Katus was nominated for two awards at the Buxton Fringe Festival, Best Performer and best Musical Entry. She won the BEST PERFORMER 2008
"Katuš, described accurately in the programme as a "world-folk duo" are, in the best possible sense, not like anything I have seen for a very long time. Where many performers and groups tend to find out what they can do and then limit themselves to a rigid style, Katuš delights in experimenting, innovating and enjoying the variety of sounds that can be produced from an instrument or her voice. I lost count of how many languages she sang in, and as well as the guitar that she played for most numbers there was some excellent flute playing and a Chinese instrument called a 'hulusi'. If I hadn't been watching closely, I would not have been surprised to look up and discover that a new performer had taken the stage for every song." BUXTON FESTIVAL
"Sensational!" Cambridge Folk Club "If you're lucky enough to see Katus perform live, the first thing that'll melt is your heart, closely followed by your preconceptions. There's a fragility and delicacy about her physical presence that belies the strength of her music and the often powerful edge to her lyrics. This is no 'coffee-table' folk music. Katus's music leaves you at times feeling challenged, amused, disturbed and moved, but above all entertained. Katus imposes her artistic will on her songs in a way that blows away all cobwebs of predictability. The guitar work is particularly notable in this respect - Katus seems to create new styles of playing for each song based on what the song needs, not what has gone before. The result is a stunning series of arrangements matching the creativity and inspiration of the songs as a whole. The CD "SMILE", is a collection of highly unique and creative songs with catchy tunes, memorable lyrics and inventive guitar playing, but it's also capable of
entertaining at a much deeper level which will reward anyone giving the CD the attention it deserves." Mally, Mad for Music Katus - Smile “The whistling wind of diversity and change. This record will one day be regarded as the most important folk release to caress the mainstream.” Allan Baille, favorite albums of 2007. Having toured New Zealand twice, playing extra-ordinary venues its been a time of nature and nurtureIn between our 14 NZ dates we had a week in Sandgate, Queensland Australia , courtesy of MUSIC BY THE SEA FESTIVAL - NOW I AM TAKING SOME TIME OUT TO WRITE SOME NEW THINGS, studyand organise a UK tour
KATUS SINGS IN EVERY TONGUE FROM CZECH TO ENGLISH AND BY A STROKE OF INSPIRED GENIUS, SHE SINGS THROUGH HER FLUTE.
KATUS. SOLFEST 2007 "MERMAIDS CALL"
SOLFEST 2007 "MAGGIO
WORLD FOLK MUSIC THAT DANCES AT YOU!Since picking up a guitar 8 years ago Katus has been touring all over the world - Ireland, UK, Europe - east and west, New Zealand, Australia, California and brings her truly unique world to the stage.She has toured with Seth Lakeman, the levellers, czech Indie star Lenka Dusilova,.
She was also invited to do a Showcase at the Cambridge Folk Festival, which has been described as " Sensational", and she performed at several other festivals in Czech Republic, LOMECEK , and the UK such as the Stone& Compass Festival, Solfest ( an impromtu 2 hr set), and she played the Paradiso in Amsterdamm, and Patronaat in Harlem aswell as another House concert, and several artsy /theatre venues in the uk.She also did a gig in Santa Monica, California and spent an elastic 5 days on Venice beach living the American dreambefore going back to New Zealand.
In 2008 they did a their first 28 date tour of NEW ZEALAND, and also played gigs in San Francisco. Look in the BLOG to find out more-
In 2007 KATUS played SOLFEST, , SAZAVA Festival , Glastonbury, where she was made the official mascot by the Joe Strummer Stage who are using her song "Hey Hey" as their anthem, and on their new DVD. She also played the Cambridge Folk Club & many other festivals and venues around Britain, as well as touring Croatia, Bosnia and Czech Republic , where Katus performed in Europe's largest Monastry. Singing and composing in English, Czech, French, Elfin, and also singing Bulgarian, Gaellic, Russian, her natural switch between languages is brilliant.
In June 2007, A French documentary crew filmed their entire tour in the Czech Republic
In 2006 she toured with Seth Lakeman, and Lenka Dusilova (CZ), and Katus has toured the West Coast of Ireland and around Europe many times since she began playing, wooing audiences, leaving them hankering for more
In only 7 years of playing and writing, arranging music, her itch for the road and expert cultivation of the magic of the off-beat gig, have seen her pop up at sessions with Nigel Kennedy , Kroke and Donovan in the Polish Tatry Mountains , playing concerts in remote Romanian orphanages and singing to a packed houses at the London Jazz Cafe and Glastonbury. A real Troubador, She has learned her craft on the road forging her own path amid rip -roaring tours of Ireland, France and Eastern Europe. Between 2002 and 2005 she worked with multi-instrumentalist Tony Wrafter, and since early 2006 has been working and touring as a duo with sound engineer and percussionist JB , creating a sound that can only accurately be described as Katus music.
" I've been a traveller and artist all my life- my music is inspired by Czech ,French, Catalan and and Irish of my Grandparents and the many cultures i've lived in. I write my own music, my own style.I do not wish to mimic ,so if i sing a traditional song, i just happen to feel it strongly. Music is a spiritual language, and sometimes i sing sounds which communicate beyond language.
Performing at such venues and events as The International Gypsy Guitar Festival,The CAmbridge Folk Club,Broadstairs Folk Festival, Big Green Gathering,Smallworld,N16 Fringe,The Troubador, Sazava Festival,Roisin Dubv Galway, Xianti Balkan Music Festival. She has guested many radio shows ,She was interviewed by the BBC Worldservice in Prague. You can hear this interview if you click on the link by the FOLKDEVILS logo, where you can also buy the DVD/CDs
"She can sing. She can play. She's gorgeous. She'll make it!" Nigel Kennedy
"I can't beleive she sings through the fluteTruly amazing!"
" Better than red stripe! Tales of love, fate & passion, culminating in a range of A-capella songs that staple you to your seat." N16Fringe,London.
"Her commanding, soulful voice with the breadth of her guitar playing merge into a fresh sounding musical genre uniquely her own." The Troubador.
When asked how to describe Katus' music, Simon Friend,song-writer of UK band The Levellers,smiled, tilted his head,and said, "Her music is beautiful."
"A mobile, self-generating, acousto-electric, time -travelling, singing-flute playing songwriter!" Hot-Press.
email : katuscz@gmail.com
