katiearcher

Cape Town

A songsmith and song collector from County Cork in Ireland with a love of traditional and contemporary musics the world over. As well as composing and performing my own brand of alternative folk music, I arrange Irish traditional songs for voice and guitar. I'm putting out my first EP, called Rush of Song, in June 2026: the album is a gentle reflection on my early twenties and all the learnings during that time. My music is primarily influenced by old folkies like Bob Dylan, Nick Drake, Joni Mitchell as well as contemporary alternative homies like Feist, Alice Phoebe Lou, This Is The Kit, Aoife Nessa Frances and Alt J. I grew up between Kenya and Ireland and am currently based in Cape Town where I'm studying for my masters in ethnomusicology at UCT. My specialisation is the freedom and protest song traditions of colonial and postcolonial nations; my current research centres on music as a tool of advocacy of the Palestinian cause in Ireland and South Africa.