you know over it, andso it's extremely powerful, but
(12:56):
I would say it's not often thatmusicians really lean into that
space.
Sometimes you can go and takeit in a show and there's
definitely performance going on,but how much of their is their
(13:16):
connection?
And I think that that'ssomething that comes through on
your live streams.
To be honest, just watching thechats come up and the people
responding to you and youturning and responding that
improvisational gift you haveyou can turn your attention to
them and make that connection.
Kelsey Lee Cate (13:35):
Thank you.
Thank you, one of my favoritelittle elements of that.
That happened.
This was July and August of2020.
Yes, camelus decided to doprovide a live stream alongside
their suppers that they wereselling.
They were so ingenuitive,everything that they did during
(13:58):
the pandemic, and they're awonderful upper echelon
restaurant here in the Seattlearea.
Come visit, it's such abeautiful area.
Joe, you and Barb would love tohave you.
And I remember during one ofthe li ve streams there was the
sweetest comment from a FrankGuanko who said my little girl,
(14:20):
meryl, is here in the chat andshe loves your shoes.
And that is how a sweet littlestory, little friendship,
happened, began really.
And years later, just a couplemonths ago, they brought their
whole family Frank and his wife,and then Meryl and her brother
Holmes came, and so Frank andSarah are watching their kids
(14:41):
standing by the piano at themall and Meryl is much taller
now, a couple years later.
And what I love about momentslike that is being able to give
other young musicians anopportunity that I had growing
up, and I remember Joe going toNordstrom and there's a pianist
(15:05):
there her name's Lurie Z and Iwas probably nine and I was
holding a new bill to bear.
I just made under my arm and Istopped and listened and my mom
and I were alone.
It was a mom daughter date andI remember how special I felt
that Lurie took the time to talkto me and she looked me
straight in the eyes and I don'tremember what we talked about.
(15:27):
But then mom asked to have a CDand she did so we went to the
counter and we bought it and shesigned it for me and I remember
I mean I listened to that CD alot on my little CD player on
the bus.
I thought it was so cool, joewith my earphones listening to
solo piano as a fifth grader,but that moment of giving, being
(15:53):
able to be that inspiration forso many precious young ones,
and I loved how that storystarted on the live stream and
then they came to connect inperson.
Joe Miller (16:04):
And.
Kelsey Lee Cate (16:05):
I've stayed connected with their family and
thanks to their father Frank andbeing able to stay present.
I love to tell people that comeespecially from a place in
public where them all is just.
You walk by and you'resurprised by music and I say I
also live stream and so if youwant, you can say hi.
(16:26):
Let me know your kiddo's namein the chat and I'll say hi on
camera.
Joe Miller (16:30):
Oh yeah, yeah, that's connection.
Kelsey Lee Cate (16:33):
Yeah, oh, yeah, I love it.
Joe Miller (16:36):
That's great, of course.
I know that there's a storysimilar to this and it kind of
is how we got connected andthat's through Michael Gettel.
Your participation in his lastalbum playing on the piece Rose
at Rise did you play with him on.
Yeah, Do you want to take itjust a couple of minutes?
(16:57):
Because this is you as thelittle girl.
Little girl, smaller girl.
Kelsey Lee Cate (17:01):
Oh yeah, I'd love to.
Joe Miller (17:03):
Young one.
Kelsey Lee Cate (17:04):
Yeah well, my folks bought a CD of his on one
of their early anniversaries.
And I mean, joe, we grow upalways listening to his music as
a family and it was part of ourdinner routine.
Often would be his CDs or roadtrips, when I think of driving
in Eastern Washington at nightwith the stars, some of his
(17:26):
music from Return, his returnalbum, or dinner cozy San Juan
suite Friends, you got to checkhim out.
Last name, g-e-t-t-e-l MichaelGettle, and I remember I had a
click wheel to remember theiPods that had the wheel and if
you yeah.
So I would for one of his songsand saying one sweet, for
(17:48):
example, the first one, suicaBay.
I wanted to learn how to playthat and so I would.
I would constantly carefullyrewind and then I'd hit it a
little too hard so I'd go backto the beginning.
So I got really good at thebeginning for a long time and
then I started learning how toemulate more of the chord
structure and the patterns, andso a lot of his music Is crazy.
Joe Miller (18:12):
Was it left hand ostinato patterns?
Kelsey Lee Cate (18:15):
or left and right, for sure.
Joe Miller (18:18):
And right.
Yeah, it's true.
Kelsey Lee Cate (18:20):
Yeah, and so I remember some of the chord
progressions as well that I meanI learned so much from him
listening as a kid and Iremember laying on my tummy
getting my ears close to thespeakers I could with his, his
music that had animal sounds,that had whale calls, and it was
so mysterious and it added tothat musical experience and I
(18:43):
actually just talked to Michaelabout this recently that it was
a very tailored track.
That particular whale song tosing with with his music was
just amazing to to now talk tothe artist, and so I remember
growing up there, the wholeculture of interacting with the
pianist is very different.
(19:03):
You know, you have the label,the art that was released, and
maybe you got to meet thepianist and they signed it, like
with Lori Z and me eight yearold me.
But I found Michael on Facebookand I was probably 23.
And I just fangirled, really.
I send, sent him a message andjust said hey, michael, I want
you to know how much our familyhas really appreciated your
(19:25):
music and I shared how he'shelped me to learn how to play
by ear and so that was just.
That was the beginning ofconnecting and then, years later
, I, in a bold moment, startedsharing some of his music on my
live streams and saying I love,I love this song and I started
(19:47):
interpreting it in my own way,and then I think this most of it
.
In 2020, michael starteddropping in the live stream and
so I saw his name popping in andI was like, oh my gosh, she's
here.
And so it was so fun, and myparents were in the chat, my
grandma was in the chat, and itwas such a special moment to to
(20:08):
watch this connection happen,and my parents got to also thank
Michael personally, and so thenI asked him when I released my
first album which is around thesame time, beginning of 2020, if
he would be willing to reviewit, and so he did, and what was
the?
Joe Miller (20:26):
what was the name of the album?
Kelsey Lee Cate (20:27):
So this album is called Poema Stories.
Joe Miller (20:30):
From the Piano.
What does that mean?
You said you shared this withme.
Kelsey Lee Cate (20:33):
Yes, poema means work of art and my I'd
love to share my heart for thealbum too, if we have time, and
the message with it, but it wasjust.
It was a surreal experience forMichael to to take time
listening to my work, and alsothere's a part of me where I was
(20:54):
like, oh, I hope I haven'ttaken any of his music I don't
think I have, luckily, no but itwas really special and I have
his endorsement on my website.
So then we stayed connected andhe invited me to collaborate
with him on Rise and this.
That song is part of an albumthat is the first that he's
(21:15):
released in about 20 years andit's called the View From here,
and it's just wonderful, sowonderful.
Joe Miller (21:21):
Yes, I had the pleasure of interviewing Michael
before that because MichaelMichael and I met on a worship
team at a church in Colorado andI remember him sitting down as
a young man playing crazy stuffbefore the service and surprise.
Where is this coming from?
Wow, and yeah.
(21:44):
So I'd like to think that hewas well in his way, moving
towards that album project, butI'd like to think our
conversation helped a little bit.
Michael have to let us know.
Kelsey Lee Cate (21:57):
Yes.
Joe Miller (21:59):
But listen, you uncovered something I wanted to
dig into.
