Kath Bloom

{{Infobox musical artist | honorific_prefix = | name = Kath Bloom | honorific_suffix = | image = File:Kath Bloom Band 111118.jpg | image_size = | landscape =  | alt = | caption = | background = solo_singer | birth_name = Katherine Bloom | native_name = | native_name_lang = | alias = | birth_date =  | birth_place = | origin = New Haven, Connecticut, U.S. | death_date =  | death_place = | genre = Folk | occupation = Singer-songwriter, musician | instrument = | years_active = 1976–1984, 1999–present | label = | associated_acts = Loren MazzaCane Connors, Bruce Neumann, Love at Work | website =  }}

'''Katherine Bloom''' is an American folk songwriter based in Litchfield, Connecticut.

==Biography== The daughter of oboist Robert Bloom,<ref name="allmusic">{{Cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/kath-bloom-mn0000564540|title=Kath Bloom Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More ...|website=AllMusic|access-date=November 14, 2024}}</ref> Bloom grew up in New Haven, Connecticut, where she studied the cello as a child and started playing the guitar when she was a teenager.

Bloom collaborated with Bruce Neumann in the early 1970s, and started to record music with avant-garde guitarist Loren MazzaCane Connors in 1976.<ref name="allmusic"/> Bloom and Connors recorded multiple albums of fragile, simple folk and blues melodies, the majority of which were written by Bloom. She cites Robert Johnson and Lightnin' Hopkins as inspiration in this period.<ref name="larecord">{{cite web |last1=Gubala |first1=Christina |title=KATH BLOOM: LIKE WHITE LIGHTNING |url=http://larecord.com/archive/2016/01/15/kath-bloom-interview |website=Larecord.com}}</ref> Their collaboration ended in 1984 with the release of their final album ''Moonlight'', of which only 300 copies were pressed.

Bloom stopped recording new material soon after her collaboration with Connors ended, and a period of financial hardship followed. A single mother, Bloom focused on raising her children, rarely playing shows outside of New Haven.<ref name="dazed">{{cite web |last1=Osborn |first1=Melissa |title=Kath Bloom Feels Lost and Found |url=https://www.dazeddigital.com/music/article/961/1/kath-bloom-feels-lost-and-found |website=Dazed |language=en |date=1 September 2008}}</ref> She began writing songs and recording again in the early 1990s.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://chaptermusic.com/artist/kath-bloom/|title=Kath Bloom on Chapter Music|website=Chaptermusic.com|access-date=November 14, 2024|archive-date=July 15, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200715202825/https://chaptermusic.com/artist/kath-bloom/|url-status=dead}}</ref> According to a 2016 interview, Bloom first started touring in 2009, and she enjoys performing now more than she did earlier in her career.<ref name="larecord" />

Film director Richard Linklater was introduced to Bloom's music through his friend and fellow director Caveh Zahedi sometime in the early 1990s and featured her song "Come Here" in his 1995 film ''Before Sunrise''.<ref name='dazed' /> Encouraged by Linklater's interest in her music, Bloom started writing new songs and released her first album in over 10 years, titled ''Come Here: The Florida Years'', in 1999.

A tribute album titled ''Loving Takes This Course'' was released in 2009 and features artists such as Devendra Banhart, Bill Callahan, Mark Kozelek, The Dodos, and Scout Niblett.

Presently Bloom trains donkeys and plays with her band Love at Work, which includes longtime collaborator Tom Hanford and husband Stan Bronski, offering musical programs for children and adults as well as playing solo shows in the Northeastern U.S. Bloom has been working with children since 1989.<ref name='larecord' /> She lives in Litchfield, Connecticut.<ref>{{cite web |title=Explore America: Celebrity Travel Spotlight with Singer-Songwriter Kath Bloom |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/explore-america-celebrity_b_1906573 |website=HuffPost |language=en |date=25 September 2012}}</ref>

==Discography== ; With Loren Mazzacane * ''Gifts'' LP, Daggett Records, 1978 * ''Fields'' LP, Daggett Records, 1978 * ''Hanford, Bloom And Mazzacane'' LP (with Tom Hanford), Daggett Records, 1981 * ''Listen to the Blues'' 7-inch EP (with Tom Hanford), Daggett Records, 1981 * ''Pushin' Up Daisies'' 7-inch EP, Daggett Records, 1982 * '''Round His Shoulders Gonna Be A Rainbow'' LP, Daggett Records, 1982 * ''Sing the Children Over'' LP, Ambiguous Records, 1982 * ''Guitar Pieces'' cassette, Daggett Records, 1983 * ''Sand in My Shoe'' LP, St. Joan Records, 1983 * ''Restless Faithful Desperate'' LP, St. Joan Records, 1984 * ''Moonlight'' LP, St. Joan Records, 1984

; Solo * ''Come Here: The Florida Years'' CD, self-released, 1999 * ''Terror'' CD, Chapter Music, 2008 * ''Thin Thin Line'' CD, Caldo Verde, 2010 * ''It's Just a Dream'' CD, self-released reissue, 1996, 2011 * ''Here I Am'' CD, Caldo Verde, 2012 * ''Somewhere in California'' CD, Vow Records, 2014 * ''Pass Through Here'' CD, Chapter Music, 2015 * ''This Dream of Life'' CD, Caldo Verde, 2017 * ''Bye Bye These Are The Days'' LP Dear Life Records, 2020

; Compilations * ''1981-1984'' CD, Megalon Records, 2000 * ''Finally'' CD, Chapter Music, 2006 * ''Sing the Children Over / Sand in My Shoe'' 2-CD, Chapter Music, 2008 * ''Restless Faithful Desperate / Moonlight'' 2-CD, Chapter Music, 2009

; Tribute albums * ''Loving Takes This Course'' 2-CD, Chapter Music, 2009

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bloom, Kath}} Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Living people Category:American women singer-songwriters Category:People from Litchfield, Connecticut Category:American folk musicians Category:Singer-songwriters from New York (state) Category:Musicians from New Haven, Connecticut Category:21st-century American women Category:Singer-songwriters from Connecticut