Lewiston Morning Tribune, Lewiston, ID
Friday, August 17, 2001

Singer/songwriter to bring tunes to Lewiston
By Jennifer Karinen

Katy Tessman says she's hard to surprise which is why her parents once gave her a Christmas present on the Fourth of July. The gift was an acoustic guitar and not long after, Tessman surprised herself when she composed some songs, faced at live audience, and met spirited response.

"I realized I could write songs and perform them for people," said Tessman in a phone interview from her home in Minnetonka, Minn. "Now because music has been so successful it is a full time job."

Tessman was about to embark on tour of the Northwest to promote her first CD, a collection of original contemporary folk titled Fall. She performs tonight with her drummer/percussionist husband Dave Stanoch at Blackbird Java in Lewiston from 8:30 to 10:30 p.m.

The warm 31-year-old admits she has always been a performer and blames it on being the middle child.

"I was a theatre and music major in college. Then I realized I wanted to have a degree to put towards something and make a good living."

She graduated in speech communication and not long after came the gift guitar.

Tessman sits down and writes her music and lyrics at the same time on either the guitar or mandolin. While some traces on Fall are performed by a full band, on others her voice mingled with a single instrument stand alone, "striped down to the roots of how I create."

"They're more about the melody and the song topic. That's what gives it more of the folk sound feeling."

Tessman's straight-from-the-heart songs traverse vast emotional territory.

The title track "Fall" is about two people overcoming their fear of saying what they feel. In another song she sings about summers spent at her family's lake home called Caribou.

"I also have songs about tough things, manic depression and losing a friend. Even though a song is about something tough, I have a positive, optimistic spin. I'm happy to be alive and living and I think people will pick that up. I'm there to have fun with my audience."

Admission to Tessman's performance is $5. Blackbird Java is at 326 Main St.

Photography by Jon Duder.