Katie Dineen

There are no strangers here— only friends you haven’t met yet. This is Katie’s chorus, both in her song Stranger in a Strange Land and in her life.

Katie Dineen has been playing music since childhood, first learning classical piano before picking up guitar and veering toward folk and indie-rock as a teenager. In her early twenties, Katie began hosting a weekly open mic, which was her catalyst to start songwriting. As her relationship with songwriting deepened, her desire to cultivate a commmunity around it took form: in 2022, she founded the Pensacola Songwriter Rounds, a monthly show series intended to grow the Pensacola songwriter scene by providing a stage for songwriters to share their music, be mutually inspired, and collaborate with one another.

Inspired by musicians such as Bob Dylan, Norah Jones, and Adrienne Lenker, Katie blends “earthy tone and raw, acoustic folk-pop instrumentation” with “ethereal… and uniquely nostalgic” lyrics (Phillips 2024). Be it tenderly soft or playfully powerful, Katie’s dynamic voice embodies her lyrics, compelling the listener’s attention and guiding them through the experience of the song. Accompanying herself on guitar and occasionally keys, Katie performs both solo and with her band: her fiance Jacob Palmer on lead guitar, her producer Starlin Browning on bass, and Tay Whyte on drums.

Only five years into her musical career, Katie already has shared the stage with some of her inspirations: Sixpence None The Richer, Kevn Kinney, Sarah Lee Guthrie, Eric Lindell, Grayson Capps, as well as numerous other seasoned musicians. This fall, she and her band will open for Japanese Breakfast, Dashboard Confessional, Joyce Manor, and others for Night Moves Music Festival 2025.

In August 2024, Katie released her debut album, This One’s For You. A mix of full-band and stripped-down, acoustic songs, This One’s For You invites the listener to slow down and notice the wildflowers, literally and metaphorically. The album weaves themes of falling in love with meditative reflections on nature, gratitude for the moment, and a call to action: What are you dreaming of? And how are you living up to the promises you made when you were young and free to be anything? You could still be anything that you want to be.

Katie’s next album is currently in process. Stay tuned for upcoming releases & touring!