Kathy Tugman calls her music "alternative pop," meaning that it is based in a variety of popular styles (pop, rock, country, folk, ballads and story songs) but is unified through an emphasis on the importance of memory and external and internal landscapes in defining who we are, who we love, what we hope to be. The songs are tightly crafted but are open to a variety of musics and a range of influences, never forgetting that the soul is moved when the body is, too. The songs are built around Kathy's strong and varied vocal style, grounded on the rhythm section and driven by guitar on many tracks, piano on others. This is intelligent music that always wants to swing.

MP3: Oh, The Laurel

On Kathy's valentine for all y'all old friends, released in December 1999, she shares billing with her band. That group, called DaHouse Band after the studio where the album was recorded, features Eddie Gwaltney on many instruments (so many that even the Executive Producer lost count) and backing vocals and Jo Whitaker on drums and other forcibly struck surfaces. (Jo was also the engineer for the record. See, also, the flattering portraits of these fellows that we were forced to include elsewhere on this website.) Kathy sings lead on all the songs and plays rhythm guitar and piano.
The idea behind the new album and its 12 original songs was to get a simpler sound, one more rooted in the rhythm section of a pop band than, as on Kathy's earlier work, the sound of piano vocals. "These songs were built from the bass and drums up, rather than from the vocals down," Kathy says, "and, as the recording of the album went along, it became clear that Jo and Eddie should get credit for what we were doing."
"The Long Refrain" is also more secular than Kathy's previous work, although this is not to say that the songs do not have a spiritual element. The songs cover an emotional landscape from love songs (happy, sad and strange) to stories about friends and family, including, along the way, a song about a vanished railroad and the pleasures of riding in red cars. The title song is a tribute to all singers who take the risks necessary to make their songs and to have those songs heard.

MP3: Sometimes Heaven

MP3: The Shade of Samba

Kathy wanted to make an album of lullabies that was also an interesting record in its own right. To do that, she used a mix of well-known songs, some older, less familiar ones and five newer ones, penned by Kathy and the Executive Producer. She then sweetened the mix with several classical pieces (for example, using five of Mozart’s twelve variations on “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star/Bah Bah, Black Sheep”). Then, to add to thevery personal approach that she takes to her material, Kathy performed all of the vocals and played all of the instruments herself. The arrangements of the older tunes (and, occasionally, the use of rarely heard lyrics to familiar songs) give them a freshness that is unexpected. The new songs are playful and even thoughtful folk tunes that children and parents will love. “This is the first time I’ve ever made a record with the idea of putting my listeners to sleep,” Kathy says. “But I also hope that they’ll want to hear it when they’re wide awake, too.” They should. The album works both ways, meaning that Kathy accomplished her goal of making a lullaby album that is also a coherent, interesting and accomplished recording.

MP3: Bedtime in Your Backyard

Kathy's first recording project, "With You Always", was made in 1994 and was released only on cassette. Despite that, it has been one of her most popular albums, speaking, as it does, to people who are caught up in the swirl of modern living, with its loud demands and even louder distractions. "With You Always", coming from the peaceful center of Kathy's heart, is spiritual therapy for having, as one song says, "too much to do, I need more time/Gotta get moving or I'll get behind". Without denying that we all must meet our obligations, and sometimes do that at top speed, the album urges moments of reflection, followed by the bottomless assurance that faith can give. The record also calls on listeners gratefully to acknowledge all that is good in their lives, to look at all their blessings. For years, Kathy's fans have asked her to put this album out on compact disk, and now she has done that, with a bonus. There are seven brand new songs, recorded in 2003 with DaHouse Band, that reaffirm and broaden Kathy's messages and methods while bringing to bear all of the musical skills that she has developed since 1994. For old fans and new, here's a great record made even better.

MP3: Gonna Thank the Lord

Kathy's powerful and diverse album from 1997 shares with her 1999 release, "The Long Refrain," the skills of Jo Whitaker and Eddie Gwaltney (soon to earn fame as DaHouse Band), along with several other musicians, in creating an album of secular and spiritual songs that revolve around the importance of family, lovers, faith and memory. Kathy's voice is the focus of this recording, but she employs it in the service of a number of styles.
The piano/vocal ballads over which Kathy's earliest fans have been known to weep are well represented on this album, and these songs contain the strongest statements of Kathy's trust in the power of the spirit. Strong hints of what was to come in "The Long Refrain" are also here in love songs (including one set in the image of an Ireland of the heart) and stories of family members, of generations before and after Kathy's own. Of course, there is a song about fishing on a long ago summer day, plus an R&B tune about the pleasures of finding your match, and, on top of that, a bluegrass number, very ably brought in by the renowned and freely self-promoting fiddler Fletcher Bright and his heartbreakingly good band. ("Sounds like my record collection," the Executive Producer enthused to his intimates.) As with the 1999 album, all of the songs on "Shadow"are originals except for the sonic bookmarks of the ancient folk song ,"The Ash Grove," and its mirror image hymn, "Let All Things Now Living."
After a number of years, "Shadow on the Arch" continues to win fans for Kathy, and the songs have shown that they have the staying power of art that touches on the true.

MP3: You Carry Our Dreams

There's nothing like something special for Christmas, and Kathy Tugman's holiday album is, indeed, something special. By turns, swinging, thoughtful, spiritual and merry, Kathy's Christmas album takes its title from a song by Beth Nielsen Chapman (which song, "There's Still My Joy," is a highlight of the record) and its styles from folk, jazz, gospel and traditional Christmas music.
If you like the tight sounds of vocals from the Forties, it's here. If you like the haunting sweetness of the best Christmas folk music, it's here, too. If you want to hear the great Christmas hymns given strong arrangements and if you like the smooth sound of the classic Christmas pop tunes, you will find all of that here. ("Gosh!" the Executive Producer exclaimed, "it's just like Christmas!")
Kathy and her talented friends use sophisticated but crisp vocal arrangements and instrumentation that includes keyboards, guitars, hand bells and tasteful percussion to bring a warm and spiritually satisfying sound to the music of Christmas. This is an album that you will bring out and play, year and after, each time that the Season comes around. "The Garland and the Silver Star" will, itself, become a Christmas tradition.

MP3: The Merry Medley