So, in terms of connecting withyour audience, I think there's
several different ways youno-transcript or maybe several
different types of people andtypes of connection you make.
I was thinking about this and Ithink obviously there's people
who just enjoy listening to youplay on your live streams or in
(22:21):
public, in the mall or whereverthat may be restaurant.
They just enjoy it.
They're not musicians, butthey're in the music
appreciation crowd and I seethat on your live stream.
I see the comments.
I think there's anothercategory of people who are maybe
aspiring musicians.
And then the final categorythat I'd like to sort of tick
(22:45):
through these, have yourthoughts on these categories, is
the people you've donecollaborations with, and we just
talked about one of those andthat's Michael, but you've done
so many others.
So can we start and just kindof unpack those different groups
and what's it like for you toconnect with them?
Kelsey Lee Cate (23:04):
Sure.
So the interesting thing aboutlive streaming is I have no idea
who's gonna be coming in, andwhen I started multicasting,
that took away the ability forme to see the names of people
coming in, like when I firststarted on Facebook Live.
So that has its benefits anddrawbacks.
(23:25):
It was definitely a benefitwhen I saw ooh Michael's in the
chat right At the very beginning, but what's interesting about
not being able to see is I havea large network on Facebook, for
example, where there are manyprofessionals in the area that
can pop in and out, and I've hadover time professionals saying
(23:47):
they appreciate what I'm doing,they appreciated this and that,
and they recall things and I hadno idea they were even there or
listening.
I can't, I don't know, unlessyou're in the chat.
So, but I would say that hasreally allowed me to just dig
more into that main goal ofconnecting.
And so and one of my favoritegroups to play for actually are
(24:10):
those who are the musicappreciators, and I didn't I
don't know if I've mentionedthis to you yet, but I was
originally a music therapyintended student at Seattle
Pacific University beforechanging and I decided, instead
of doing more of a clinicalroute, using music as it to
achieve non-musical goals.
I wanted to use music toachieve non-musical goals in
(24:34):
more of a butterfly fashion, somore free, and I could connect
with the appreciators and havethose one-on-one conversations
in a more relaxed, free flowmanner.
So the music appreciators,whether they're in the chat or
sometimes at Bellevue Square,they'll pop into the live stream
when I'm live till five, causesometimes I turn on my phone, I
(24:55):
put it to the left of me at thepiano and I give folks a window
in to the shopping center, intothis beautiful nine foot
Steinway Grand Piano, and it issuch a fun window to open.
In fact, once I think I hadfive countries with me during
the live stream.
And so the amateur pianists andthose who are aspiring are
(25:19):
really fun too, because they askquestions, they make the chat
more lively, they areinteracting or they say, oh, I
wanna try that chord progression.
Thanks for giving me the detailand so it's really nice to be
able to be a resource for folksthat have questions, hearing
that creative process and reallymy heart and I would say for my
(25:39):
messages, often with Poema,this desire to just simply
celebrate the innate creativitythat we each have, and so my
hope with that work and mymessage, my life messages, is
that we would each be inspiredto create and free it up to
create the way that we areuniquely designed.
So I've been kind of playingwith this brand of create like
(26:02):
you as well in the middle of thelive streams and encouraging
amateur pianists and alsocreatives at large to think
about the ways that they flow,the way that they're creative.
And I believe a lot of thoseare in the musical appreciators
camp but they wouldn'tnecessarily think of themselves
as creatives.
(26:23):
But I've had some really sweetconversations with folks who
have said you've inspired me,I'm gonna try piano or I'm gonna
try guitar or painting, and itis so.
That is awesome.
Joe Miller (26:34):
Yeah, you know, I just wanted to jump in.
As a believer or a person offaith, I believe that we are
made in the image of God and Godis a creator, yes, and so
that's part of who we are.
Our identity is all.
We're all creators and, as yousaid, it doesn't necessarily
(26:54):
have to be music, but we allhave something to bring out of
ourselves and sometimes it staysbottled up, and so being part
of that user, that inspirationalenergy or person who helps
bring that to the fore, is abeautiful thing, and I do see
(27:14):
you also mentioned that duringyour live stream.
Sometimes you talk about whatyou're doing, so it's not just
so people would understand whohaven't joined you, it's not
just performing the whole timeyou stop and say, no, I'm doing
this, see if you notice this, orI'm gonna try this now, and I
think that's very engaging,kelsey.
I think it really is.
(27:36):
I'm so glad that's my hope yeah,and so what about the
collaborative group?
Kelsey Lee Cate (27:42):
Yeah, so there have been some really neat out
of the blue ways that I'veconnected with these people and
actually I even thought of morefolks after I sent you my notes,
joe and there have been somethat I've met on Facebook John
Albert Thomas he actually becamea business coach of mine and
(28:04):
he's also a solo piano artistand Christoph Pagel and I met
and he's Christoph's fromGermany.
This was actually more of arecent collaboration as of last
holiday season, and we connectedon one of my social media
pieces I'm not sure if it was aTikTok or a YouTube video.
(28:24):
It might've been YouTube.
Actually, it was a speciallivestream I did I remember that
now and I was over at afriend's house and they had a
grand piano set up and he hadmulticam angles that he was
doing and it was a reallyspecial one and Christoph said
something about wishing he coulddo more, but it was just it was
crazy during pandemic and kidsat home and all that.
(28:46):
So it went from just having acasual artist to artist.
You know, chat in DMs to hey,what if we try doing a
collaboration?
Cause I saw that he had a storyand with the create like you
message, that is definitely apassion project of mine.
I have been also trying my handat recording my own
(29:09):
conversations.
Where we have, we have chats,and I have some of these, if
you're interested my friends onYouTube on my Kelsey Lee music
or Kelsey Lee Kate YouTubechannel, and that you can listen
to their.
The little bucket or playlistis called create like you
podcast, and so on.
(29:31):
During that show with Christoph,I asked for him to share his
story and I actually asked himto record himself playing some
excerpts of his music.
He had asked me when we firstmet if he could send me some CDs
that were in a factory in theStates that were going to get
destroyed.
So I said, absolutely, I'll takepossession of these CDs.
(29:53):
And so then I thought well, whydon't we do a creative collab
where we sell a bundle of my CDsplus a couple of yours, we'll
offer a couple of differentpackages, and then we'll bake in
to the podcast interview someclips of you actually playing
some of these pieces and then inbetween listening and watching
you play, I want to hear thestory behind the music.
(30:15):
So that collab, joe, was reallyfun because I got to really try
my hand at at different typesof creative editing.
And then also I told him, forthe folks that purchased, that
these folks would be writing thepeople that they want us to
(30:37):
autograph the CD for, and sothen I had Christoph hand write
his autograph, take a picture ofit and send it to me, and then
I printed it and added that too,so it was as connected or as
personal as possible.
So that was a really fun collab.
Joe Miller (30:54):
Yeah, that's great.
Of course, we already talkedabout the Michael Wanners and
any others that come them on.
You think it'd be interestingto share.
Kelsey Lee Cate (31:00):
Yes, there's a pianist that I met at the Space
Needle Jason and Jason Lux L-U-Xis his artist name on YouTube
and we stayed connected and hewas actually the one that
invited me to play at Candles acouple years later.
And he has a very large YouTubefollowing a big following on
(31:22):
Spotify music, and so he lovesto do creative collaborations
with folks.
And so a couple years ago wewere just improvising at a piano
store in Bellevue, washingtonclassic pianos, and I worked
there for many years and we justdecided to hang out and record
our own take on Edelweiss plusfavorite things.
