Kate MacLeod and the Pancakes

Backed by her own guitar, fiddle, and harmonica, Kate MacLeod sings of life and struggle with both deceptive subtlety and uncompromising power. In this band, Kate plays lead hollowbody electric guitar in addition to acoustic guitar, fiddle and harmonica. The band includes Mark Hazel on vocals and second guitar, Cliff Smith on percussion and harmonica, and Robert Dow on upright and electric bass. In addition to Kate's songs, they perform songs and instrumentals selected from the American and British Isles traditions and create a unique "Americana" sound closer to rock than bluegrass. Listeners have commented that the band's sound sometimes recalls that of the British folk-rock band, Fairport Convention, circa 1969. The band released its full-length CD, "Breakfast" on Waterbug Records in 2005.

Moab Folk Music Festival: Utah folk musician Kate MacLeod opened her performance at the Moab Folk Music Festival over the weekend with this promise: "We're going to make it a party." Transporting the audience through a thoughtful set of haunting, sparse melodies flavored with her signature Celtic-inspired fiddling, MacLeod and band members Mark Hazel, Barry Carter and Cliff Smith made good on that pledge. For MacLeod, the performance was a celebration of sorts -- she rarely gets to travel with her band, The Pancakes, because the cost of going on the road often is prohibitive.

"I usually play alone or with one other musician," she said. "This is an exciting event, to have this in our own back yard. It's about time. It's so much fun to have the band with me here."

MacLeod was one of five featured acts that kicked off opening night of Moab's first folk festival, a three-day event that producers hope to make an annual happening.

Lisa Church, Monday, November 10, 2003, © Copyright 2003, The Salt Lake Tribune.

Members of Kate MacLeod and the Pancakes are:

Kate MacLeod
Kate released her first solo recordings in 1995, 1997 and 2001. They feature mostly Kate's songs and are available through Waterbug Records and Wind River/Folk Era Records. Kate has been performing her own songs throughout the USA and in Europe, as a soloist or with an accompanist. In 1998, Kate was named as one of the "ten newer acts to watch" in the MusicHound Folk Essential Album guide, where her first two CDs were rated 4 on a scale of 5. Kate grew up in the Washington, D.C. area but has lived in Utah for many years. She finds great pleasure in playing music with other musicians in many different formats. Her musical background includes experience in Classical, traditional American, Bluegrass, and Celtic music. With her four-piece band (christened "Kate MacLeod and the Pancakes" in 2004), Kate has assembled her vision of a special unit that performs mostly her songs but still allows the unique talents and personalities of all its members to contribute in sometimes unpredictable ways. Kate enjoys playing with the band as much or more than as a soloist, because having three fellow musicians permits a diversity of musical arrangements and also gives Kate the backing support for her fiddle and guitar solos.

Mark Hazel
Mark plays guitar and sings. His bass voice has an unusual range and unique and irreplaceable warmth. On most songs he offers harmonies that compliment Kate's lead vocals, and he sings lead on a few songs. His guitar parts are usually rhythm behind Kate's lead guitar, or sometimes they are single-note countermelodies. Mark is a scientist, but he has studied and performed music since he was a child in Ohio. Before picking up guitar, he accompanied choirs on piano, sang in choirs and an acapella madrigal ensemble, and played trombone in orchestras and brass ensembles. For three years in the 1980s he hosted a weekly '60s music show, "Strange Brew," on WPRB in central New Jersey. There he broadcast Joni Mitchell, Buffy St. Marie, Gordon Lightfoot, Richie Havens and The Incredible String Band, alongside Howlin' Wolf, The Band, Merle Haggard, The Velvet Underground and Love. For three years in the mid-1990s, Mark sang and played in a five-member Salt Lake City-based rock and blues band, Humungus Fungus, that performed at Salt Lake City's Dead Goat Saloon and Burt's Tiki Lounge. Mark met Kate and Barry in Salt Lake City in the early 1990s while singing his own songs at acoustic open-mics sponsored by the Intermountain Acoustic Music Association. He has performed with Kate since 1996.

Cliff Smith
Cliff plays drumset, hand-drums and other percussion, and harmonica. He was born in San Francisco, California at the height of the hot Latin-Jazz scene that thrived in the "Bay Area" then. Raised in the south bay area, Cliff later lived in the Northern California area known for its redwoods, great wine, and "progressive blues." From modest beginnings with his first garage band, to performances in bars, casinos, concerts, and recording studios, Cliff's career in music performance has been very diverse and has also involved theatre pit orchestra work, dance class accompaniment, and private lesson instruction. More recently, he has also been a student in Music Therapy course work. Cliff's experience with various musical styles ranges from Big Band and Latin-Jazz, to Rhythm & Blues, Funk, Folk, Celtic, and Americana, as well as Country Rock, Western Swing, and more ethnic representations of African and Latin-Salsa. Many of Cliff's diverse performances have required a mix of his talents with harmonica, vocals, drum-set, hand drums, or acoustic guitar; and they occasionally feature him performing some of the songs he has composed. Cliff has been composing progressive classical pieces for chamber ensembles and symphonic compositions; in addition to some multi-media, improvisational compositions for use in Music Therapy clinical settings. Cliff began performing with Kate, Barry and Mark in the spring of 1999.

Robert Dow
Originally from San Francisco, California, Robert Dow began playing the clarinet at age 8 and switched to the bass in Junior High School to get out of marching band. He studied music at Humboldt and San Francisco State Universities. Then he moved to Salt Lake City, Utah in 1984 to pursue an instrument-making career through studies at The Violin Making School of America, where he met Kate MacLeod. (In fact, although he is the newest Pancake, he was the first among the Pancakes to meet and play music with Kate.) Robert has performed with the group since 2006 on both acoustic and electric bass. Currently a bowmaker and family man, his musical directions include jazz, folk, swing, rock, songwriting, and just having fun. See photos of bows that Robert has made at his website.

Past Band Member:

Barry Carter
Barry was the bassist of the group through 2005, and played an acoustic bass guitar. Barry was the bass player on the band's recording released in 2005, "Breakfast." He is a songwriter and a versatile musician who sings and also plays six-string guitar and percussion. He is originally from New Zealand, where he attended The New Zealand School of Music. Prior to moving to Salt Lake City, Utah, Barry had fronted his own band in Australia and produced a recording of his songs. He met Kate in 1994 while living in his car (a 1967 Chrysler Newport), and they played and performed together more eleven years. In addition to his role in Kate MacLeod and the Pancakes, Barry led his own musical duo, "Inish," that played (and continues to play) traditional music of the British Isles along with his original songs. Barry is also a graduate of the School of Audio Engineering in Sydney, and he has managed his own recording studio and produced recordings for other musicians. In the winter of 2005/2006, Barry returned to New Zealand and left the Pancakes. He maintains a website.