Singer-songwriter Kat Lane joins KGNU’s Ginger Perry in the Kabaret Studio for a live session featuring original music, conversation, and collaboration with guitarist Ryan Gelinas. Kat shares her journey from classical violin to the Colorado folk and bluegrass scene, talks about her songwriting process, and discusses being selected as a troubadour for the Telluride Bluegrass Festival songwriting competition. The duo performs original songs including “12 State Lines” and “Not For Lack of Trying,” along with a cover of “Skylight” by Pinegrove. Kat and Ryan also talk about their recent performances, recording plans, and the joy of making music together in Colorado (Air Date 4/30/26).
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Transcript:
Ginger Perry: We’ve got Kat Lane and Ryan Gelinas, and they are in the Cabaret Studio right now. They’re gonna play some music for us. Kat, are you there?
Kat Lane: We’re here. Hi, Ginger.
Ginger Perry: Hi. Sounds great hearing you warm up and get organized for this live performance. Tell us just a little bit about you, and then we’ll go right into you playing a couple of songs.
Kat, you are Liz Lane’s daughter, and Liz Lane is an important part of KGNU. She does a lot of news shows and is the backbone of KGNU. She’s been on the board, and she does a lot of stuff behind the scenes. So I’m interested to meet you, Kat. Thank you for being here.
Kat Lane: Yeah, thanks for having us. And thanks for your kind words about my mom, who I’m sure is listening. Hi, Mom. You are the backbone of KGNU, of Boulder Public Radio.
Ginger Perry: Yes. Hi, Liz.
Kat Lane: My name’s Kat. I’m here with Ryan. We live in Denver, and we play locally a lot. We’re working on recording new music, and we’re super excited to be here and play some songs.
Ginger Perry: Yeah, Liz—Kat. I wanna call you Liz. Kat, how long have you been doing music?
Kat Lane: Oh, forever. I grew up playing classical violin and then kind of found home in the Colorado folk and bluegrass music scene.
Ginger Perry: Right. And how about Ryan? Has he been playing for a while?
Ryan Gelinas: I started piano lessons when I was a little kid because my mom said my brother and I had to play an instrument. So we started on piano, we got bored, and my mom was like, “You can quit, but you have to pick another instrument.”
I was like, “Okay, let’s do guitar then.”
Ginger Perry: Thanks, Mom.
Ryan Gelinas: Yeah, I’ve been playing guitar for a long time.
Ginger Perry: That’s terrific. Have you been performing with other people over the years?
Ryan Gelinas: In college I used to do open mics because I wrote songs and played. In high school I had a band, but I haven’t done much recently. Playing with Kat has been really nice because it’s fun and I enjoy playing with her, but also it forces me to actually play my guitar.
Ginger Perry: Right. So you’ve only been playing together less than a year?
Ryan Gelinas: Definitely less than a year.
Kat Lane: We played one open mic together in college in California in 2016.
Ryan Gelinas: Yeah, almost exactly 10 years ago.
Kat Lane: Then Ryan and his fiancée moved to Denver, and I think we reconnected on social media and just started jamming together. Ryan makes all my music a lot better.
Ginger Perry: Oh, excellent. That’s how it should be. And you probably make his better too, so it’s a good collaboration.
Kat Lane: I don’t know.
Ginger Perry: Well, it’s collaboration, I will just say.
Ryan Gelinas: What’s the cringe and clout thing you said?
Kat Lane: Oh yeah. In songwriting it’s like cringe and clout. You gotta be one part cringe and one part clout.
Ryan Gelinas: So I bring the cringe?
Kat Lane: Ryan says he brings the cringe.
Ginger Perry: A good team.
Kat Lane: But Ryan also brings the clout, so I’m not sure what I’m bringing to the table.
Ryan Gelinas: Yeah, I bring a little bit of clout.
Ginger Perry: Creativity, let’s say that.
Kat Lane: Sure. We’ll take it.
Ginger Perry: Okay, well, excited to hear you. What’s the first song you’re gonna do?
Kat Lane: This song’s called “12 State Lines,” and it’s kind of a little song about someone not being able to stop moving around, and that person is definitely not me.
Ginger Perry: Okay. Take it away.
Kat Lane: Okay.
[Performance of “12 State Lines”]
Ginger Perry: That is so beautiful. Thank you. Wow, I love it. What a great sound you have.
Kat Lane: Oh, thanks so much.
Ginger Perry: What’s the name of that? “Night Bird Sits”?
Kat Lane: No, that one’s called “12 State Lines.”
Ginger Perry: Oh yeah, “12 State Lines.” And do you have a new release coming out, did you say?