(31:43):
So those two together andsurprisingly, years later, that
video has gotten some it's likeover 270,000 views and amazing
meaningful comments, a lot offolks asking for the music, and
we're just like, well, we didn'tplan any of that, we probably
should have transcribed it, butso that was really fun and he's
(32:07):
he still plays at Candles and westay connected.
In fact, I have some of hislights here and last year he
invited me to do a duelingpianist live stream with him
from his studio, which wasreally fun and that was probably
a definite creative highlightthat I'd never tried before of a
(32:29):
live stream with anothermusician.
Joe Miller (32:32):
That's really cool, that's really interesting.
So let me ask you this question.
You've gone through thesetransitions.
Obviously, you moved throughthe pandemic, did a lot more
online, and that's born a lot offruit, a lot of connections for
collaborations and and you'vereally shared your gift with so
(32:55):
many that way.
What are you currentlytransitioning in in terms of new
projects or new endeavors?
Are there things that you'releaning into?
I'm kind of aware of a fewthings, but I just want to give
you some time to talk about it.
Kelsey Lee Cate (33:11):
Sure.
So I would love to lean intothat passion project of create,
like you, and to to really my.
What I love doing there isinterviewing and introducing
other amazing folks that haveinspired me over a coffee chat
(33:32):
and actually share that wisdomwith my other community members.
That would be really wanting tohear that and, of course,
there's collaborations that comewith that.
I would love to do more musicvideos.
I would love to connect withother videographers and I have
ideas for creativity.
In fact, I have my firstofficial music video Almost
(33:55):
ready to release and it's thepoem, a title track.
I shot it half at a gorgeoushome and then half at a coffee
shop and with a painter actually, which is very fun.
So, and then also somethingthat I've just been and really
wanting to do more is actuallyhouse concerts, and house
(34:17):
concerts essentially are such abeautiful way to connect with
folks in a smaller setting,their friends, their family, of
the host, and I have theopportunity to really connect
more deeply with these folks andand to to share my story, and
there's been some really specialvulnerable moments as well
(34:39):
where they they share some oftheir heart and their journey.
So that is something I wouldlove to figure out how to do
more.
Actually, david, my husband andI were on a walk the other
night, going through thesebeautiful homes and these
neighborhoods, and I thought,man, wouldn't it be fun to just
knock on the door of 20 housesand say, hey, do you know
somebody that has a beautifulgrand piano?
(34:59):
Would you like a house concertin your home?
So I'm trying to figure out howto how to do that more.
And then also, in addition tohouse concerts, I would really
love to start recording customsongs for people, and I've done
this a little bit, being able torecord music for folks that I'm
(35:22):
able to put on my Spotify, allthe different channels, but they
have a really unique role inhelping me to choose what to
record.
So if any of your listeners areinterested to follow along in
that, the easiest way really isto add yourselves to my email
newsletter, which you can findon my website, and there's going
(35:43):
to be more that's coming, and,of course, I'll be posting about
this on social.
But also not everybody wants tobe on social media.
Yeah, that's true.
Joe Miller (35:55):
And you do.
I think you have had anaddition to all of that, which
sounds really cool.
This house house concert stuffis interesting.
There's a lot of people I'vebeen in a lot of homes where
there's been beautiful grandpianos and maybe they were
purchased originally for onefamily member who is no longer
with them and they're just notgetting played and it brings a
(36:18):
lot of joy back into the home tohave someone come in and do
just what you're proposing.
But you also have shared someguides and sort of instructional
stuff from time to time, haveyou not?
Kelsey Lee Cate (36:31):
Oh, yes, I have .
I've explored with that and Iused to.
I love to coach adults becauseit's a different ballgame than
coaching students, where youhave a particular curriculum
that you're using, but instead,working with adults, you kind of
work backwards from their goalsand help to break up and the
(36:55):
steps in the process.
And I've done coaching on Zoom.
I've done in person in mystudio.
Folks have come.
But more recently I've beendoing tips videos and I've tried
my hand at doing some of thatwhere people can just watch on
YouTube.
I did a scale map challengethis spring where I wanted to
(37:16):
show the beauty and the funthere is in actually playing
with the scale, and so I createda little guide.
That was the first time I'veactually made something that
people can download.
And then I, on social media,did five days where there is a
little exercise per day and ifyou scroll down my feed you'd be
able to find them.
So, yeah, there's probablythere might be more challenges
(37:40):
of that nature, but that's,that's something new.
I'm interested in continuing.
It's a lot.
Joe Miller (37:45):
You got a lot going.
Yeah, let me ask this questionbecause I think it's a good way
to kind of bring togethervarious different things we've
talked about, and that is kindof the advice question.
What advice would you give tosomeone who and let's let's
target this to people who maybeare aspiring musicians, and what
advice would you give them ifthey're sort of starting their
(38:07):
journey, that you have learnedsome things along the way and
wish you had known when youstarted?
Kelsey Lee Cate (38:15):
things.
That is, this unspoken sourceof tension, is this expectation
to reach a particularunattainable standard for
oneself.
I could just speak to my ownexpectation of that, and some of
it's founded on the opinions ofothers, maybe.
(38:38):
Maybe I've heard at least forme I heard folks that I really
look up to share oh, I don'tlike this or that, and I'm
thinking, well, that's what I do, you know, for example, or or
different things that I wouldhear on on teaching videos or
(38:59):
whatever of of of a criticalnature, and I would really
encourage other people to to nipthat in the bud, to to take
your own journey seriously andto figure out ways to to connect
(39:19):
with the way that you write,the way that you express and
then like with, with theimportance of having vegetables,
good protein, good fat, likeyour macro nutrients you could
think of, of appropriate musictheory and learning all of the
musculature, of music.
That is really good andimportant, and to that structure
(39:46):
add your skin, add your color,add your expression.
Joe Miller (39:50):
So there's many ways to do that.
But yeah kind of that idea offinding your own voice.
Basically, yeah.
Yeah, so that's that's great,and I think this comes out with
almost all the conversations Ihave around transitions and
finding your gifts and puttingyour gifts into the world.
(40:11):
And you know, and it'slistening, being careful, what
you listen to.
In terms of feedback, yeah,those tapes that that we have
programmed into our, our headsat a young age and lots, lots of
(40:33):
times there could be people wholove us and mean, mean well,
and I'm trying to look out forus, but they're kind of can be
limited.
Then we have our own limitingbeliefs and the whole topic of
the imposter syndrome, right,yeah, being afraid of how what
you do is going to land ratherthan focusing on just your own
(40:58):
creative process and getting alittle bit off of the outcome, a
little bit more in the moment.
Kelsey Lee Cate (41:07):
Yeah, Couldn't agree more.
Joe Miller (41:09):
And I remember whose song this was.
But I always think about thisfear factor.
That song by I can't rememberwho was, but it's the line is
get up and dance.
You know, get up and dance.
And it's this idea that you'vegot to step out in life.
You know you have to take somerisks.
(41:32):
If you take no risks, you know,then you're really limiting
yourself.
And we all fail, and failing ispart of the growth process.
Kelsey Lee Cate (41:46):
Absolutely, if we didn't have any any
fertilizer, that there would befar fewer nutrients that we
could drop from Detroit.
Joe Miller (41:58):
Mushrooms, whichever you prefer.
Kelsey Lee Cate (42:00):
Mushrooms.
Yeah yeah, that's very wise,and I think limiting beliefs are
are, um.
