biography

"I have always strived to do and say what I believe and in the end relentlessly be myself" Katie Trotta 2005 Did it all begin with the piano lessons that started in second grade or the fifth grade teacher who made everyone keep a journal? The years of classical piano training and ability to place what is in her heart on paper were the seeds that 22 year old Katie Trotta needed to find her true passion as a singer/songwriter. In her debut album, "release", Katie's spirit is clearly heard through her thought provoking words. This singer/songwriter wanted her first album to include only songs written during her high school years. Katie finished recording "release" in the fall of her senior year, two months after her eighteenth birthday. The months since the March 2004 release of her debut album have been extremely exciting and full of "firsts" for Katie. Graduating from high school, going to college for a semester and beginning a performing career has made time fly. As a classically trained pianist and skilled improvisationist, Katie has performed in many settings but had only shared her original piano/vocal pieces on a few occasions at school and with family and friends before the albums release. In the time since, she has won over audience after audience with her soulful and genuine performances. At only 21 years old Katie has performed in many settings from cozy coffeehouses to loud bars to auditoriums with crowds ranging from 5 to several thousand. At each show the singer/songwriter connects with her audience as she performs both songs from her album and new pieces. She draws in her audiences with her heartfelt songs and makes them feel at home with her warm manner and dry wit as she talks about her music and her life. Katie performs all original sets as a solo artist, a duo with guitarist Corey Miller or beginning in September 2005 with her newly formed band. Band members include Corey Miller - guitar and back-up vocals, Terry Voss - bass, and Tim Plunkett - drums. July of 2006, the band released the six song EP, 'Metamorphosis'. Faith, family and friends are the center to Katie's life. She is committed to be true to her faith and values as she continues in the exciting journey ahead. Always thankful, Katie knows that she is truly blessed to have the gift of music in her life.

DiscoveringArtists.com review

With words that exude strength, beauty and emotion, this girl has an extremely bright future ahead of her. She reminds me a little of Fiona Apple, with an acoustic Rachael Yamagata tone to her music. I was genuinely touched by the truthfulness in her voice during each song. It was hard to pick a favorite from this classical piano-based recording in which Trotta's voice doesn't hit sparkling high soprano notes, yet fully soars. In the wonderfully compelling "Ordinary", she sings, "rescue me / show me what I'm too blind to see / cause I can't live my life / forever, forever as ordinary" "Same Old Thing" is yet another masterpiece on this 15-track goldmine, and in it, Trotta sings, "Trapped and I'm running in circles/Stuck and I don't know where to go to get out/Everyday is always the same/Tired and dying for a change/And I need it now." The music is so uplifting, so moving, so alive that your soul awakens with one listen. Trotta would be there. She is truly a talent to be reckoned with!

Indie-Music.com review

With the exception of Randy Newman, it’s hard for me to like pretty much any solo pianist. I don’t care who you are ... it’s hard to keep my attention if it’s just you, your voice, and your piano. Somehow Katie Trotta does keep my attention. I’m not sure exactly how old Trotta is, but she is no more than 18 or 19. According to her bio, she has shown promise from an early age, performing an original piece at her first piano recital. Release fits together like an album, rather than simply a collection of songs. The stark arrangement of vocal and piano adds to this feeling. Most of the songs are on the slower side of things, and there’s almost the impression that she’s sitting alone, playing for herself. “Bad Day” fits perfectly into this idea. The possibilities of a video for this song jump into your head as you listen to the song ... a large, dark room with her piano, trying to make herself feel better. The few upbeat tunes sound like the more serious side of Ben Folds Five. “Last Night” reminds me of the kind of song you find toward the end of Whatever and Ever, Amen. Trotta is more than just another girl with a piano. The songs included on Release were all written while Trotta was in high school. This is a mixed blessing. While she definitely has more talent than most high schoolers who think they can write songs, there are still the problems of an inexperienced songwriter. The music is virtually faultless, but there are times when the lyrics rely on rhymes such as “wall” and “fall,” “door” and “floor.” However, this is a very minor criticism when looking at the fact that she is just out of high school and already has a beautiful voice, with a nice range, and is a skilled pianist. If she keeps at it, the lyrics will improve. I would expect her next album to be spectacular.

"19 Going on 35" Paul F.P. Pogue

Singer/songwriter Katie Trotta has become a fixture in a variety of local outlets, but coffeehouses in particular. (“I just don’t like smoky bars,” she said.) Wherever the case, when she performs she commands attention with her raw and uncompromising style. Katie Trotta: “Everything’s something new.”Every Trotta show is something a little different; she’s a prolific writer who draws on her life experiences for each new piece. More than half the songs at her most recent show, at the far-Northside Starbuck’s, were new work composed after her debut album, Release. Her newest life experience has been her first semester at college, which has sent her songwriting in a whole new direction. “It’s not like anything I expected,” she said. “Everything’s something new.” Her voice is husky and haunting, a journey into an inner world that is not always a pleasant place but is constantly a revelation. “Just so you guys know, this one’s a little dark, so don’t expect a happy ending,” she warned the audience before performing “Enough,” and that was a bit of an understatement; it’s definitely a depress-a-thon. But it’s not all melancholy and darkness; songs like “Lazy Sunday” open up the occasional ray of light. And with the expansion of her life experience since college and her debut album, she and her lyrics find ever more repositories of hope. Trotta’s appeal is a combination of her precocious maturity — 19 going on 35 — and great vulnerability as she reveals her deepest self in her songs, pounding away at the keyboard as she pours out her heart. A searing vulnerability combined with a quiet confidence. Trotta has also picked up a knack for finding solid performing partners; she’s tag-teamed with the likes of Rochelle Bucher and Jessica Weiser. This time around, she introduced Indianapolis to the guitar and singing of Cory Hill. Hill’s sound straddles the fence between protest folk and the Grand Ole Opry. “I picked up a lot from the jam bands, like the Grateful Dead and Phish,” he said. Though only 21, he sings with a voice beyond his years, much like Trotta herself. His is the gravelly, weary voice of the old-old-school country singers, Hank Williams Sr. and Johnny Cash, with a little bit of Dylan. He did about half original and half covers, and he did justice to the classics in his performance. Starting in the spring, Trotta will be keeping an accelerated schedule of live performances.