Biography

Canadian singer/songwriter Kathryn Calder already had two EPs and four albums under her belt with Victoria-based indie rockers Immaculate Machine before expanding her public persona as a New Pornographer. When she was a teenager, Calder discovered that New Pornographers frontman Carl Newman was her long-lost uncle. (Her mother, who was adopted, discovered that her birth mother was also Newman's mother.) Called into the fold on a whim to fill in for co-vocalist Neko Case, who was in the midst of an increasingly explosive solo career, Calder began touring with the group as a vocalist and keyboard player. She also began recording with the New Pornographers, starting with 2005's Twin Cinema, and officially left Immaculate Machine in 2008. Two years later, Calder released her debut solo album, Are You My Mother?, a deeply personal, ten-song collection of D.I.Y. indie pop and folk, recorded in Victoria, British Columbia while she cared for her terminally ill mother. Calder's sophomore effort, Bright and Vivid, was released the following year and featured guest appearances from singer/songwriter Ford Pier, violinist Jesse Zubot, and Superchunk drummer Jon Wurster. In 2012, Calder embarked on the filming of the documentary A Matter of Time, which chronicled the time she spent caring for her mother, who sadly died of ALS. During her increasingly rare time off from the New Pornographers, she recorded what would be her third studio album. Co-produced by Calder and her husband Colin Stewart, the self-titled record was released by File Under: Music in April 2015. ~ James Christopher Monger, Rovi