I think maybe the final piece Iwould add to this whole thing
is, um, the.
The very necessary part ofbeing a modern musician is
developing one's relationshipand mindset with regards to tech
(42:22):
and social connection.
And if there's anything I wishsomeone told me when I was first
starting all of this is towrite in big, bold letters on
like a piece of, you know,construction paper.
Put it up on your wall, it isnot too much.
You can eat whatever you know.
You can eat the elephant onebite at a time and you can do it
(42:46):
.
And it can if you're justmaking your goal to be 1% better
with every upload.
I cringe and laugh at some ofthe stuff I posted years ago,
and that's great.
It shows the progression andeach piece of content you
release is like a journalstatement for that time and you
can look back on it and you aresuccessful if you are fully
(43:07):
invested in that moment whereyou are and then take your next
step and then your next step andyou can learn anything with
tech.
If I can do it, anybody can.
Joe Miller (43:19):
Well, I feel the same way too.
But yeah, that's a greatmessage on mastery comes through
all these small moves, you know, small incremental moves
compounding over time.
Kelsey Lee Cate (43:30):
Atomic habits.
Joe Miller (43:32):
Atomic habits.
Kelsey Lee Cate (43:34):
James Clear right.
Joe Miller (43:35):
James Clear, yeah, yeah, and then you can see the
powerful message there.
Well, listen, kelsey, where nowyou've talked about several
times.
But let's just use, let's givethe monikers and I'll drop this
in the show notes.
But Kelsey Lee Kate at, kelseyLee Kate, everywhere.
(43:56):
Yeah, I would say, the easiestwebsite is Kelsey.
Kelsey Lee Cate (44:00):
Lee music.
Kelseylee musiccom would beyour best bet.
And then you can find all thelinks there to social.
You can find the link to mynewsletter and I would love to
connect with you.
Feel free to send a DM.
Join my live stream sometime.
I'd love to see you.
Joe Miller (44:20):
And then, for anyone watching this, drop comments in
the in the notes below.
Let us know.
You know right there whatquestions you may have and we'll
be.
We'll be looking for for thoseresponses and follow up with you
if we can.
So thanks again, kelsey, forbeing on the show.
I really appreciate it.
Kelsey Lee Cate (44:40):
Joe, it's such a pleasure bringing your gifts
into this world.
Thank you.
Thank you for the pleasure ofbeing invited to come and speak
to your audience here withTitans of Transition, and you
really just you do such anamazing job of pulling wisdom
from many different sources toyour listeners, and I'm really
honored to be among them.
Thank you.
Joe Miller (45:02):
Thank you.
I have, for a long time now, said that music
is a bridge and that it allowsme to connect with people I
wouldn't normally have theopportunity to meet, and I find
that often when I'm sharingmusic, the stories that come
from people's experience withthe music come to their heart
(00:21):
and they start sharing, and sostrangers become friends in just
a very short amount of time.
Joe Miller (00:31):
Welcome, Kelsey.
How you doing.
Kelsey Lee Cate (00:33):
Hi.
Oh, I am wonderful.
How are you Joe?
Joe Miller (00:36):
I'm great, I was going to introduce you to Kelsey
Lee Kate.
Kelsey Lee Cate (00:40):
Yes, and that would be correct.
But I inherited the last nameKate when I got married and or I
should say, I changed my lastname.
So when I was looking up atKelsey Kate, there's actually a
musician in Tennessee and shereleases more country style
(01:01):
music.
She's got red hair and sobefore I got married I was
Kelsey Lee music and I figuredsomeday I'd get married.
So I just kept the Lee becauseit's a nice distinguisher.
Joe Miller (01:12):
Yeah, well, thanks for filling in that gap.
But, listen, I'm really happyto have you on and we can talk
about how we got to know oneanother, but I think one of the
things that I really appreciateabout your work and you as a
pianist, a composer and yourYouTube work is that the fact
(01:36):
that you're really a connector,and what I wanted to do to start
out the episode is to dive intoyour why statement.
Can you share that whystatement with us and tell us
where it came from?
Kelsey Lee Cate (01:51):
Oh, I'd love to .
I have for a long time now saidthat music is a bridge and that
it allows me to connect withpeople I wouldn't normally have
the opportunity to meet, and Ifind that often when I'm sharing
music, the stories that comefrom people's experience with
(02:11):
the music come to their heartand they start sharing, and so
strangers become friends in justa very short amount of time.
And this has happened over andover, not only now in person,
but also online during livestreams and even sometimes in
the comments of social mediaposts or videos I make.
And that's, that's a, but.
(02:34):
There's a lot of neat detailand color that continues to come
, but the music is a reallyunique way.
In fact, when I was probably 14or 15, we had a group from
Zimbabwe come and stay at ourhouse and this one lady was
(02:54):
talking to me.
Her name is Pastor Howe and shesaid I see you walking on music
notes to other places and toother hearts, and I've never
forgotten that and I thinkthat's a very, a very astute way
to describe how I feel.
I think someone called itperfect to go into places too,
yeah.
Joe Miller (03:14):
I think someone called that prophetic indeed
Indeed yeah.
But I also I I saw you onlineseveral times.
You're into live streaming bigtime.
Oh yeah, it's the name of your,your YouTube channel.
Kelsey Lee Cate (03:31):
So my main YouTube channel is Kelsey Lee,
kate, kate with a C, and that ismy.
That's the host YouTube channel.
And then my live stream that Istarted in June 2020, right in
the middle of the pandemic iscalled Thursday Night Live and
it's kind of sister name.
(03:52):
I tried out for a while waspeaceful piano live, but I think
I've moved back to ThursdayNight Live and it's usually
around seven o'clock Pacific andit's fun to look back and see
all of the different iterationssince I first began.
We moved houses, we've we'vecreated the studio twice now and
it's been a really specialexperience.
Joe Miller (04:12):
So there's been a lot of changes in transitions,
one of them obviously being fromcoming from the pandemic, as
you just said, but also mestarted out doing a lot of live
performance in malls and othervenues, right.
Kelsey Lee Cate (04:28):
Yes, well, I don't know how far back you want
me to go, but all the way, ifyou want.
Well, growing up there's athere's always music in the
house, the piano in the home,and my siblings and I play.
We, we would play in churchtogether and then also in our
house there's a violin and acello, and then guitars, and I
(04:49):
have a hammer dulcimer.
We've got different woodwinds,so we just love to try different
textures and playing together.
So that was my start and Iactually learned how to
improvise sitting next to ourworship leader after church and
everybody was packing stuff upand I was probably 10.
And I remember she's.
(05:10):
She came and sat on the leftside of the piano and she said
Kels, her name's Andrea Baker.
Love you, andrea.
And she said I'm going to playsomething in the bass and then I
want you to just to just playwhatever you want.
And so she did a little chordprogression and I started
playing along and I rememberfeeling so excited and also
(05:30):
amazed that I could make my ownmusic.
And so that was.
I was making music from when Iwas really little.
We listened to a ton of musicall the time growing up, and
then I was.
I was in classical pianolessons all the way from five
till middle of high school andall the while doing?
(05:51):
Being involved with worshipteams, so learning how to play
with other musicians, listeningfor the sweet spot of where
where does the piano belong inthe midst of all of the other
instruments?
And then also incorporating the,the, the sound of the whole
band.
As a pianist, trying to havethat be a puzzle of how do I try
to incorporate those elementswhen I'm a solo pianist.
