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Katherine Priddy is a creative force. From poetry to music, folk to americana and Green Man to Glastonbury, she is in demand as a performer and collaborator.
Katherine has toured across the UK, Australia, America and released her second album, The Pendulum Swing, at the end of last year. Listen whilst you read on..
We caught up with Katherine ahead of the release of her new single 'Daybreaker' - a collaboration with poet laureate, Simon Armitage. The perfect January record, it is hopeful and 'quietly joyful' - she says it reminds her of 'the feeling you get towards the end of Winter, the first day you notice the air has lost its sting'.
Katherine candidly shares her journey, inspirations and how she switches off. Find out where you can see her perform in the UK this year at the bottom - the 'treat at the end' of all the writing, recording and admin that nobody sees.
When did you start making music?
Many moons ago! It started off with me teaching myself guitar in my early teens and learning some of my favourite songs, and this naturally led onto writing my own songs.
However, I wasn't brave enough to show anyone for a long time as I was convinced I could sing, so it stayed a secret bedroom sport for me.
Eventually my mum and my school teacher persuaded me to start out on some open mics, and it all slowly went from there. As my confidence grew, so did my songwriting. I still would never have guessed that it would end up being my profession though!
How has your style evolved since then?
I think your songwriting style and musicianship will always keep changing and evolving - or at least, I hope it will. Your tastes and songs change as you do, in that you might be writing about different themes that are important to you at different stages of your life and the music might change to match those shifts in moods and needs, or it might just be that you're inspired by different bands or instruments as time goes on.
I also think it's important to keep pushing yourself and what you do, and allow for change in that respect. It's a natural, healthy thing, and I love that albums can really sum up chapters in your life in that way, and that they don't need to sound just like the last one.
My songwriting has definitely matured, in my opinion, as a lot of the songs I wrote for my first album were ones I wrote during my teens, and my sound has become more expansive and less stripped-back and acoustic too.
It's a natural progression. But that's not to say they're necessarily better or worse, just different. I hope my style keeps changing, and I'm definitely very open to new influences and direction.
What does 2025 look like for you?
Busy! I've got a UK tour starting at the end of February that will run right through March and I can't wait. I absolutely love performing and getting to travel around and meet people and play in beautiful rooms. A lot of the musician-life people don't see on Instagram is actually just time spent sat at home doing admin, writing, recording etc. and all that can get quite isolating.
So for me, touring is the treat at the end of all of that. I've also got a new single coming out at the end of January with lyrics by the Poet Laurate, Simon Armitage, so that's exciting.
There's a couple of other big music secrets I've still got up my sleeve too...but I can't say what they are yet. Between shows though, I mainly want to be focussing on writing and recording the next album. It's a never-ending cycle!
What are you most excited about this year?
Honestly, the thing I get most excited about at the beginning of the year are the as-yet-unknown little surprises that I know will happen at some point. The opportunities you didn't plan for, but that end up leading to something really special or something that you never envisaged for yourself, like a big show or a collaboration.
I'm a planner, and I always have a rough sketch of how I see the next 12 months panning out, but in this industry you have to be prepared for curve-balls and always be ready to change your plans and take opportunities when they arise, and every year there's something unexpected but cool that pops up. So we'll see what that is this year.
Can you tell us some more about your collaboration with Simon Armitage?
As an English Literature graduate and big poetry fan, I've been so excited about this collaboration! It came about when I was listening to Guy Garvey's show on BBC 6 Music one night, and they had Simon (the Poet Laureate) on the show. He read out a new poem and said he'd love to hear an artist set it to music, and mentioned me by name.
It was quite surreal hearing myself be challenged over the radio! But I got in touch with him the next day with a song, and it all went from there. I asked him to write two Winter themed poems, and I set them to music, and I'm really proud of the results.
It was an exciting and somewhat challenging process for me, as an artist who places a great deal of emphasis on my own lyrics. It felt odd and slightly nerve-wracking, placing such an important portion of these songs in the hands of someone else… but whose better than those of the Poet Laureate?
What are you intentions away from music?
Personally, I'd really like to work on my focus and my overall confidence. A big part of being a musician in 2025 is social media and being online, even if it's just emails and admin, and this inevitably leads to the dreaded doomscrolling that eats up my day, when I should be sitting there writing.
I've got such a love/hate relationship with social media, and being available online 24/7. I'd like to get better at putting my phone down and doing something more mindful, if not more useful. And confidence-wise, I think I've been putting a lot of pressure on myself lately in terms of songwriting.
I'd like to focus on writing for pleasure, and writing without thinking too much, and just enjoying the process again, regardless of the result. I think that this naturally leads onto better material anyway, ultimately.
How do you switch off?
I love the outdoors, and am a firm believer and a nice walk can cure most things. Nothing sorts my head out better than going for a walk along the Birmingham canals. But if it's not possible to get out for some fresh air, I also love knitting, cooking and reading.
All quite escapist hobbies I think, but ones that still use that creative muscle and keep my mind a little bit engaged. I actually knit a lot backstage at gigs - very rock and roll, I know, but it does help with pre-show nerves! I've been knitting the same jumper for the last 4 months, so maybe I'll actually finish that project soon...
How do you stay inspired?
If you're in the business of putting words and music out, you need to be consuming as much of them as possible to keep yourself topped up and inspired. I listen to a lot of music, across a wide-range of genres, and you never know what seeds it'll sow.
Sometimes it's just a phrase in the lyrics, or a particular guitar sound, but it can take root in your brain and end up influencing something you write. I've also found there's a direct correlation between reading and writing for me - as in, if I'm not reading, I'm not writing.
Books and poetry are a great way to see things from new perspectives or discover alternative ways of describing or expressing something and so reading is a big source of inspiration for me.
Who is inspiring you at the moment?
I've been re-discovering the poetry of Raymond Carver, who has an amazing way of using the everyday to capture a really poignant moment or feeling.
I've also discovered an American trio The Brudi Brothers who write really gorgeous, three-part harmony songs in the traditional American folk style and they're absolutely beautiful in their simplicity. It's not necessarily a sound I've gone for, but I love the lyrics and the melodies.
What advice would you give an aspiring musician starting out today?
Have fun with it! And play, write, practice at any given opportunity. It takes a lot of work, and carving a career out of the creative industry is really tough - there's no way to sugarcoat that. So you need to enjoy what you do, and find what gives you that passion and drive and stick with it.
Don't put too much expectation on yourself when you're starting out - don't write a song with the intention of writing 'a hit', just write something that speaks to you and says what you want it to say.
I think authenticity will always shine through, and that's what people really love to see. And build that community around you too. The music scene is a wonderful source of support and inspiration, so reach out to other creatives who are doing the same things and form those connections.
You can catch Katherine on tour across the UK from next month and tickets are available to purchase here
26.02.25 - Pocklington Arts Centre
27.02.25 - Sheffield Greystones
28.02.25 - Nottingham Metronome
01.03.25 – Stamford Arts Centre
05.03.25 - Pontadawe Arts Centre
06.03.25 - Gloucester Guildhall
07.03.25 - Leicester Y Theatre
08.03.25 - Settle Victoria Hall
10.03.25 - Colchester Arts Centre
12.03.25 - Norwich Arts Centre
13.03.25 - Oxford SJE Arts
14.03.25 - Teddington Landmark Arts Centre
15.03.25 - Ashford Revelation
19.03.25 - Leeds City Varieties
20.03.25 - Gateshead The Glasshouse Sage 2
21.03.25 - Glasgow Oran Mor
22.03.25 - Manchester Halle St Peters