‘Every artist feels isolated from their fan base’ How Canadians have embraced Georgia-born country singer Katie Pruitt as one of their own

For someone born in Georgia and based in Nashville, Katie Pruitt has more ties to Canada than the Canada Day by the Bay section.

In 2020, he collaborated with Juno winner Donovan Woods on a track from his album “Without People” and just wrapped up a six-show opening for Dallas Green on his latest tour as City and Color. Green, he says, was especially generous during their brief but shocking time on tour together; bought him a $ 400 guitar pedal as a thank you.

“I felt very cared for, very cared for,” Pruitt said of her new friendship with Green. “It was incredible”.

So when Pruitt takes the stage at Toronto’s Monarch Tavern on Tuesday, it will be the culmination of his longstanding relationship with Canada.

And given his connections, it’s frankly no wonder that he will have Manitoban folk singer William Prince as his opening act for his upcoming tour and speak fondly of Canadian audiences, even if he doesn’t know them that well yet.

“I’d love to know what my relationship is with my Canadian fans,” Pruitt laughed, speaking from his home in Nashville, “because I feel like all artists feel separate from their fan base.”

At 27, Pruitt has separated herself from a vast field of Nashville singer-songwriters with a delightfully simple narrative angle: She is an openly lesbian woman who grew up attending a Catholic school in the ultra-conservative suburbs of Atlanta. His songs are semi-autobiographical and address themes that subvert traditional country music narratives.

As such, she has been accepted more openly north of the border, even in the most rural areas of Canada, something she began to recognize when she toured the country alongside Woods in 2019.

“It was unbelievably acceptable,” he commented on playing in places like Meaford, Ontario, and Nelson, BC. “And people who would not expect to accept were excited.”

He does not write songs about trucks, beer, and jeans, nor does he wear a cowboy hat and fringed jacket. Instead, he hosts a podcast called “The Recovering Catholic,” in which he talks with people of all theological persuasions about what God means to them.

In Woods’ words, Pruitt is a unique and dazzling songwriter, and one who wears her incredibly graceful heart on her sleeve. It’s that depth and emotional maturity that makes her special, she says.

“Not only do you listen to their emotions and vulnerabilities,” Woods observed, “but you can imagine their whole personality in some way.”

“She’s a powerhouse and her voice sounds great on the record,” added the Sarnia-born, Toronto-based singer of Pruitt.

Pruitt may be excited to perform in front of her Canadian fans, but small venue owners are perhaps the only ones. plus excited to host out-of-town talent on their long-silenced stages. As a result, its convergence with Toronto is as timely as anticipated.

Evan Georgiades, the bespectacled and soft-spoken owner of Monarch Tavern, is among those eager to welcome Pruitt to Toronto. Speaking almost poetically inside a booth at the 93-year-old venue, he likens a truly spectacular live performance to a religious experience, a remarkably appropriate analogy for an artist whose narrative revolves around questions of spirituality and faith.

“I feel like live music offers the closest thing to religious experiences any of us really have these days,” reflected Georgiades, 53. “When a great performance happens on stage, it’s the kind of thing that can really transform people.”

When Georgiades took over the Monarch in 2010, it was almost exclusively a bar, with little live music on its schedule. With the help of legendary Toronto promoter Dan Burke, the Clinton Street Waterhole has since played host to the likes of Rheostatics and Robyn Hitchcock alongside indie darlings Aaron Lee Tasjan, Matt Maltese and Benee.

“I see bands performing here all the time that become my new favorite band,” he said, counting Pruitt among the artists he has discovered in his city. “There is so much talent in this city, it is out of control.”

Of course, Toronto’s vibrant music scene, which is made up of countless smaller venues, is still reeling from the financial difficulties brought on by the pandemic. Just down Monarch Street, the Orbit Room closed its doors; So did Mod Club, Old Nick and the Hideout. But Georgiades knew that whatever happened, the Monarch would still stand, just as it has for nearly 100 years.

If any place were to weather the storm, Georgiades thought aloud, it would be this place.

Ultimately, Katie Pruitt’s inaugural appearance in Toronto is unlikely to cause a sensation or attract the attention of thousands of concert goers. But it represents a healthy and eclectically diverse return to the form of an awakening music scene.

“I’m happy for the Toronto show,” concluded Pruitt with his trademark southern outspokenness. “I want to play on that show and we’re going to make it happen in any way that we can.”