Kaia Kater

Kaia Kater is a Canadian singer-songwriter, guitar, piano, and banjo player born in Montreal, Quebec. She started playing the banjo at 12 years old and attended Davis & Elkins College in Elkins, West Virginia on a banjo scholarship. Her mother is from Quebec, and her father immigrated to Canada from Grenada as a teenager in 1986. Through her artful banjo playing and lush songwriting, Kaia draws on influences rooted in Quebec, the Caribbean, and Appalachia. She has released several albums including "Old Soul" (2013) when she was just out of high school, "Sorrow Bound" (2015), "Nine Pin" (2016), "Grenades" (2018), and "Strange Medicine" (May 2024). In 2016, she won the "Pushing the Boundaries" award at the 12th Canadian Folk Music Awards for "Nine Pin." "Grenades" was nominated for Contemporary Roots Album of the Year at the 2019 JUNO Awards. Her most recent album "Strange Medicine" won Contemporary Roots Album of the Year at the 2025 JUNOs. In 2020, Kaia participated in the Slaight Music Residency at the Canadian Film Centre and wrote original music for "The Porter," winning a Canadian Screen Award for the project. Kaia Kater's innovative approach to the banjo, combined with her powerful songwriting exploring themes of identity, history, and family, has established her as one of the most exciting voices in contemporary roots music.

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