It’s been quite a year for the Cedar Fall-based folk-pop duo Brad & Kate, who are also married, in addition to their successful musical partnership. They became first-time parents in February, played a busy schedule of shows as usual, and were Studio One’s Artists of the Month in November. And in just a few days, they’ll be playing a sold-out show at the Oster Regent Theatre in Cedar Falls: the first ever Little Holiday Spectacular.
Brad & Kate have built a strong following across Iowa in a few short years, and they’ve done it the old-fashioned way: by performing several times a week, all over the state. Their live shows are a mix of well-chosen cover songs, along with originals from their debut album, Next Year, so they fit in really well at just about any live music setting.
All of this makes it a little embarrassing that I, also a resident of the Waterloo-Cedar Falls area, didn’t get around to hearing them perform live until summer of 2021, at the Cedar Basin Music Festival. During their performance, Kate repeatedly expressed the band’s gratitude for the opportunity to play their original songs.
“That was one of my favorite shows we have ever played,” said Kate. “I can't describe why, but it was just really special. It depends on the venue, because I think some people go to certain venues because they just want to hear songs they know. And so if we're in a spot like that, we try to play songs they know, but maybe they haven't heard 400 other times that month from whoever's playing.”
“But then as we've started introducing our originals, I feel like we've brought people along with us, and we've attracted even some definitely some new people,” said Kate. “And I feel like people are with us as we transition, and then we just say ‘no’ to some of the stuff that doesn't seem like the right fit.”
About half of Brad & Kate’s shows are with a full band, and the other half feature just the two of them as a duo. For these shows, Brad will add percussion with his foot on a tambourine, and Kate will play a small acoustic bass called a “U bass.” Although it can be challenging for both, it’s a challenge they enjoy.
“The first few times we did it, my brain was on fire trying to think of the alternate rhythm while I was singing,” said Kate. “It's now how I prefer to play it, actually. And I kind of want to kick our bass player out,” she said with a laugh.
“Since I still play a little bit of a drum set every now and then, it's kind of bizarre to switch that right foot back and forth and rewire my brain a little bit,” said Brad. “But it is pretty natural, and I try to keep it pretty simple with the tambourine.”
Most of their original songs can be found on Next Year, which was released in 2022. Brad & Kate held a successful crowdfunding campaign for the album, which had a title before it had a title track.
“We had such an overwhelming response that we were able to add more songs,” said Kate. “We did not have a track called ‘Next Year,’ so we had to write one for it.”
“We kind of looked at the collection of songs, and because so many of these songs were written in 2020, (there) was just this concept of the season of life that it felt like a lot of people were in, including us,” said Kate, explaining the significance of the album’s title. “I think it's so easy to put things off, put off dreams. And I feel like in some ways we've done that, put off songwriting or put off going for this thing or that thing. And so a lot of this album was kind of just us coming out to say ‘We're not waiting, we're going to go for our dreams. We're not going to put it off till next year. We're going to do it now.’”
In both marriage and songwriting, Brad and Kate complement each other well. “It's just so good to be a pair, because Brad has qualities that I don't, and I think we really just bring out the best in each other, and also just pick up what the other person lacks,” said Kate. "So not only are we married, but we just really enjoy having the balance of two different types of people to make this work.”
For Brad, it’s been a lesson in letting go of his perfectionist tendencies, or as he calls it, “Perfectionville.”
“I think to be honest, as I'm discovering and opening up my artistic self more and more, I'm trying to recover from perfectionism,” said Brad, as Kate laughed nearby. “So honestly, that's kind of a place where I used to live even more. I had a full-time home in ‘Perfectionville,’ and now I'm trying to only visit there on vacation, sometimes when I have to.”
Brad & Kate are, of course, planning more live shows, which Kate calls their “bread and butter,” and are also busily writing more music.
“There's a combo of holding gratitude and appreciation for what we've been able to learn, and people we've met along the way,” said Brad. “And along with that, there is a real hunger to not stop and not settle. I am really thankful and honestly proud of the album, and getting that experience has made us hungry just to get back into the studio. We have more songs we need to record, and just kind of hopefully keep growing, growing more releases, more studio time, and then honestly expanding outside of Iowa a little bit too.”
Although the Little Holiday Spectacular is sold out, we can always hope Brad & Kate will do it again…wait for it…next year. In the meantime, the album Next Year is available on major streaming services.