(06:13):
And then I started playing forin restaurants, and particularly
one of my favorites was playingat the Sky City restaurant up
at the Space Needle, and that Idid for a good long time before
the restaurant closed forrenovation and yeah, so there's.
(06:34):
There's other parts of thestory, but what I'm currently
doing is still one of myfavorite gigs at Bellevue Square
Mall in downtown Bellevue.
Joe Miller (06:44):
Yeah, so so again you're, you're outside of
Seattle and that's where you'reconnecting from.
Yes and in there, you grew upthere, yeah more or less.
Kelsey Lee Cate (06:56):
We grew up in the country Carnation and then
moved to Baffle, so BaffleEverett is where we are.
Joe Miller (07:04):
So classically trained and I think it's really
interesting you're talking aboutlearning to improvise, because
lots, lots of classicalmusicians never go there, or
they don't go there as much asone might think.
It's a different kind of athing.
Kelsey Lee Cate (07:22):
It is.
Joe Miller (07:23):
And having the grounding and being able to read
and understand the structureand the harmonics, harmonic
nature of music is important tobe able to improvise, not
mandatory, but it sure helps.
But I'm know, you know, likeyou know my wife Barb as well,
and she was classically trainedon piano and was with her major
(07:45):
instrument in college and it'ssomething she hasn't done that
much of.
But she can read well, you know.
But it's a different, it's sortof a different kind of gifting,
I think.
Kelsey Lee Cate (07:57):
Oh, yeah, yeah, yes, it's a.
It's an interesting box to fallin, where that would actually
be my default.
Sometimes when I was practicing, I would get lost playing a
scale and there would be somesort of interval that just
touched my heart and then Istarted playing with it.
(08:17):
Or I would be playing with a,an arpeggio sequence or
something like that, and all ofa sudden I was just following
the creative butterfly and thenI'd hear Kelsey, that's not
practicing, come back, come back.
Yep, but I love that, yeah, butwhat I noticed was that, through
(08:39):
also being able to understandmeter and different patterns and
such that are very present inclassical music and structure
and telling a story through themusic, that really helped me
when I was working on my owncompositions too.
So I do love to just flow, Ilove a chord chart.
(09:01):
And just a fun little tip, incase any of your listeners or
viewers are interested inlearning jazz, check out the app
IReelPro, and it is an awesomefake book that's amazingly
customizable and it's a greattool for anybody that wants to
get into standards.
And there's a whole lot more aswell, but that's something I've
(09:24):
learned a lot.
Joe Miller (09:25):
We'll put that in the show notes.
Thanks for sharing that Forsure.
So let's spin back to thisagain, this connecting with
others using music as a bridge.
So I'm just curious.
I mean, that's such ainteresting turn of words, Music
as a bridge.
I think we kind of knowintuitively what that means.
(09:45):
But how did that come to you?
Do you remember?
Was it all at once or did itjust sort of over time?
Kelsey Lee Cate (09:53):
I've noticed, playing in public allows me to
also watch and I see a lot fromthe piano and I have the
opportunity, especially where Iplay, they don't want you to
have music in front of you, soit's a nice clean aesthetic.
So I'm playing by heart andoften and I'm the most common
(10:17):
setting I'm picturing for thisis Bellevue Square Mall, but
sometimes also in the lounge ofCandlest Restaurant down in
Queen Anne, and there areopportunities that I've had to
connect via eye contact from afar distance and or across the
room at a private event andthere's an exchange that happens
(10:38):
where they can tell I see themand it's pretty special.
There's a moment where at leastmy hope is, they feel seen, that
they feel known, noticed, andwhat I love is that being open
(10:58):
and being approachable as muchas I can be it encourages folks
to come up and to actuallyconnect and there's been a lot
of really special stories thathave happened from that.
In fact, some people from themall, for example, will walk up
and they'll share their thankyou for playing that song.
(11:19):
Dream a Little Dream of Mereminds me of my grandma and
they'll share a story that justbrought up that emotion and
sometimes there's tears and it'sjust beautiful to pause
everything and to hear that andhear their heart and to connect
and really music takes a backseat often in those moments and
in the best way it is, it is aum the road.
Joe Miller (11:42):
Yeah, so I would use the word a catalyst, because I
have a scientific background asa chemist.
Some term catalyst meanssomething and I think music is a
catalyst in that case ofconnection, because how many of
us can remember, as you justtalked about that woman who came
(12:03):
up?
When you hear a tune, it's likeit's a different pathway to a
memory and it provides a richconnection to that memory.
I find this happens probably tomany people at Christmas time,
you know, when I hear certainChristmas music play constantly
(12:26):
in my home Andy WilliamsChristmas album.
Kelsey Lee Cate (12:30):
I can't go and wore that out.
Joe Miller (12:32):
Even as an adult.
I can smell pies cooking, I cansmell turkey, I can smell all
the things around the holidayseason, Right and um, how many
of us have listened to certainpieces of music and been brought
to tears, you know over it, andso it's extremely powerful, but
(12:56):
I would say it's not often thatmusicians really lean into that
space.
Sometimes you can go and takeit in a show and there's
definitely performance going on,but how much of their is their
(13:16):
connection?
And I think that that'ssomething that comes through on
your live streams.
To be honest, just watching thechats come up and the people
responding to you and youturning and responding that
improvisational gift you haveyou can turn your attention to
them and make that connection.
Kelsey Lee Cate (13:35):
Thank you.
Thank you, one of my favoritelittle elements of that.
That happened.
This was July and August of2020.
Yes, camelus decided to doprovide a live stream alongside
their suppers that they wereselling.
They were so ingenuitive,everything that they did during
(13:58):
the pandemic, and they're awonderful upper echelon
restaurant here in the Seattlearea.
Come visit, it's such abeautiful area.
Joe, you and Barb would love tohave you.
And I remember during one ofthe li ve streams there was the
sweetest comment from a FrankGuanko who said my little girl,
(14:20):
meryl, is here in the chat andshe loves your shoes.
And that is how a sweet littlestory, little friendship,
happened, began really.
And years later, just a couplemonths ago, they brought their
whole family Frank and his wife,and then Meryl and her brother
Holmes came, and so Frank andSarah are watching their kids
(14:41):
standing by the piano at themall and Meryl is much taller
now, a couple years later.
And what I love about momentslike that is being able to give
other young musicians anopportunity that I had growing
up, and I remember Joe going toNordstrom and there's a pianist
(15:05):
there her name's Lurie Z and Iwas probably nine and I was
holding a new bill to bear.
I just made under my arm and Istopped and listened and my mom
and I were alone.
It was a mom daughter date andI remember how special I felt
that Lurie took the time to talkto me and she looked me
straight in the eyes and I don'tremember what we talked about.
(15:27):
But then mom asked to have a CDand she did so we went to the
counter and we bought it and shesigned it for me and I remember
I mean I listened to that CD alot on my little CD player on
the bus.
I thought it was so cool, joewith my earphones listening to
solo piano as a fifth grader,but that moment of giving, being
(15:53):
able to be that inspiration forso many precious young ones,
and I loved how that storystarted on the live stream and
then they came to connect inperson.
Joe Miller (16:04):
And.
Kelsey Lee Cate (16:05):
I've stayed connected with their family and
thanks to their father Frank andbeing able to stay present.
I love to tell people that comeespecially from a place in
public where them all is just.
You walk by and you'resurprised by music and I say I
also live stream and so if youwant, you can say hi.
