Katie Spencer

'Her articulate picking, with suggestions of folk and jazz, frames intelligently written songs’ – Guitarist
Magazine

Raised in the East Yorkshire flatlands on the fringes of Hull (UK), Katie Spencer’s landscape has always been
that of open skies and widening rivers. It is this sense of space and movement that flows through her assured
guitar style and songwriting. Now, as Katie steps into this new era with a third album, her focus turns to those
deeper inner spaces, inviting the listener to engage with her heartfelt and intricately-crafted songs.

Her writing, and most notably her guitar playing stems from a time when the steel-stringed instrument was
truly finding its voice. Artists like Joni Mitchell, Judee Sill, Julie Byrne and perhaps most evidently Michael
Chapman, weave into her sound. Katie absorbs these influences into her songwriting and with her distinctive
deep vibrato and crystal-clear guitar style, she makes the music inimitably her own.

Katie will release her third album What Love Is in October 2025; an intimate collection of ten brand-new
songs produced by Matt Ingram (Laura Marling, The Staves). Recorded in London’s Urchin Studios and
featuring prominent players Giacomo Smith (clarinet), Max Clilverd (pedal steel), Tom Mason (double bass)
and Matt Ingram (drums, synth). What Love Is evokes the spirit of Joni Mitchell’s finest later works, always
honouring without emulating. Lyrically mature and at times pastoral; the album is melodically sophisticated
and unflinchingly honest. She moves effortlessly from wide-open jazz-tinged soundscapes, influenced by
Pharoah Sanders and John Abercrombie, through to the folk-baroque fingerpicking style that her fans admire
her for. Her singing is powerful yet warm, true and pristine in delivery. The musicianship throughout the record
feels liberated by Katie’s innovation and confidence, and the result is a master-class of inspired and
beautiful-sounding craftmanship.