Featured Profile :

Katie Dee & The Quaking Aspens

Katie Dee began her musical career playing piano and violin. When she was thirteen, she discovered punk and began writing her own songs, going on to form an all-girl punk band in high school. After college, while her songs continued to maintain their punk and goth roots, Katie's songwriting branched out to encompass other genres she had grown to enjoy. Inspired by her mother's family's love of traditional Appalachian murder ballads, her own dark sense of humour, and her interest in storytelling, she began the Gothic Americana outfit Katie Dee & The Quaking Aspens in 2013. She plays guitar, violin, and sings in the band. Katie's beloved wife, Julien Dee, is a multidisciplinary artist, with a degree in Studio Art. Julien's primary instruments are musical saw, acoustic bass, and vocals. Julien loves finding musical inspiration and instrumentation in unexpected places, and considers the Elephant 6 Collective bands a major inspiration in songwriting. In addition to musical and songwriting contributions, they also designed the band's most recent album artwork. The duo is often joined by a rotating cast of guest musician friends, particularly cellist Amanda Lee. The Quaking Aspens have performed at the Millvale Musical Festival as well as multiple times at the Deutschtown Music Festival, frequently play locally, and released their newest album, a collection of original dark sea shanties, called "From The Sea" in Summer 2020.