It was while living in solitary in the hills of Cumbria (NW England) that singer-songwriter Cate Le Bon rediscovered her passion for songwriting in the unlikeliest of ways.
“You know, I took a break last year and it's been really restorative,” Cate says.
“When you've been a touring musician for so long, it allows you to tidy up shop and put your motives back in place and reconnect with why you wanted to make music in the first place. So, it's actually worked and it's been joyful playing with the band that I have at the moment. I just feel really a lot of gratitude.”
During her sabbatical, Cate swapped her guitar for woodworking tools as she dedicated herself to learning the craft of making wooden furniture by hand, from scratch.
“It was more to take a break and concentrate on something else, to put music on the back-burner for a little while because it had been such an all-consuming part of my life for so long,” Cate explains.
“You want to know that you're doing it out of the love for it, and when you've been doing it for so long it can be hard to know really – the only way is to take a break. I wanted to do something else for years so I went to a furniture school, which was pretty intense and took up most of my time. Music became a hobby again and became the thing I wanted it to [be] when I took a break from designing or building. It was really lovely the way it worked out.”
The result of Cate's creative rebirth is her recent album 'Reward', released in May of this year. Though each of her records are important to her as an artist, Cate says 'Reward' takes on extra significance in light of the process she went through to produce it.
“I think it's the most involved I've been in any record, really,” she says. “I guess a lot of shifts happened and a lot of realisations happened whilst making and writing it, so it is an intimate record for me.”
Topping off Cate's year is a nomination for the Welsh Music Awards, having missed out on winning the Mercury Prize that went to DAVE for his 'Psychodrama' album.
For Cate, there's no better way to round out 2019 than her upcoming Australian tour in December where she and her band will showcase both new songs and fan favourites on theatre stages and at Meredith Music Festival. “We've been [to Australia] once before and that was an amazing tour,” Cate says.
“It's just lovely to be able to come back. I've got a really special band at the moment and I'm really looking forward to it. I know that the last time we came I think we were all quite blown away by the people who came to the shows and it was really lovely. I can't wait.”
Cate Le Bon Australia Tour 2019
Mon 9 Dec - Rosemount Hotel (Perth)Wed 11 Dec - The Factory Theatre (Sydney)
Thu 12 Dec - The Foundry (Brisbane)
Fri 13 Dec - Theatre Royal (Castlemaine)
Sat 14 Dec - Meredith Music Festival
Sun 15 Dec - Croxton Bandroom (Melbourne)
