By Rachel Leibrock - rleibrock@sacbee.com
Published 12:00 am PDT Sunday, October 12, 2008
Story appeared in TICKET section, Page EXPLORE6


Kate Gaffney couldn't quite put her finger on it: What kind of music does she play exactly? The Sacramento-based singer found herself being asked that questions a million times over, but the answer was far from simple. It was country, yes, she reasoned, but a hybrid of rock, folk, swing, jazz and blues, too.

Then, just a few days ago, she figured it out. "I play American music – that just about covers it," Gaffney says.

"So many people see me and think, 'Oh it's a chick with a guitar' – how do you get past that?" she asks, pausing to reflect over the rhetorical questions. "I've never really been embraced by the folk community, but I'm not really rock either."

Gaffney, who performs Thursday at Harlow's, explores numerous sounds on a new album that deftly rides the lines between genres. With its rollicking beats, sunny melodies and intimate lyrics, "The Coachman" mirrors Gaffney's curious nature, easygoing charm and an endearing vulnerability.

This wasn't always the case. There was a point in Kate Gaffney's life when she didn't think much about music, about playing guitar, about whether her voice had a certain twang to it. The story of how the 29-year-old got to this point is wrapped up in the story of how she got to Sacramento and, thus, wrapped up in the very nature of her personality.

The Philadelphia native arrived in California around the turn of the century for a college internship in San Francisco. Eventually, she moved to Folsom to live with her then-boyfriend and work as a Child Protective Services social worker.But the job was physically exhausting and emotionally grueling, and domestic bliss was, well, not so blissful.
And then one night Gaffney went to see a friend's son play at the Blue Lamp, and everything changed. As Gaffney watched Jackie Greene on stage, she was mesmerized by the possibilities. She'd played guitar for years, ambling through favorite classic rock songs and the occasional Pearl Jam tune.

It had never really occurred to her, however, that she had a voice, that she could write songs, that she could do this. "Here was this kid my own age playing this music that I totally loved," she says now.
"I just had this epiphany and this idea that I could make music for living started to take shape." The young blues phenom encouraged Gaffney, and the epiphany eventually evolved into action. Gaffney quit her job, broke up with the boyfriend and moved to midtown to pursue music. She hit local bars and cafes to play open mikes, met other musicians and started writing songs.

After two years, she decided it wasn't enough and decided to return to Philadelphia. "It was kind of lonely out here; I had no real roots or ties," she says. "I wanted to have a support system." Gaffney took two months to ease back into life on the East Coast, playing at every open mike she could find between here and Pennsylvania. "It was grueling – I was by myself but it also helped me build up some confidence," she says. "It felt like a coming of age."

A chance encounter with Clifford Antone helped cement Gaffney's conviction. The owner of Antone's nightclub, known for helping launch Stevie Ray Vaughan's career, caught Gaffney busking on the street. "He just stopped and told me I was great," Gaffney says. Antone died in 2006, but his encouragement still resonates. "Whenever people come into your life like that, it's just validation for continuing on."
Back in Philly, Gaffney slowly built up a following, playing gigs and putting out a few records. Another chance encounter with Wallflowers bassist Barrie Maguire led to a Los Angeles studio where the two started working on "The Coachman. Gaffney had already decided she was ready to move west again and contemplated making L.A. or even San Francisco home.

Then she talked to Marty DeAnda. Gaffney met the Dig Records co-founder through Jackie Greene, and the two stayed in touch after she moved. Now, DeAnda urged the young singer to return to Sacramento and let him manage her career.

A big offer from a guy who wasn't even that impressed the first time he saw Gaffney play. "I didn't think she was that good," DeAnda says. "She was unpolished, pretty much status quo – there was nothing there that turned my head." Nothing, that is, except for Gaffney's breezy charisma.

"I was enamored with her," DeAnda says. "That's such a huge thing with Kate – her ability to reach you – she just flat out makes people like her." DeAnda kept watch, and in 2004 he asked her to open for Greene on a New Year's Eve show. Gaffney flew back to California on four days' notice. After the show, DeAnda knew she was the real thing. "She was so impressive, so much more grown-up," he says. "I could hear the changes in her songs and voice. She'd developed into a really good songwriter."

So when he learned that Gaffney was thinking of staying in California, DeAnda lobbied for Sacramento. "I said, you've got me, you've got a place to start," he says. That's all she needed to hear. "Being an artist can be so alienating," Gaffney says. "I've always been a self- promoter, I've always done it on my own – but I always wanted a team, too."

Jay Shaner sees Gaffney as a singer-songwriter on the verge. "I think Kate's at the beginning of her journey of her music career – she's still finding her voice and her ability." Shaner, who's watched Gaffney perform since her early open mike days in Sacramento, says it's the singer's voice that sets her apart. "A lot of female vocalists either have this really high, floaty voice that's very detached, or they're super- dramatic. Her voice lacks pretension – it's robust and genuine." It's so real, he says, that sometimes people don't know how to respond.

Now, Gaffney is eager to see how "The Coachman" will fare. There are plans to make a push for radio and play dates up and down the coast. Mostly, however, she's trying to practice a little patience. It gets hard, she admits, always worrying about how to pay her band, wondering if her record will make it into enough stores, hoping to get booked on the next great show. "I'm always thinking about the business side of it (but) that was my New Year's resolution this year – to be more patient. "Of course the New Year is almost over," she says with a laugh. "But it is about patience, being strong, believing in myself, knowing it won't happen overnight."

However long it takes, Gaffney says music is her only priority right now. Currently without a boyfriend, it's just too difficult, she says, to make time for anything other than her career. "I'm a hopeless romantic at heart and I am a little lonely sometimes," she admits. "But it's kind of hard to work dating around my schedule. "The only thing I can commit to right now is my music."