Katie Wighton

In 1994, at the tender age of 6 years old, a little blonde-haired girl bounced into Mrs Paxton’s piano teaching studio in Wilston, Brisbane – quite a typical start to a musical career you might say. Since her first exploration of ‘Mary Had A Little Lamb’ Katie Wighton has come a long way.

Katie won the prestigious Generations in Jazz Vocal Scholarship awarded by James Morrison in 2008 . She and Brisbane pianist Dave Spicer then went on to write and record an album funded by the Brisbane Jazz Club and Clare Hansson.

In 2009 Katie’s career took her to New York where she immersed herself in the jazz scene and learnt from experimental jazz vocalist Theo Bleckmann. She lived and breathed the culture of NYC, watching ice hockey games whilst eating hot-dogs and sporting a large foam finger. In an apartment the size of a postage stamp filled with three large fish tanks, a collapsable bicycle and a large leather arm chair Katie wrote the lyrics to her first pop song.

In 2010, now a Bachelor of Music graduate and 2009 Qsong finalist, Katie bought a Nord keyboard, moved into the basement of her house and wrote her soon to be released EP What You Do.

"The whole thing is like ghosts of femme-pop past, with a mixture of swinging, dancey tracks and heartfelt bluesy numbers. And damn, does that girl have a set of pipes!"

Jodi Biddle, Passenger Side, September 2010

"She clearly understands what makes a catchy melody and applies this knowledge with a deadly-but-spirited precision."

Rave Magazine, 2010

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