A week in the life of musician Kat Moore

 

Six bands and at least 350 miles of Alaska highway. That's a standard week for multi-instrumentalist and all-around energy beacon Kathryn Moore, B.A. Music '14.

If you've seen a show in Anchorage, you've probably seen Kat, either electrifying the crowd on stage or keeping things lively in the crowd. She's a pianist and vocalist for the Super Saturated Sugar Strings, and performs solo as The Forest That Never Sleeps, but that's just the obvious stuff. Any given week, she'll be supporting friends' acts, filling in on lineups, booking future shows and, of course, practicing at home.

She entered UAA as a self-defined "leisure pianist," but the music program's emphasis on classical roots and musical theory provided new skills, both academic and applied.

"It broadened me as a musician," she said. She gained confidence through frequent Friday recitals. Theory and analysis classes "gave me a way to communicate music to other people." And as simple as its sounds, she learned how to practice.

"[Professors Karen Strid-Chadwick and Timothy Smith] basically taught me the importance of practicing, how to best time manage it, and also how to effectively focus during practicing," she added. "That was really special."

Though she didn't go into a music education career, Kat still felt ready for the world.

"The depth of the education I received at UAA allowed me to take it and make it my own, in a way that works for me as a career musician in this community," she said. "They've given me the education and enabled me with a toolset. Now, I get to do whatever I want with it."

And she's done quite a bit. Want to know what life is like as a professional musician? Read on for details of an exceptionally busy week (Sept. 6-13) in Kat's exceptionally busy life.

Wednesday-Jam for Justice benefit show

Kat kicked off the week at Williwaw with a benefit show for Alaska Community Action on Toxics alongside the Sivuqaq Dance Group of St. Lawrence Island.

"That was really unique," Kat said of the event. "We went to play a Sugar Strings show and these amazing Alaska Native dancers opened the show with these beautiful dances."

Friday-Solo performance in Anchorage

Kat next played as The Forest Never Sleeps-her solo project-at Van's Dive Bar in Anchorage. "That was an interesting one," she laughed. "I love to play, so I just played four hours non-stop Friday night."

Saturday-Season finale at the Sitzmark

Alongside the Sugar Strings, Kat played the final show of the summer season at Alyeska. "That was a really wild show," she said. "Just a pretty neat way to close out the season for them and initiate fall for us."

Sunday-Jamming in Hope

Kat left Girdwood to catch an afternoon set from Arkansas-based Seth Freeman Band at the Seaview in Hope, then jammed with the band from 10 p.m. 'til 6 in the morning in the musician's cabin. "We ended up having basically an eight-hour jam after their performance."

Monday-A (relative) off-day

Monday, she said, was "pretty chill:" rehearsals, practice, and simply playing some piano at home.

Tuesday-Double bills

"Tuesday morning, I had a rehearsal for a band called Leisure Kat, which is a '70s cover band, where I play cello and sing vocals along with guitarist J.J. Tranqulla [of Anchorage cover band I Like Robots]."

At 7:30 p.m., she took the stage as The Forest That Never Sleeps, playing the season premiere of Arctic Entries in downtown's 700-seat Discovery Theatre. But she couldn't stay long.

Immediately after that she was singing jazz at Van's with the Alex Cruver Trio, a band of former classmates from UAA's jazz combo course.

Wednesday-Business breakfast

"Wednesday was a pretty mellow day," Kat noted. She met up with Rosie Steffy-a multi-instrumentalist from Oakland, California-to talk tour details for Steffy's duo, Tall Grass. Afterwards, Kat went to settle payments with various venues from the previous week.

That night, it was another business meeting with the Sugar Strings. "We literally sat down in a corporate meeting room with a giant business table and a whiteboard." For three hours, they sketched out their values, goals and the future of the band until 10:30 p.m.

And that brings us back to... Thursday!

Things, obviously, kept rolling.

Kat and Tall Grass played a house show in Sutton Thursday night. Then on Friday, they played the final night of summer music at the Spike, a tiny bar in Denali Park. But no time to enjoy Denali's fall colors. Kat sang with grunge blues act The Dirty Hands all the way back in Anchorage the following night (...and headed to Homer by Monday).

How does she keep all this organized?

"It's a lot of spending time with your computer, and a cup of coffee or tea," she said, adding a special shout-out for Cedar Cussins '05, who she worked with at UAA. "She was the one who first introduced me to Google Calendar and it changed my life," Kat laughed.

Freelancing requires organization and determination, with a dash of diligence. The Sugar Strings often books six months in advance, and Kat fills remaining days with solo shows and support gigs.

She balances between the electric keyboard and the computer keyboard, negotiating payments and promotions, but it all lets her live as a professional musician in a beautiful community.

"It's the best thing in the world," she said of the Anchorage music scene. "It feels like family... Musicians here take care of other musicians like they're distant cousins they never met."

And it's certainly a unique family, as musicians are shaped by Alaska's size. With limited venues and a limited audience, each band can book a limited number of gigs without saturating the market (though that's not necessarily a bad thing).

"It's really rewarding because I think it encourages you as a musician to diversify," Kat said, citing bassists who play funk and country shows in the span of a day, or drummers who shift from jazz one night to hip-hop the next.

"Each and every one of us up here is incredibly diverse as a result of the market," she continued. Aside from piano and vocals, Kat also plays cello, rhythm guitar, washtub bass, Weissenborn and a little bit of fiddle.

"If you're making a living from performing, you better have a lot of different things to offer the music scene so you can play them all, all the time."

And she does play them all the time. Like her solo project name, Kat Moore, too, never seems to sleep.

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Where to catch Kat next:

Thursday, Sept. 21: The Forest Never Sleeps plays alongside Tall Grass (Oakland) and Barcelona Boys Choir (Fairbanks) at Williwaw, 7 p.m. in Anchorage

Friday, Sept. 22: The Super Saturated Sugar Strings return to Mat-Su College for a Radio Free Palmer benefit at Glenn Massay Theater.

Saturday, Sept. 30: Leisure Kat opens for Yachtly Crew at Williaw (plus dancers!!)

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For more shows, check out her solo project-The Forest That Never Sleeps- on Facebook.

For Super Saturated Sugar Strings shows, check out the band's website and Facebook page.

And you can take Kat with you, too. The Sugar Strings' latest album, All Their Many Miles, is available now at shows and online.