Ed. – With today being President’s Day in the United States, we’re taking New Music Monday on the road with a band that’s based in Philadelphia, yet has roots in Columbus, Ohio.
It’s a new year for The Lunar Year… 

By Susanne Spires

It’s hard to assign a label to The Lunar Year, when their music styles range from folk, jazz, pop/punk, and classical. But, that’s exactly what they seem to want.

“My biggest fear is that I will be pigeon-holed and put into a category that I don’t feel I fit into, especially as a female.” says Katie Burke, lead singer/piano/songwriter of The Lunar Year.  Katie has been playing music since she was young, brought up under the guidance of the Beatles and the Beach Boys. Later on, she found Tchaikovsky and Schumann to add to the list of influences on her music.

She and bass player Zach McCaw, a Columbus native, have been playing together for years, and with the addition of guitarist Steve Heine and drummer Kevin Walker everything became connected.

Photo Credit: Eric Tsurumoto

“Zach’s one of my best friends, so it makes collaborating simpler because we can read each other. And when we connected with our drummer Kevin and our guitarist Steve, it was almost immediate chemistry. Kevin has an extremely diverse background in percussion and is, honestly, a genius. Steve has the ability to transform my songs into what I always envision they will become when I’m writing them.

“I think our different backgrounds helped us all to become more well-rounded musicians and once we started playing together it just worked. I honestly feel like I lucked out with these guys.”

With 2017 still in its infancy, The Lunar Year has a lot on their horizon, including an album release, tour, and solo shows in California for Katie. Currently, their current single “Porcelain” off of their EP Mon Ange Alice has reached over 80,000 listens on Spotify, with fans as far reaching as Taipei and Germany.

“I honestly just hope to showcase our new music, give my bandmates the recognition they so deserve and put something meaningful into the world.” Katie says of her hopes for 2017.

Regarding any upcoming shows in Columbus, she replied “I am starting to plan a tour for the spring or summer and hope to play one, possibly two shows in Columbus. We had the best experience back in November at The Shrunken Head and felt so at home. So, we will be returning for sure.”