SERBIAN BLUES PIANIST, KATARINA PEJAK TO RELEASE
NEW DISC PRODUCED BY MIKE ZITO
ROADS THAT CROSS OUT FEBRUARY 15TH ON RUF RECORDS
It takes a brave artist to blaze their own
trail. From her birth-city of Belgrade to the Marz Studios in Texas where she
recorded her dazzling new album, Katarina Pejak has walked countless roads and
stuck a thousand pins in the map. Now, with Roads That Cross, this
award-winning performer unveils a fresh set of songs that follow her muse
wherever it leads her. Inspired by blues, jazz, country and rock ‘n’ roll – and
shaped by all the cities she’s called home – this is music that crosses borders
and brings people together. As producer Mike Zito says: “Katarina is one of a
kind…”
Making her debut on the iconic Ruf Records – and
taking part in the label’s famous Blues Caravan tour in 2019 – Roads That
Cross is the stone-cold classic that Katarina has promised since the start.
Rewind to the post-millennium and this upcoming artist was already a little
different: a classical piano virtuoso who raided her father’s record collection
for Tom Waits, Bessie Smith, Van Morrison and Otis Spann – then challenged herself
to write songs that measured up.
Hitting the blues circuit in her late-teens,
word of Katarina’s house-rocking musicianship and smoky vocal spread across the
Serbian capital like wildfire. But she had bigger plans. In 2011, Katarina
followed the call to the birthplace of US roots, winning a scholarship to the
famed Berklee College of Music that trained stars from Steve Vai to Quincy
Jones. “It was amazing and tough at the same time,” she recalls. “Studying with
people like Dave Limina and Pat Pattison really shaped me.”
Katarina soon made her own mark, picked out for
Berklee’s prestigious Songwriting Achievement Award and winning critical
acclaim in her native Serbia for early releases like Perfume & Luck
(2010), First Hand Stories (2012) and Old New Borrowed And Blues
(2016). Her material touched on every genre, but the common factor was honesty,
which flooded from the speakers and held audiences spellbound as she performed
with the A-list and began to be mentioned in the same breath. “I've had the privilege
to meet and play with some true blues greats,” she recalls, “like Ronnie Earl,
Mike Zito, Anson Funderburgh, Mark Hummel and Ana Popović.”
For now, Katarina has put down roots in
Nashville. But Roads That Cross was born in Texas, where she arrived
this year armed with a notebook full of new songs, a stellar studio band and
the burning desire to make the best album of her career. “A young woman from
Serbia,” considers Zito, “surrounded by Americans, in Southeast Texas, takes
the reins and leads this band into some of the best songs I’ve heard in a long
time. Her voice is subtle and seductive, her piano playing is on fire. She has
emotion, passion and a desperate need for the music to be magical.”
Mission accomplished. Listen to Roads That
Cross and you’ll be taken on a magic carpet ride of emotion and mood.
There’s "She’s Coming After You," with its Latin groove,
echo-chamber guitars and a lyric about a femme fatale who “looks like the
Devil’s daughter/Walks like a baroness”. There’s the choppy reggae-flavored
"Down With Me" and the expert jazz of "The Harder You
Kick," carried by organ and Katarina’s astonishing vocal. The upbeat
"Cool Drifter" combines escapism with a soul edge, while
"Moonlight Rider" will satisfy the blues hardcore, its gritty riffs
and dusty groove addressing a lover that she knows will leave. “I didn’t
realize until after making the album,” she reflects, “but most of these songs
are about good-byes.”
For everyone else, Roads That Cross is
the start of a beautiful relationship. Following her meteoric early career,
Katarina Pejak stands at a crossroads, ready to step into the fast lane.
“She’ll make you think,” concludes Zito. “She’ll make you cry. By the end of
this record, she’ll have you in the palm of her hand. For Katarina, this is
only the beginning…”
Roads That Cross will be released by Ruf Records on February 15, 2019.
