Kate Wolf
The unfinished life of a great singer and songwriter
If ever there were a time for Kate Wolf’s music, it would be now. The world needs her strong and sure, yet tender, touch.
For those unfamiliar with Kate Wolf, she was active as a lyricist, songwriter and performer of American folk music from 1971 until her death from acute leukemia in 1986. During those brief 15 years, Wolf composed nearly 200 songs, 56 of which she laid down in recordings.
Wolf’s music is distinctive in its narrative depth, touching on intimate themes that are not only comforting and reflective but evocative of the serene scenery and simple country life she enjoyed in Northern California, surrounded by like-minded musicians. Her poetry, her soothing alto and sometimes contralto voice, her lyrical phrasing and gentle, caressing instrumentations are wholly feminine; Wolf makes no effort to compete with her male counterparts in the folk world, her pieces speaking directly to women, describing the world as they see it, not unlike her contemporary, Joni Mitchell.
Wolf founded her band, The Wildwood Flower, in the early 1970s and would go on to become a renowned solo artist, releasing six albums between the years of 1976 and 1986. Tragically, in the midst of some of her best work, in early 1986, Wolf was diagnosed with leukemia and would die eight months later after a failed bone marrow transplant destroyed her immune system.
In the year before she passed away, Kate Wolf’s career had been on an upward trajectory, with her performing at some of the top music festivals in the United States and Canada, her recordings selling in the tens of thousands. Prior to her death on December 10, 1986, Wolf had been working on her final album, Gold in California: A Retrospective of Recordings 1975–1985, which featured her favorite studio recordings. This double album would posthumously earn Wolf the NAIRD Best Folk Album award (1987). For those unfamiliar — between 1972 and 1997, NAIRD, the National Association of Independent Record Distributors, had been the hub for indie labels, allowing independent artists to connect, network, and promote their music without the creative restraints and predatory practices epidemic among major record labels.
Gold in California was first released in 1987 by Kaleidoscope Records and rereleased in 1994 by Rhino Records. This exceptional collection of Wolf’s music can be purchased through the Official Kate Wolf Website, which has fittingly been created by her children, Max and Hannah, and her husband, Terry Fowler.
To fully appreciate the woman behind the music, listen to Kate Wolf’s in-depth interview with Tim Van Schmidt from 1985: Love Letter: An Hour With Kate Wolf. Insightful and inspiring. A favorite quote from this interview:
“I have found that when you give yourself away, you get what you need. If you take in, take in, it doesn’t work. But if you’re feeling stuck and feeling unfulfilled, to give your love away is like the mirror we were talking about. It creates a circle and comes back to you.” — Kate Wolf
ACROSS THE GREAT DIVIDE written by Kate Wolf, 1980 "The finest hour that I have seen Is the one that comes between The edge of night and the break of day It's when the darkness rolls away"
THE REDTAIL HAWK written by George Schroder, recorded by Wolf for her 1976 album, Back Roads "The redtail hawk writes songs across the sky There's music in the waters flowing by And you can hear a song each time the wind sighs In the golden rolling hills of California"
MIDNIGHT ON THE WATER A traditional fiddle tune attributed to Luke Thomasson, recorded by Wolf on her album, Lines on the Paper (with John Roy Zat, fiddler), 1977 "Though they're gone like floating dreams The scenes were there as in a mirror Made by the moon upon the water And our love was never stronger But the picture was broken By the waves we left behind At midnight on the water Once upon a time"
SHE RISES LIKE THE DOLPHIN written by Kate Wolf, 1979 "Sometimes she swims in moonlight With the stars high above The night sounds of the water Speaking soft of love Her skin turns to velvet As she feels the waters glide She loses all her boundaries On this magic carpet ride"
UNFINISHED LIFE written by Kate Wolf, 1980 "It's an unfinished life That I find lies before me An open-ended dream And I don't want to wake I've crossed so many rivers In search of crystal fountains I've found the truest paths Always lead through mountains I've seen water on the sky And fire burning on the lake"
LIKE A RIVER written by Kate Wolf, 1981 "My mind grows dry and thirsty As the memories linger Drifting on the wind Through the mountains like a river The sweet smell of the pines The tall western cedar Drifting on the wind Through the mountains like a river"
EVERYBODY'S LOOKING FOR THE SAME THING written by Kate Wolf, 1977 "Now there's someone going to Boston with a guitar and a dog And a lady with a goat to give away There's ten free kittens, a square dance on Sunday And Cindy, please gеt in touch with Ray"
ALL HE EVER SAW WAS YOU written by Kate Wolf, 1984 "The candle's burnin' at both ends It's burnin' in the middle There's no time to stop Between the guitar and the fiddle A crazy tune, a crazy time You know the words were true Smiles lit their eyes But all he ever saw was you"
FATHER SKY written by Kate Wolf, 1982 "I left you when the leaves Had first begun to fall It was the eagle's flight That carried me away How we talked all through the night And loved in the morning light Burned the sweet grass The cedar and the sea"
DESERT WIND written by Kate Wolf, 1984 "It’s all alone with the earth and sky The hours are long, the days go slow Your lovin’ way, like the wind reminds me There is so much that I do not know"
GIVE YOURSELF TO LOVE written by Kate Wolf, 1982 "Kind friends all gathered 'round There's something I would say That what brings us together here Has blessed us all today Love has made a circle that holds us all inside. Where strangers are as family Loneliness can't hide. Give yourself to love If love is what you're after Open up your heart To the tears and laughter And give yourself to love Give yourself to love"
Thank you for writing this and reminding me today is a good day to listen to some Kate Wolf music. It was only a few years ago that I first discovered Kate. I don't know why I never encountered her music when she was with us, but I find her words to be much more relatable today than I would have back then. "These Times We're Living In" almost perfectly describes the life and relationship of my husband and me in our 7th decade of life. Wolf is added to that growing list of musicians, artists, writers etc. who left us too soon. Those losses forever leave a hole that will never be filled.