Kate Wolf

Biography

Kate Wolf (born Kathryn Louise Allen; January 27, 1942 – December 10, 1986) was an American folk singer and songwriter. Though her career was relatively short, she had a significant impact on the folk music scene. Her best-known compositions include "Here in California", "Love Still Remains", "Across the Great Divide", "Unfinished Life", “Green Eyes” and "Give Yourself to Love×Give Yourself to Love1983 · Album · LiveSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Give Yourself to Love3:582Desert Wind2:493Peaceful Easy Feeling5:164The Ballad of Weaverville4:225Green Eyes4:546You're Not Standing Like You Used To3:397The Hobo5:018Hurry Home2:349Some Kind of Love4:3810Who Knows Where the Time Goes5:36". She recorded six albums as a solo artist. She was elected to the NAIRD Independent Music Hall of Fame in 1987. Her songs have since been recorded by Nanci Griffith and Emmylou Harris (whose recording of "Love Still Remains" was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1999).

Biography

Wolf was born in San Francisco to John Fred Allen (1915–1991) and Ernestine Ruth Allen, née Endicott (1918−1996). She began studying piano at 4 but quit at 16 because of her shyness. During their senior year (1959–60) at Berkeley High School, Kathy Allen and her friend Marian Auerbach (now Shapiro) sang folk songs at the Berkeley High School Talent Shows (1957 and 1960). At age 19 she first met Saul Wolf, an architecture student at UC Berkeley; they married two years later. They had two children, born in 1964 and 1967.
In 1969 she became part of the Big Sur music community and developed rapidly as a guitarist and songwriter, influenced by such friends as Gil "Jellyroll" Turner and George Schroder. In 1971, she parted from Saul Wolf on good terms and moved to Sonoma County. There she formed her first band, The Wildwood Flower, with Don Coffin, whom she later married.
Her first album, Back Roads×Back Roads1976 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Lately4:272Emma Rose3:383Sitting on the Porch2:304The Redtail Hawk3:595Telluride4:246Goodbye Babe2:507It Ain't in the Wine3:028Tequila & Me3:339Legend in His Time4:5610Riding in the Country2:1911Oklahoma Going Home5:0112Back Roads4:03, released in 1976 on her own label, Owl Records, was recorded in a living room with the band Wildwood Flower, and was "remarkably well done." An important mentor, friend and touring companion was Utah Phillips. In 1979, she separated from Don Coffin, and the Wildwood Flower folded, and guitarist and mandolin player Nina Gerber became her accompanist for the rest of her career.
She was married to Terry Fowler from 1982 until her death on December 10, 1986, at age 44, after a long battle with leukemia. She is buried at a small church cemetery in Goodyears Bar, California. In 1987, the World Folk Music Association established the Kate Wolf Award to honor her memory.

Music festival

Wolf's music was celebrated each year toward the end of June at the Kate Wolf Memorial Music Festival held at Black Oak Ranch in Laytonville, California. Several thousand guests attended this outdoor festival, which was regularly headlined by popular folk musicians such as Nina Gerber and Greg Brown. The festival traditionally closed with Wolf's song "Give Yourself to Love×Give Yourself to Love1983 · Album · LiveSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Give Yourself to Love3:582Desert Wind2:493Peaceful Easy Feeling5:164The Ballad of Weaverville4:225Green Eyes4:546You're Not Standing Like You Used To3:397The Hobo5:018Hurry Home2:349Some Kind of Love4:3810Who Knows Where the Time Goes5:36".
The 25th annual Kate Wolf Music Festival was scheduled for June 2020, then postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It took place 2 years later, as a 4-day festival, rescheduled to June 23–26, 2022. According to the promoters, Back Road Productions, 2022 was the final Kate Wolf Music Festival.

Tributes and covers

American folk duo Buskin and Batteau wrote "Never Cry Wolf" as a tribute to Wolf.
Scottish-born Australian singer-songwriter Eric Bogle wrote "Katie and the Dreamtime Land" as a tribute to Wolf.
Greg Brown wrote and performed "Kate's Guitar", which is on his 2004 album In the Hills of California, recorded live at the Kate Wolf Memorial Music Festival.
'Gaelic Americana' singer Kyle Carey covered Wolf's song "Across the Great Divide" which is on her 2014 album North Star.
"Across the Great Divide" is the first track on Nanci Griffith's 1993 cover album called Other Voices, Other Rooms. She is accompanied by Emmylou Harris.
Klezmer revival folk musicians Daniel Kahn and Sarah Mina Gordon premiered a Yiddish-language cover of Wolf's "Telluride" at the Yiddish Book Center's YidStock Klezmer Festival in July 2019.
Songwriter, Joel Koosed, upon hearing on the radio of Wolf's death, wrote "Goodbye, Kate Wolf."
In 1998, a tribute album titled Treasures Left Behind: Remembering Kate Wolf was released by Red House Records. The album contains Wolf songs performed by various artists and the booklet contains tributes and remembrances about her.Track listing:
"Give Yourself to Love×Give Yourself to Love1983 · Album · LiveSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 10 tracks1Give Yourself to Love3:582Desert Wind2:493Peaceful Easy Feeling5:164The Ballad of Weaverville4:225Green Eyes4:546You're Not Standing Like You Used To3:397The Hobo5:018Hurry Home2:349Some Kind of Love4:3810Who Knows Where the Time Goes5:36" (Kathy Mattea)
"These Times We're Living In" (Dave Alvin)
"Friend of Mine" (Nanci Griffith)
"Sweet Love" (John Gorka)
"Here in California" (Lucinda Williams)
"Like a River" (Peter Rowan & The Rowan Brothers)
"Carolina Pines" (Cris Williamson & Tret Fure)
"See Here, She Said" (U. Utah Phillips)
"In China, or a Woman's Heart" (Rosalie Sorrels)
"Tequila and Me" (Greg Brown & Ferron)
"Back Roads×Back Roads1976 · Studio albumSpotify (search)YouTube Music (search)Tracklist · 12 tracks1Lately4:272Emma Rose3:383Sitting on the Porch2:304The Redtail Hawk3:595Telluride4:246Goodbye Babe2:507It Ain't in the Wine3:028Tequila & Me3:339Legend in His Time4:5610Riding in the Country2:1911Oklahoma Going Home5:0112Back Roads4:03" (Nina Gerber)
"Cornflower Blue" (Eric Bogle)
"Love Still Remains" (Emmylou Harris)
"Thinking About You" (Terry Garthwaite)
In 2002, Will Oldham under the name Bonny Billy and Rainywood (who would later become Brightblack Morning Light) released a Kate Wolf tribute split single. Oldham covered Wolf's "Brother Warrior" while Rainywood covered Wolf's "Cornflower Blue". The single was issued by Oldham's Palace Records through Drag City Records.Bonny Billy / Rainywood - Brother Warrior / Cornflower Blue