The Kat Downs Post
I met her as Kween Schwa, the St. Norbert’s College homecoming queen nominee from BIG (the frat independent group with which I had become affiliated through constant contact with its members). But almost everyone else knew her as Kat, an endearing and beautiful woman with a smile that could knock you over and a personality as warm as a shaft of sunlight on your floor.
A year or two after everything had quieted down with BIG (for me) she married Jamie, a roguish-seeming friend-of-a-friend. They both knew me only peripherally, having spoken with me during parties or brief pre-show antics. Yet each time I would talk to either of them, there was this genuine feeling of welcome and comraderie that has stuck with me. My good friends from BIG talk of them with great admiration, and I get a sense of why.
Then, today, as I sat home poring over code, nursing a sore neck, and generally feeling run-down, I got an email from a friend. Just a simple “In case you didn’t know…” sort of thing. Call me a softy, but the nostalgia of those two people came a-rushing back.
After listening to her music, however, I’m hit with an even deeper sense of appreciation. Kat seemed down-to-earth when you’d talk to her, but right beneath the conversation level, you could feel that Kat always had something to say. Her music certainly feels that way. Give it a listen. Girl’s got pipes.
