Look Who It Is Podcast · Episode 32
Kate Morris: Chasing Music, Raising a Family, and Refusing to Overthink It
Southern California country artist Kate Morris talks about starting her music career later in life, balancing motherhood with independent artistry, finding a community through writers rounds, and learning to move forward without overthinking every step.
Full conversation
Watch or listen to Kate on Look Who It Is
A 37-minute conversation about music, family, songwriting, confidence, and doing the work behind an independent career.
About Kate Morris
Kate Morris is a country artist and songwriter based in Orange County, California. She grew up in rural New Hampshire, where she traces much of her country influence, and now works within Southern California’s growing country music community.
Kate wrote and sang for years without pursuing music professionally. After raising a family and watching her children reach grade-school age, she decided she did not want to look back later and regret never trying. Her first writers-round performance in October 2024 turned into a featured invitation and eventually led to shows at venues including Hotel Café and Desert 5 Spot.
What we talked about
- Growing up in New Hampshire and finding a country community in Southern California
- Returning to music after marriage, motherhood, and years of writing privately
- Her nervous first writers-round performance and the invitation that followed
- Balancing shows, songwriting, household responsibilities, and two children
- Learning to co-write after building her early catalog alone
- How “Preach” grew from the contrast between her religious mother and free-spirited father
- Producing music with drummer Tim Geyser and musicians from her live band
- The creative and administrative workload carried by independent artists
- Why self-doubt, unanswered messages, and social-media numbers cannot be taken personally
- The story behind “Tumbleweeds” and its country-rock direction
Starting later without treating motherhood like an ending
Kate did not begin playing her original music publicly until October 2024. She arrived at an Orange County writers round terrified, entered the open-mic drawing, and did not get called. Another writer gave her one of his two song slots, allowing her to perform a single original. The hosts invited her back as a featured writer.
That first opportunity became proof that she could keep going. Kate began researching venues, contacting people directly, building friendships in the local scene, and accepting opportunities she would not have imagined before that first song. At home, her husband’s support and her family’s willingness to work around performances have made the schedule possible.
She also sees her career as an example for her daughters. One of her favorite performance memories came when her previously shy nine-year-old daughter stood up and sang a Morgan Wallen song in front of an entire restaurant. For Kate, it showed that pursuing her own dream could make courage feel possible for her children too.
Song stories from the episode
“Preach”
Kate wrote “Preach” around Thanksgiving 2024 while her mother was visiting. The song draws from the contrast between her deeply religious mother and her free-spirited, hippie father. It explores the tension between knowing you are a good person and still questioning yourself when somebody else judges the way you live.
Listeners have told Kate they relate to that conflict. The song became her first release and took nearly a year to move from the initial writing session through finding a producer, recording, revisions, and release.
“Tumbleweeds”
“Tumbleweeds” is a cautionary song told from the perspective of someone watching a friend chase an emotionally unavailable man. Its central image twists the childhood “he loves me, he loves me not” game: you cannot pick petals from a tumbleweed because it is already gone with the wind.
Kate describes the production as bluesy country-rock with pedal steel, a strong guitar solo, and traces of the jazz she heard growing up. The track was produced by her drummer, Tim Geyser, with musicians connected to her live band and local country scene.
The job behind the music
The episode is direct about how little free time exists behind an independent music career. Kate is responsible for booking, social media, video content, songwriting, production decisions, performance preparation, and the ordinary work of running a household. She describes music as more than a full-time job even though it has to fit around the rest of her life.
That workload can flatten creativity into another box to check. Kate’s answer is to capture ideas when they appear, step away when writing stalls, and keep moving without assigning too much meaning to every response. A venue that does not answer immediately, or a carefully edited post that receives little attention, is not proof that the work failed.
Her working rule is simple: do not overthink it. Self-doubt, writer’s block, and inconsistent momentum are part of the process, but they do not have to decide what happens next.
Episode highlights
- 1:44 Writing privately before deciding to pursue music professionally
- 3:18 The first writers round and the song slot that started everything
- 6:23 Balancing motherhood, performances, and family logistics
- 11:12 The personal story and family contrast behind “Preach”
- 15:31 Doing every job required of an independent artist
- 19:11 Hearing her songs become full studio productions
- 23:58 Self-doubt, unanswered messages, and refusing to quit
- 27:18 Why overthinking can stop creative momentum
- 31:04 Writing songs that feel specific and universal at the same time
- 35:09 The warning and wordplay behind “Tumbleweeds”