(16:26):
Let me know your kiddo's namein the chat and I'll say hi on
camera.
Joe Miller (16:30):
Oh yeah, yeah, that's connection.
Kelsey Lee Cate (16:33):
Yeah, oh, yeah, I love it.
Joe Miller (16:36):
That's great, of course.
I know that there's a storysimilar to this and it kind of
is how we got connected andthat's through Michael Gettel.
Your participation in his lastalbum playing on the piece Rose
at Rise did you play with him on.
Yeah, Do you want to take itjust a couple of minutes?
(16:57):
Because this is you as thelittle girl.
Little girl, smaller girl.
Kelsey Lee Cate (17:01):
Oh yeah, I'd love to.
Joe Miller (17:03):
Young one.
Kelsey Lee Cate (17:04):
Yeah well, my folks bought a CD of his on one
of their early anniversaries.
And I mean, joe, we grow upalways listening to his music as
a family and it was part of ourdinner routine.
Often would be his CDs or roadtrips, when I think of driving
in Eastern Washington at nightwith the stars, some of his
(17:26):
music from Return, his returnalbum, or dinner cozy San Juan
suite Friends, you got to checkhim out.
Last name, g-e-t-t-e-l MichaelGettle, and I remember I had a
click wheel to remember theiPods that had the wheel and if
you yeah.
So I would for one of his songsand saying one sweet, for
(17:48):
example, the first one, suicaBay.
I wanted to learn how to playthat and so I would.
I would constantly carefullyrewind and then I'd hit it a
little too hard so I'd go backto the beginning.
So I got really good at thebeginning for a long time and
then I started learning how toemulate more of the chord
structure and the patterns, andso a lot of his music Is crazy.
Joe Miller (18:12):
Was it left hand ostinato patterns?
Kelsey Lee Cate (18:15):
or left and right, for sure.
Joe Miller (18:18):
And right.
Yeah, it's true.
Kelsey Lee Cate (18:20):
Yeah, and so I remember some of the chord
progressions as well that I meanI learned so much from him
listening as a kid and Iremember laying on my tummy
getting my ears close to thespeakers I could with his, his
music that had animal sounds,that had whale calls, and it was
so mysterious and it added tothat musical experience and I
(18:43):
actually just talked to Michaelabout this recently that it was
a very tailored track.
That particular whale song tosing with with his music was
just amazing to to now talk tothe artist, and so I remember
growing up there, the wholeculture of interacting with the
pianist is very different.
(19:03):
You know, you have the label,the art that was released, and
maybe you got to meet thepianist and they signed it, like
with Lori Z and me eight yearold me.
But I found Michael on Facebookand I was probably 23.
And I just fangirled, really.
I send, sent him a message andjust said hey, michael, I want
you to know how much our familyhas really appreciated your
(19:25):
music and I shared how he'shelped me to learn how to play
by ear and so that was just.
That was the beginning ofconnecting and then, years later
, I, in a bold moment, startedsharing some of his music on my
live streams and saying I love,I love this song and I started
(19:47):
interpreting it in my own way,and then I think this most of it
.
In 2020, michael starteddropping in the live stream and
so I saw his name popping in andI was like, oh my gosh, she's
here.
And so it was so fun, and myparents were in the chat, my
grandma was in the chat, and itwas such a special moment to to
(20:08):
watch this connection happen,and my parents got to also thank
Michael personally, and so thenI asked him when I released my
first album which is around thesame time, beginning of 2020, if
he would be willing to reviewit, and so he did, and what was
the?
Joe Miller (20:26):
what was the name of the album?
Kelsey Lee Cate (20:27):
So this album is called Poema Stories.
Joe Miller (20:30):
From the Piano.
What does that mean?
You said you shared this withme.
Kelsey Lee Cate (20:33):
Yes, poema means work of art and my I'd
love to share my heart for thealbum too, if we have time, and
the message with it, but it wasjust.
It was a surreal experience forMichael to to take time
listening to my work, and alsothere's a part of me where I was
(20:54):
like, oh, I hope I haven'ttaken any of his music I don't
think I have, luckily, no but itwas really special and I have
his endorsement on my website.
So then we stayed connected andhe invited me to collaborate
with him on Rise and this.
That song is part of an albumthat is the first that he's
(21:15):
released in about 20 years andit's called the View From here,
and it's just wonderful, sowonderful.
Joe Miller (21:21):
Yes, I had the pleasure of interviewing Michael
before that because MichaelMichael and I met on a worship
team at a church in Colorado andI remember him sitting down as
a young man playing crazy stuffbefore the service and surprise.
Where is this coming from?
Wow, and yeah.
(21:44):
So I'd like to think that hewas well in his way, moving
towards that album project, butI'd like to think our
conversation helped a little bit.
Michael have to let us know.
Kelsey Lee Cate (21:57):
Yes.
Joe Miller (21:59):
But listen, you uncovered something I wanted to
dig into.
So, in terms of connecting withyour audience, I think there's
several different ways youno-transcript or maybe several
different types of people andtypes of connection you make.
I was thinking about this and Ithink obviously there's people
who just enjoy listening to youplay on your live streams or in
(22:21):
public, in the mall or whereverthat may be restaurant.
They just enjoy it.
They're not musicians, butthey're in the music
appreciation crowd and I seethat on your live stream.
I see the comments.
I think there's anothercategory of people who are maybe
aspiring musicians.
And then the final categorythat I'd like to sort of tick
(22:45):
through these, have yourthoughts on these categories, is
the people you've donecollaborations with, and we just
talked about one of those andthat's Michael, but you've done
so many others.
So can we start and just kindof unpack those different groups
and what's it like for you toconnect with them?
Kelsey Lee Cate (23:04):
Sure.
So the interesting thing aboutlive streaming is I have no idea
who's gonna be coming in, andwhen I started multicasting,
that took away the ability forme to see the names of people
coming in, like when I firststarted on Facebook Live.
So that has its benefits anddrawbacks.
(23:25):
It was definitely a benefitwhen I saw ooh Michael's in the
chat right At the very beginning, but what's interesting about
not being able to see is I havea large network on Facebook, for
example, where there are manyprofessionals in the area that
can pop in and out, and I've hadover time professionals saying
(23:47):
they appreciate what I'm doing,they appreciated this and that,
and they recall things and I hadno idea they were even there or
listening.
I can't, I don't know, unlessyou're in the chat.
So, but I would say that hasreally allowed me to just dig
more into that main goal ofconnecting.
And so and one of my favoritegroups to play for actually are
(24:10):
those who are the musicappreciators, and I didn't I
don't know if I've mentionedthis to you yet, but I was
originally a music therapyintended student at Seattle
Pacific University beforechanging and I decided, instead
of doing more of a clinicalroute, using music as it to
achieve non-musical goals.
I wanted to use music toachieve non-musical goals in
(24:34):
more of a butterfly fashion, somore free, and I could connect
with the appreciators and havethose one-on-one conversations
in a more relaxed, free flowmanner.
So the music appreciators,whether they're in the chat or
sometimes at Bellevue Square,they'll pop into the live stream
when I'm live till five, causesometimes I turn on my phone, I
(24:55):
put it to the left of me at thepiano and I give folks a window
in to the shopping center, intothis beautiful nine foot
Steinway Grand Piano, and it issuch a fun window to open.
In fact, once I think I hadfive countries with me during
the live stream.
And so the amateur pianists andthose who are aspiring are
(25:19):
really fun too, because they askquestions, they make the chat
more lively, they areinteracting or they say, oh, I
wanna try that chord progression.
