Biography
“Joe Hill would be proud. Great singer and organizer at the same time,” Pete Seeger.
Colleen is a bilingual vocalist, guitarist and composer of songs. Her poetic originals and charismatic stage presence inspire hope and spark imagination and audience participation! After a show audience members frequently tell her “You touched my soul”.
“Colleen’s got an urban sensibility with a backwater bilingual sound.”
Colleen has shared the stage with legendary performers Pete Seeger (he actually called her once when she was working in her garden- he loved “Singin down” the SOA with her and Jolie Rickman), Holly Near with whom she toured in 2012, and Tom Paxton.
She’s been also a selected showcase artist at the Northeast Regional Folk Alliance and the Emerging Artist Showcase at Falcon Ridge Folk Festival. Under the name, Dos XX, she and her band won the 2013 Band Contest at Grassroots Festival of Music and Dance in Ithaca, NY.
“Sing on anything… Pitch perfect vocals and superb vocal quality” Professor Louie, producer of The Band and superb music in his own right.
Colleen is a featured musician at the gates of Ft. Benning, GA, in the movement to close the SOA. She has performed on Amy Goodman’s Democracy Now, is a long time arts activist who believes in the transformative power of song and all the arts to create a better world. She recently won the Jon Fromer String-buster songwriting award at the Great Labor Arts Conference in Silver Spring, MD.
“Ever since childhood Kattau has been imbued with a voice that haunts with its clarity and range”,
– Syracuse New Times.