Audiences around the country have loved Kate McDonnell, and they’ve loved Kate Long. Now, here’s a chance to love both Kates at once!  

The two Kates met a few years ago, when Kate Long was judging a songwriting contest at the Mountain Stage NewSong Festival and Kate McDonnell won it!  They hit it off and stayed in touch.  Then, earlier this year, they decided to get together to stretch their limits. Creative collisions, they called them.  It was a chance for them to have fun, which means you will too.

Both sing straight to the heart.  Both can make an audience laugh and cry.  Both are funny, down-to-earth performers who immediately make you feel at home.  This Kate Kollision will unleash new creations and fresh arrangements of traditional tunes, as well as their own tunes. They’re even writing a song on the telephone for the occasion, called “Lift Me to Heaven before I Turn Mean.” 

Vermont’s Kate McDonnell delights her national audience with witty tunes, charming performances, and fabulous left-hand, upside-down guitar playing. She has received numerous awards, including First Place at NewSong and the Susquehanna songwriting contests.

West Virginia’s Kate Long’s beautiful songs have become classics that travel the world. Her “Who Will Watch the Homeplace,” for instance, was an International Bluegrass Music Association Song of the Year.  She’s funny, spiritual, and down-to-earth.

Kate Long is rooted in Appalachian traditional music.  Kate McDonnell is one of the best of the New England singer-songwriters.  Kate Long produces programs for West Virginia Public Broadcasting and is the writing coach for the Charleston Gazette.  Kate McDonnell is a full-time performing songwriter.

Kate McDonnell comes to us hot off a European music tour.  Kate Long comes to us hot off a West Virginia public radio series on the way the state is kicking elderly people off of in-home care. She’s working on a song about it.

Both Kates have appeared at The Kennedy Center Millenium Stage and on Mountain Stage and have been hosted by various major folk clubs and venues.  Both have won national songwriting awards.