Kathryn Calder

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 when 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 officially left Immaculate Machine in 2008, and has recorded three albums with the New Pornographers, including Twin Cinema (2005), Challengers (2007), and Together. In 2010, 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 caring 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.