At 14 years old, Kaatii—born Anna Katherine—calls the shots. While most young teens spend their free time at the mall, playing video games or watching movies, Kaatii is busy making music that’s featured on numerous radio stations and a variety of music industry tastemaker publications.
She’s consistently in the studio, writing with artists twice her age, and working on her craft. As collaborator, award-nominated singer-songwriter, Kara Connolly, puts it, “She’s playing the guitar, providing a playlist of reference tracks, selecting sounds, sending mix notes and confirming revisions…Kaatii is the real deal. She’s driving the ship.” When you think of a 14-year-old singer, what typically comes to mind is the Disney Channel—Hannah Montana—not the introspective, fearless, alt-rock, indie-pop artist that she is.
After being exposed to music early in life as her mom would take her and her sister to the opera and her dad would play bands like Muse, Radiohead, The Killers and Rush around the house, it was a family trip to Louisiana that inspired her own interest.
NDG 2/18: Democracy and White Privilege
Kaatii recounts, “We were with family friends and one of them had an acoustic guitar. I had never seen one before and I was mesmerized. I remember sitting in her lap, watching her play, and pretending I was playing. It was the most amazing thing and one of my most vivid memories. I got my first guitar a week later for my 7th birthday.” Her first gig was at a local coffee house in Dallas, TX not long after. Her first original song was written at 11 and she has continued to write on her own and with others ever since.
NDG 1/28: Arnold gives update on Dallas COVID-19 vaccine program
Although born and based in Dallas, Kaatii’s love for travel and commitment to her craft has taken her to music hubs throughout the country like Nashville, Los Angeles, and Austin to work with Grammy-nominated songwriters, mixing engineers, mastering pros, acclaimed artists, and producers. Recent trips to Los Angeles resulted in another first for Kaatii—the writing and recording of her very first set of songs for worldwide release.
NDG 1/14: Disavowing Black and Brown Votes: Just say ‘no more, not ever again’ and push back at corporations that support rogue Republican politicians
Despite only just beginning to release music this past summer, each of Kaatii’s first three singles have already amassed nearly 100K Spotify streams as she steadily grows a fanbase of supporters. As Unheard Gems puts it, “Emerging artist Kaatii is proving she is wise and talented beyond her years… Her voice has a sort of confidence and clarity that you might expect from a more established artist… Kaatii is guaranteed to be an absolute indie pop powerhouse if she keeps up this kind of work.”
Her latest single, “Dreamland,” arriving March 5th, immerses us in the mesmerizing world of her subconscious and is Kaatii’s most intimate effort yet. Written about a crush who repeatedly showed up in her dreams, Kaatii’s emotionally charged alto, ethereal harmonies and the track’s verbed guitars are reminiscent of critically acclaimed indie stars Angel Olsen, Beabadoobee, and Oscar Lang.