Kat Lane: We’re working on it. I’m pretty slow in the studio, and it takes me a long time to decide what I wanna record and how I wanna record it. I’m working with an awesome producer, Corbin Roberts in Denver, and we’re kind of just chipping away at it.
I’m really in no rush to get anything out, but hopefully there’ll be some stuff out in the next couple months.
Ginger Perry: And you write all your own songs?
Kat Lane: I do, yeah. Often I’ll bring stuff to Ryan, and Ryan will tell me to change it, write a bridge, and make it better. Arrange things, come up with harmonies.
Ginger Perry: Exactly. Yeah, beautiful harmonies. Wow. Now tell me the exciting news about how you were chosen as one of the troubadours for the Telluride Bluegrass Festival songwriting competition of sorts. Tell us what it is and what your role in it is.
Kat Lane: I’m super excited. Basically, I went to the Telluride Bluegrass Festival for the first time last year and loved it. I totally fell in love. I was up until 4:00 in the morning every night playing music with people.
Ginger Perry: Did you camp?
Kat Lane: I camped, yeah.
Ginger Perry: Yeah.
Kat Lane: The campgrounds are just full of music at night. It’s super magical. There’s a songwriting competition called the Troubadour Festival, and I submitted a couple songs to it, and I got in, so we’ll see what happens. But yeah, I’m very excited.
Ginger Perry: Good. Well, you got in. That’s a big accomplishment right there. You wanna play a song that you’re gonna play at that?
Kat Lane: We’ll play that one last. The next one we’re gonna do is a little instrumental that we wrote, and then we’re gonna go into a cover. It’s a Pinegrove song.
Ginger Perry: Okay. Terrific.
Kat Lane: Yeah.
Ginger Perry: Okay, go ahead.
Kat Lane: All right.
Ryan Gelinas: One, two, three, four.
[Instrumental performance and cover of “Skylight” by Pinegrove]
Ginger Perry: What are those two called?
Kat Lane: The first one is just a little guitar ditty. We’ve never named it, but we like playing it a lot, and we like playing it into a cover. So that was “Skylight” by Pinegrove, which is kind of a genre jump for us, but we’re big fans, so we do it anyway.
Ginger Perry: Good. That works out. Now, when can I see you? Where can I see you perform?
Kat Lane: That’s such a good question. You can come see us tonight at Globe Hall in Denver. We’re playing with Bridger Teton and Hollowhead.
Ginger Perry: Do you have the address of that?
Kat Lane: It’s at Globe Hall.
Ginger Perry: I’m not familiar with Globe Hall.
Kat Lane: It’s a music club in Globeville.
Ryan Gelinas: The weirdest little pocket of Denver.
Kat Lane: North Denver. It’s a weird little pocket, but it’s a fun club for sure. It’s a good room.
Ginger Perry: Well, good. I think—
Ryan Gelinas: We’re supposed to go on around 10, right?
Kat Lane: Mm-hmm.
Ginger Perry: Well, I want you to play around here in Boulder.
Kat Lane: Oh, we can make that happen. We’ll probably play up in Gold Hill or at Nederland or somewhere. This month has been kind of crazy. We played a lot of shows this month, and we’re looking to take a small break from playing. But we’ll probably play up in Gold Hill or at Nederland soon.
Ginger Perry: Oh, good. I love Gold Hill for a venue. Everything about Gold Hill.
Kat Lane: Super fun.
Ginger Perry: Well, I guess Liz will keep me posted, or I guess you can keep me posted.
Kat Lane: I post everything on my social media too, so whenever I have a show, that’s a good place to look.
Ginger Perry: Good. Well, I love having you two on. Another song perhaps?
Kat Lane: Yeah, totally. This one’s called “Not For Lack of Trying.”
Ginger Perry: Okay.
Ryan Gelinas: Actually, do we have time for two more?
Ginger Perry: Sure.
Kat Lane: Oh, great.
Ryan Gelinas: Okay, cool.
Kat Lane: Good call, Ryan. We wanna say the best.
Ginger Perry: If I didn’t like your music, I’d say no. Sorry, folks. I’d give you the hook.
Kat Lane: He’d be like, “We’re actually out of time.”
Ginger Perry: No, two more by all means.
Kat Lane: Okay, great. Thank you, Ginger. This one’s called “Not For Lack of Trying.”
Ryan Gelinas: One, two, three.
[Performance of “Not For Lack of Trying”]
Ginger Perry: With a lot to think about and to sing in our minds and to enjoy. So thank you so much. This is— I always tell people they need to announce the performers more often, and then I forget to do it.
Kat Lane and Ryan Gelinas here on KGNU. She’s a singer-songwriter that’s been at it a long time, and we’re real happy to have you here in the Cabaret Studio.
Thank you.
Kat Lane: Thanks so much.
