Light Up the Lawn: Kat King

Kat King’s career started as far back as 2nd grade in a small town in Kansas. Accompanied by acoustic guitar and piano in her early career, King tugged at the heartstrings of listeners with her clever and cryptic in-the-closet ballads. As a solo singer-songwriter act, she produced one 13-song album and three EPs, with the first one released when she was 14. Now based in Kansas City, King has graduated into a five-piece indie-pop rock group with a five-song EP and two singles. In April 2021, the group dropped its first single, “Don’t Wanna Lose.” The tune made it into regular rotation on Kansas City’s local station, 90.9 The Bridge. It was later voted second place for The Bridge’s listeners choice of Best Songs of 2021. In June 2021, the group released their first five-song EP, “Say What You Mean.” It captures audiences with feelings of love, loss and self-acceptance while simultaneously inviting listeners to get up and dance. Sophie Johnson of Manor Records said, “Listening to this EP feels like you have heard one of the most entertaining and cleverly written stories about a period of Kat’s life.” The band experienced significant momentum throughout 2022 after releasing their single, “New Sun,” another tune to quickly make its way into regular rotation on The Bridge. They played Boulevardia, which left an aftermath of talk for getting a packed pit of fans dancing and singing along. This landed them the local headlining spot for KC’s Plaza Art Fair, which again blossomed into an energetic pit that warranted passerby attention. Their following single, “With Nothing in My Way,” was described as “a superlative sad banger” by Nick Spacek of The Pitch. They’ve quickly made a name for themselves as a KC crowd favorite. Through different musical projects, Kat King has opened for an impressive list of artists, including Michigander, Creed Bratton, Houndmouth, Nathaniel Rateliff, Leon Bridges, Ohmme, Lomelda and Eliza & the Delusionals.