Katrina Bishop

An award-winning singer-songwriter with a diverse musical background, Katrina Bishop mixes elements of Pop, Jazz, Funk, Folk, A Cappella and Musical Theatre with a little Celtic and Country thrown in for fun.  Playing piano, guitar and ukulele, Katrina will sing about pretty much anything.

            Early in her musical life, Katrina tagged along with her mother to perform in musical theatre productions almost every weekend from age eight to sixteen.  She landed lead roles in high school and university productions, and later at CentreStage Theatre.  She worked in dinner theatre on PEI, then left the Celtic influences of the East Coast to take the intensive contemporary music program at Vancouver Community College, where she earned a full scholarship. 

            During her years in Vancouver, Katrina was the lead singer with the popular nine-piece Funk band Rumplesteelskin, attended the Banff Summer Jazz Workshop (also on full scholarship), and was recruited by the professional A Cappella group, WAG.  This group has performed hundreds of shows for schools and communities and has released two albums.  (A side note - during this time, Katrina also became a certified log home builder.  She's handy with a chainsaw and can maneuver 40 ft. logs with a 60 ft. telescopic crane.)

            Katrina's first solo CD, 'Runaway Lane', was played on CBC radio and in countries such as Japan, Australia, the US, and throughout Europe.  It was reviewed by Canadian Musician Magazine ("Bishop makes a strong first move with this diverse and alluring debut") and The Vancouver Sun ("Blessed with a clear, strong voice and capable of writing words and music that resonate, Bishop has the complete package").  Her song 'Good Night For Stars' won first place in the World Music category of the Unisong International Song Contest, and her song 'Mr. Jealousy' received runner-up in the Jazz category of the John Lennon Songwriting Contest.  Katrina undertook two cross-Canada tours in support of the CD, culminating in a Bluebird North songwriter showcase hosted by Jane Siberry.

            Katrina took a big step back from her music career to raise a family for several years, but during that time the song ideas kept coming.  She found that full-on motherhood was an excellent song editor, leaving little time or patience for any ideas that didn't immediately make her laugh, messy-cry or think deep thoughts.

             The LP that resulted from these songs, 'Hopscotch' (January 2018), was recorded and mixed at the Warehouse Studio in Vancouver by Jamey Koch (Tragically Hip, Ron Sexsmith) and mastered at Sterling Sound in New York by Greg Calbi (John Mayer, Norah Jones).  'Hopscotch' features drummer Pat Steward (Bryan Adams, Matthew Good), bassist Jamey Koch (Jann Arden), guitarist Tony Koch (Tony Koch and the AltNews Band) and Synthesizer maestro John Webster (Aerosmith, Bon Jovi).   Within a few months of its release, songs from the LP had been playlisted on radio stations in the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, ten countries in Europe, Singapore, Africa, Columbia and Costa Rica.

 
                 Returning to public performance with these and many other new songs, Katrina is having more fun than ever.  With several concert venues and house concerts booked for the remainder of 2018, including a tour of Nova Scotia in October, Katrina's only concern is to have as much fun with her audiences as possible.  With the release of 'Hopscotch', she is truly throwing her hat back in the ring.