Thanks for giving me the detailand so it's really nice to be
able to be a resource for folksthat have questions, hearing
that creative process and reallymy heart and I would say for my
(25:39):
messages, often with Poema,this desire to just simply
celebrate the innate creativitythat we each have, and so my
hope with that work and mymessage, my life messages, is
that we would each be inspiredto create and free it up to
create the way that we areuniquely designed.
So I've been kind of playingwith this brand of create like
(26:02):
you as well in the middle of thelive streams and encouraging
amateur pianists and alsocreatives at large to think
about the ways that they flow,the way that they're creative.
And I believe a lot of thoseare in the musical appreciators
camp but they wouldn'tnecessarily think of themselves
as creatives.
(26:23):
But I've had some really sweetconversations with folks who
have said you've inspired me,I'm gonna try piano or I'm gonna
try guitar or painting, and itis so.
That is awesome.
Joe Miller (26:34):
Yeah, you know, I just wanted to jump in.
As a believer or a person offaith, I believe that we are
made in the image of God and Godis a creator, yes, and so
that's part of who we are.
Our identity is all.
We're all creators and, as yousaid, it doesn't necessarily
(26:54):
have to be music, but we allhave something to bring out of
ourselves and sometimes it staysbottled up, and so being part
of that user, that inspirationalenergy or person who helps
bring that to the fore, is abeautiful thing, and I do see
(27:14):
you also mentioned that duringyour live stream.
Sometimes you talk about whatyou're doing, so it's not just
so people would understand whohaven't joined you, it's not
just performing the whole timeyou stop and say, no, I'm doing
this, see if you notice this, orI'm gonna try this now, and I
think that's very engaging,kelsey.
I think it really is.
(27:36):
I'm so glad that's my hope yeah,and so what about the
collaborative group?
Kelsey Lee Cate (27:42):
Yeah, so there have been some really neat out
of the blue ways that I'veconnected with these people and
actually I even thought of morefolks after I sent you my notes,
joe and there have been somethat I've met on Facebook John
Albert Thomas he actually becamea business coach of mine and
(28:04):
he's also a solo piano artistand Christoph Pagel and I met
and he's Christoph's fromGermany.
This was actually more of arecent collaboration as of last
holiday season, and we connectedon one of my social media
pieces I'm not sure if it was aTikTok or a YouTube video.
(28:24):
It might've been YouTube.
Actually, it was a speciallivestream I did I remember that
now and I was over at afriend's house and they had a
grand piano set up and he hadmulticam angles that he was
doing and it was a reallyspecial one and Christoph said
something about wishing he coulddo more, but it was just it was
crazy during pandemic and kidsat home and all that.
(28:46):
So it went from just having acasual artist to artist.
You know, chat in DMs to hey,what if we try doing a
collaboration?
Cause I saw that he had a storyand with the create like you
message, that is definitely apassion project of mine.
I have been also trying my handat recording my own
(29:09):
conversations.
Where we have, we have chats,and I have some of these, if
you're interested my friends onYouTube on my Kelsey Lee music
or Kelsey Lee Kate YouTubechannel, and that you can listen
to their.
The little bucket or playlistis called create like you
podcast, and so on.
(29:31):
During that show with Christoph,I asked for him to share his
story and I actually asked himto record himself playing some
excerpts of his music.
He had asked me when we firstmet if he could send me some CDs
that were in a factory in theStates that were going to get
destroyed.
So I said, absolutely, I'll takepossession of these CDs.
(29:53):
And so then I thought well, whydon't we do a creative collab
where we sell a bundle of my CDsplus a couple of yours, we'll
offer a couple of differentpackages, and then we'll bake in
to the podcast interview someclips of you actually playing
some of these pieces and then inbetween listening and watching
you play, I want to hear thestory behind the music.
(30:15):
So that collab, joe, was reallyfun because I got to really try
my hand at at different typesof creative editing.
And then also I told him, forthe folks that purchased, that
these folks would be writing thepeople that they want us to
(30:37):
autograph the CD for, and sothen I had Christoph hand write
his autograph, take a picture ofit and send it to me, and then
I printed it and added that too,so it was as connected or as
personal as possible.
So that was a really fun collab.
Joe Miller (30:54):
Yeah, that's great.
Of course, we already talkedabout the Michael Wanners and
any others that come them on.
You think it'd be interestingto share.
Kelsey Lee Cate (31:00):
Yes, there's a pianist that I met at the Space
Needle Jason and Jason Lux L-U-Xis his artist name on YouTube
and we stayed connected and hewas actually the one that
invited me to play at Candles acouple years later.
And he has a very large YouTubefollowing a big following on
(31:22):
Spotify music, and so he lovesto do creative collaborations
with folks.
And so a couple years ago wewere just improvising at a piano
store in Bellevue, washingtonclassic pianos, and I worked
there for many years and we justdecided to hang out and record
our own take on Edelweiss plusfavorite things.
(31:43):
So those two together andsurprisingly, years later, that
video has gotten some it's likeover 270,000 views and amazing
meaningful comments, a lot offolks asking for the music, and
we're just like, well, we didn'tplan any of that, we probably
should have transcribed it, butso that was really fun and he's
(32:07):
he still plays at Candles and westay connected.
In fact, I have some of hislights here and last year he
invited me to do a duelingpianist live stream with him
from his studio, which wasreally fun and that was probably
a definite creative highlightthat I'd never tried before of a
(32:29):
live stream with anothermusician.
Joe Miller (32:32):
That's really cool, that's really interesting.
So let me ask you this question.
You've gone through thesetransitions.
Obviously, you moved throughthe pandemic, did a lot more
online, and that's born a lot offruit, a lot of connections for
collaborations and and you'vereally shared your gift with so
(32:55):
many that way.
What are you currentlytransitioning in in terms of new
projects or new endeavors?
Are there things that you'releaning into?
I'm kind of aware of a fewthings, but I just want to give
you some time to talk about it.
Kelsey Lee Cate (33:11):
Sure.
So I would love to lean intothat passion project of create,
like you, and to to really my.
What I love doing there isinterviewing and introducing
other amazing folks that haveinspired me over a coffee chat
(33:32):
and actually share that wisdomwith my other community members.
That would be really wanting tohear that and, of course,
there's collaborations that comewith that.
I would love to do more musicvideos.
I would love to connect withother videographers and I have
ideas for creativity.
In fact, I have my firstofficial music video Almost
(33:55):
ready to release and it's thepoem, a title track.
I shot it half at a gorgeoushome and then half at a coffee
shop and with a painter actually, which is very fun.
So, and then also somethingthat I've just been and really
wanting to do more is actuallyhouse concerts, and house
(34:17):
concerts essentially are such abeautiful way to connect with
folks in a smaller setting,their friends, their family, of
the host, and I have theopportunity to really connect
more deeply with these folks andand to to share my story, and
there's been some really specialvulnerable moments as well
(34:39):
where they they share some oftheir heart and their journey.
So that is something I wouldlove to figure out how to do
more.
Actually, david, my husband andI were on a walk the other
night, going through thesebeautiful homes and these
neighborhoods, and I thought,man, wouldn't it be fun to just
knock on the door of 20 housesand say, hey, do you know
somebody that has a beautifulgrand piano?
(34:59):
Would you like a house concertin your home?
So I'm trying to figure out howto how to do that more.
