CDs
Contains some of Kate's best stories to date, including "McNamara's Tear,"which won the Best Ballad Award at the South Florida Folk Festival competition. (Click again to reduce this image)
What We Do
Kate and Robin have played concerts together for eight years. Finally, a CD, made together, owned together. Definitely cause for celebration!
“ What We Do was recorded in concert at Randolph County Community Arts Center in Elkins, West Virginia, and you can tell the audience really loved what they were hearing. I do too! If you haven’t heard them live, it’ll give you a glimpse of what you’ve missed.” – Meryle Korn, Portland Folk Music Society newsletter
“Between the amazing picking of Robin Kessinger and that unique voice of Kate’s, I went to my Thesaurus to try to find some word or words that could capture the talent and uniqueness of this work. The book did not help. All I can do is say WOW!!!” – Bill Hahn, host “Traditions,” WFDU Teaneck, NJ
“It’s the perfect blend, and you won’t be disappointed!” – Marv Sobolesky, marvsmusic.com
Kettle Bottom
Happy news! Kettle Bottom, the radio show Kate produced, won a national award and has been made into a CD. It makes a wonderful stocking stuffer, with amazing readings of Diane Gilliam Fisher’s poems. It has tracks, so you can go back to parts you want to hear again. Kate gave Diane the rights to market the CD, so most of the purchase price will support her poetry habit, which is a very good thing to do.
From the jacket: First broadcast on West Virginia Public Radio, this CD gives listeners a vivid glimpse into coal camp life. Native West Virginians read selections from Fisher’s poetry book. Producer Kate Long wove their voices with history of the mine wars, music, and conversation with the author. The result is a portrait of people who insist on their own dignity as they walk the fine line between life and death.
$15 apiece. A gift you won’t find anywhere else.
Pieces of Heart
Classic Appalachian originals delivered in a dusky, expressive alto filled with emotion and humor, including Kate's original of her song, “Who’ll Watch the Homeplace,” an IBMA Song of the Year.
As Rich Kirby of Kentucky’s Appalshop wrote, “Long takes a journey through a landscape of work and pleasure, hardship and job, dreams broken and mended, and through several generations of musical history as well. The recording is full of tenderness, humor, sorrow, and the surprises that always come from looking at a familiar place through a fresh eye. My guess is that Pieces of Heart will be treasured by the people who get to hear it.”
Songs from Pieces of Heart have been recorded on four continents: Who’ll Watch the Homeplace, an IBMA Song of the Year; the audience invitational, “Listening;” “Little Girl God,” about a little girl who wonders if she might be the female Jesus, “Ain’t Got Much Money, So What Did I Do Wrong?”
“Don’t Tell Me Just Pick Up and Leave” has often been used in programs about domestic violence. “What Is Past Is Gone” and “Listening” are used a capella in spiritual gatherings.
“She writes with a depth of love and understanding that is all too rare in the world.”
– Laurie Lewis, Rounder recording artist
People who come to Kate’s concerts laugh a lot between songs - sometimes during songs such as: “Lift Me to Heaven before I Turn Mean,”“Go Try and Dump It When Nobody Is Around,” or “Ain’t Got Much Money, so What did I Do Wrong.” They may also be moved to tears by ballads such as “Time Has Slipped” (a wife watches her husband slip into Alzheimers) or “McNamara’s Tear” (a woman remembers her lover, lost in Vietnam).
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Moving, witty Appalachian-rooted originals delivered in an unmistakable rich, dusky alto, including the award-winning a capella Vietnam ballad, "McNamara's Tear."
This CD showcases the range of Kate’s writing. Audiences laugh out loud when she sings "When I Meet You in Heaven, I'm Gonna Give You Hell" or "Why Can't You Speak Plain English?” People are moved to tears by ballads such as "Oh, How I Meant to Love You" or “McNamara’s Tear.”
“Kate has a keen eye for the surprises in everyday things – hope in turmoil, sadness in silence, irony that exposes the hazards of business-as-usual. Every story took me someplace different than I expected to go, with a skill that let me enjoy the journey.” – Charlie King
“Kate’s songs make you think, but – more important – they make you feel.” – Gaye Adegbalola