And then also, in addition tohouse concerts, I would really
love to start recording customsongs for people, and I've done
this a little bit, being able torecord music for folks that I'm
(35:22):
able to put on my Spotify, allthe different channels, but they
have a really unique role inhelping me to choose what to
record.
So if any of your listeners areinterested to follow along in
that, the easiest way really isto add yourselves to my email
newsletter, which you can findon my website, and there's going
(35:43):
to be more that's coming, and,of course, I'll be posting about
this on social.
But also not everybody wants tobe on social media.
Yeah, that's true.
Joe Miller (35:55):
And you do.
I think you have had anaddition to all of that, which
sounds really cool.
This house house concert stuffis interesting.
There's a lot of people I'vebeen in a lot of homes where
there's been beautiful grandpianos and maybe they were
purchased originally for onefamily member who is no longer
with them and they're just notgetting played and it brings a
(36:18):
lot of joy back into the home tohave someone come in and do
just what you're proposing.
But you also have shared someguides and sort of instructional
stuff from time to time, haveyou not?
Kelsey Lee Cate (36:31):
Oh, yes, I have .
I've explored with that and Iused to.
I love to coach adults becauseit's a different ballgame than
coaching students, where youhave a particular curriculum
that you're using, but instead,working with adults, you kind of
work backwards from their goalsand help to break up and the
(36:55):
steps in the process.
And I've done coaching on Zoom.
I've done in person in mystudio.
Folks have come.
But more recently I've beendoing tips videos and I've tried
my hand at doing some of thatwhere people can just watch on
YouTube.
I did a scale map challengethis spring where I wanted to
(37:16):
show the beauty and the funthere is in actually playing
with the scale, and so I createda little guide.
That was the first time I'veactually made something that
people can download.
And then I, on social media,did five days where there is a
little exercise per day and ifyou scroll down my feed you'd be
able to find them.
So, yeah, there's probablythere might be more challenges
(37:40):
of that nature, but that's,that's something new.
I'm interested in continuing.
It's a lot.
Joe Miller (37:45):
You got a lot going.
Yeah, let me ask this questionbecause I think it's a good way
to kind of bring togethervarious different things we've
talked about, and that is kindof the advice question.
What advice would you give tosomeone who and let's let's
target this to people who maybeare aspiring musicians, and what
advice would you give them ifthey're sort of starting their
(38:07):
journey, that you have learnedsome things along the way and
wish you had known when youstarted?
Kelsey Lee Cate (38:15):
things.
That is, this unspoken sourceof tension, is this expectation
to reach a particularunattainable standard for
oneself.
I could just speak to my ownexpectation of that, and some of
it's founded on the opinions ofothers, maybe.
(38:38):
Maybe I've heard at least forme I heard folks that I really
look up to share oh, I don'tlike this or that, and I'm
thinking, well, that's what I do, you know, for example, or or
different things that I wouldhear on on teaching videos or
(38:59):
whatever of of of a criticalnature, and I would really
encourage other people to to nipthat in the bud, to to take
your own journey seriously andto figure out ways to to connect
(39:19):
with the way that you write,the way that you express and
then like with, with theimportance of having vegetables,
good protein, good fat, likeyour macro nutrients you could
think of, of appropriate musictheory and learning all of the
musculature, of music.
That is really good andimportant, and to that structure
(39:46):
add your skin, add your color,add your expression.
Joe Miller (39:50):
So there's many ways to do that.
But yeah kind of that idea offinding your own voice.
Basically, yeah.
Yeah, so that's that's great,and I think this comes out with
almost all the conversations Ihave around transitions and
finding your gifts and puttingyour gifts into the world.
(40:11):
And you know, and it'slistening, being careful, what
you listen to.
In terms of feedback, yeah,those tapes that that we have
programmed into our, our headsat a young age and lots, lots of
(40:33):
times there could be people wholove us and mean, mean well,
and I'm trying to look out forus, but they're kind of can be
limited.
Then we have our own limitingbeliefs and the whole topic of
the imposter syndrome, right,yeah, being afraid of how what
you do is going to land ratherthan focusing on just your own
(40:58):
creative process and getting alittle bit off of the outcome, a
little bit more in the moment.
Kelsey Lee Cate (41:07):
Yeah, Couldn't agree more.
Joe Miller (41:09):
And I remember whose song this was.
But I always think about thisfear factor.
That song by I can't rememberwho was, but it's the line is
get up and dance.
You know, get up and dance.
And it's this idea that you'vegot to step out in life.
You know you have to take somerisks.
(41:32):
If you take no risks, you know,then you're really limiting
yourself.
And we all fail, and failing ispart of the growth process.
Kelsey Lee Cate (41:46):
Absolutely, if we didn't have any any
fertilizer, that there would befar fewer nutrients that we
could drop from Detroit.
Joe Miller (41:58):
Mushrooms, whichever you prefer.
Kelsey Lee Cate (42:00):
Mushrooms.
Yeah yeah, that's very wise,and I think limiting beliefs are
are, um.
I think maybe the final piece Iwould add to this whole thing
is, um, the.
The very necessary part ofbeing a modern musician is
developing one's relationshipand mindset with regards to tech
(42:22):
and social connection.
And if there's anything I wishsomeone told me when I was first
starting all of this is towrite in big, bold letters on
like a piece of, you know,construction paper.
Put it up on your wall, it isnot too much.
You can eat whatever you know.
You can eat the elephant onebite at a time and you can do it
(42:46):
.
And it can if you're justmaking your goal to be 1% better
with every upload.
I cringe and laugh at some ofthe stuff I posted years ago,
and that's great.
It shows the progression andeach piece of content you
release is like a journalstatement for that time and you
can look back on it and you aresuccessful if you are fully
(43:07):
invested in that moment whereyou are and then take your next
step and then your next step andyou can learn anything with
tech.
If I can do it, anybody can.
Joe Miller (43:19):
Well, I feel the same way too.
But yeah, that's a greatmessage on mastery comes through
all these small moves, you know, small incremental moves
compounding over time.
Kelsey Lee Cate (43:30):
Atomic habits.
Joe Miller (43:32):
Atomic habits.
Kelsey Lee Cate (43:34):
James Clear right.
Joe Miller (43:35):
James Clear, yeah, yeah, and then you can see the
powerful message there.
Well, listen, kelsey, where nowyou've talked about several
times.
But let's just use, let's givethe monikers and I'll drop this
in the show notes.
But Kelsey Lee Kate at, kelseyLee Kate, everywhere.
(43:56):
Yeah, I would say, the easiestwebsite is Kelsey.
Kelsey Lee Cate (44:00):
Lee music.
Kelseylee musiccom would beyour best bet.
And then you can find all thelinks there to social.
You can find the link to mynewsletter and I would love to
connect with you.
Feel free to send a DM.
Join my live stream sometime.
I'd love to see you.
Joe Miller (44:20):
And then, for anyone watching this, drop comments in
the in the notes below.
Let us know.
You know right there whatquestions you may have and we'll
be.
We'll be looking for for thoseresponses and follow up with you
if we can.
So thanks again, kelsey, forbeing on the show.
I really appreciate it.
Kelsey Lee Cate (44:40):
Joe, it's such a pleasure bringing your gifts
into this world.
Thank you.
Thank you for the pleasure ofbeing invited to come and speak
to your audience here withTitans of Transition, and you
really just you do such anamazing job of pulling wisdom
from many different sources toyour listeners, and I'm really
honored to be among them.
Thank you.
Joe Miller (45:02):
Thank you.
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