Guitarist Kat Dyson joins Joe Kelley in this 1999 Upper Room radio archive to share stories from an extraordinary career working with Prince, Cyndi Lauper, Sheila E., Rhonda Smith, George Clinton and many more.

Kat reveals how Sheila E. helped connect her and Rhonda Smith with Prince, recalls auditioning for Cyndi Lauper, and takes listeners inside the experience of performing with Prince and the New Power Generation. She explains why every night with Prince could be different and what made his musical direction so special.

Kat also discusses jamming with George Clinton, working with Bernie Worrell, her musical roots, artistic independence, technology and the making of her own Colour Kommentary project.

It’s a revealing conversation with a guitarist whose career has crossed funk, rock, blues, R&B and pop.

🎙️ Originally recorded in 1999 for Upper Room with Joe Kelley on WVOF 88.5 FM in Fairfield, Connecticut.

Hosted by Joe Kelley | Musicians Reveal

This is the Upper Room with Joe Kelly.

Saturday night.

We're rolling here till 11pm tonight.

And as we have advertised all week long, we have a very talented singer, songwriter, guitarist, composer on the line.

Her name is Kat Dyson and she is currently the feature guitarist in the Donny and Marie House Band.

She has toured and performed and composed and recorded with the artist Formerly known as Princess Cyndi Lauper.

Various musicians in New York, Montreal, all over the world, James Brown.

And the artists don't have anything on this lady.

Her name is Kat Dyson.

How you doing, Kat?

Good to see you.

How you doing, Kat?

Oh, everything's excellent.

Sounds like you got a popping show out there.

Oh, yeah, right.

How you doing?

Excellent.

You hear us clear now?

Yeah.

All right.

So you're out in la.

Oh, yeah.

Out here in the land of Lala.

It's actually pretty.

Pretty nice day.

It's been warmer in other parts of the country than it's been here for the last couple of months.

Right.

And I have been playing color commentary for.

Geez, I'd say since you released it in October and we've been playing it for the past few months.

Well, that's great.

I'm really happy that you're playing it and that, you know, people kind of like what we tried to do.

And one of the things that I like, this style of blues and funk and R and B.

You don't hear that from a sister on radio these days, you know, stations.

Well, in New York City where they.

You lived in New York City for.

A little while, right?

Oh, yeah.

You remember Frankie Crocker?

Oh, yeah.

Oh, yeah.

Frankie used to play music like that and somehow it got pushed to the wayside and we're trying to bring it back here and it's been getting a lot of good publicity here in Connecticut.

Well, I mean, that's excellent.

I mean, what's happening?

I find with the business now, they're trying to get back to it, but everybody's looking to reinvent, so they're starting to call it different things.

Acoustic soul or old school or, you know, it's a new label for the same, you know, but it's the same tree, same roots.

Everybody's just looking to punish, you know, shear the leaves and branches and make it new.

So, hey, you know, I love it all.

All right.

Can you tell us a little bit about how you originated color commentary, how you recorded it?

Well, it started actually in Montreal because I was touring a lot with different artists, Canadian and American, and Colin James, Celine Dion.

I also had a Blues band of my own opening up for Etta James and Buddy Guy and all these different folks.

And I had friends who were doing the same, so we'd get together and just write tunes and play tunes.

And for me, music is like communication.

So I called it color commentary because, you know, you bring a subject to the table and everybody has a little something to say about it.

Like, you know, like in sports, there's one guy that's really, you know, saying, oh, look at the play.

And there's another guy that says, hey, what a.

You know.

So for me, whatever, you know, rhythmic background we brought in, you know, was basically the subject, and everybody just added their own commentary to it.

And speaking of some of the musicians, in Montreal, you had Jim Hillman, who's very talented percussionist.

Right.

I call him the Groove Master.

I love Jim.

Right.

And Rhonda Smith, of course.

So, anyways, do you plan on recording with them on some future projects?

Oh, without a doubt.

Rhonda is actually in Los Angeles now and is relocating here, and she's working on her project, which I worked on with her, and she's going to work on this one with me, along with Paul Peterson and Ricky Peterson from Minneapolis.

And you'll probably work on it also, and some of my other friends in la.

And for sure, I'll keep that Nashville line open because the Wooten brothers are friends of mine also, and Jan Paulford.

And, you know, so you're familiar with.

I'm getting together with people and we're writing as we get together, and because of all the new technology, we're able to just send tracks and swap tracks over the Internet or via data files.

I mean, it's great.

The whole fiber optic thing is making it easier for people who live far to still kind of do their thing together.

Right.

So as far as you are very into buying technology for your gear.

Oh, for sure.

I wanted to ask you, is there any piece you're looking to buy in the near future that you haven't already?

Oh, well, there's always something.

There's always something.

I mean, who.

What musician in their right mind wouldn't love to have the whole big pro tool system right at their houses?

I mean, there's always a wish list, and they're always coming up with newer stuff that does more, you know, easier, faster, greater, better.

But I try to, you know, get a handle on what I have and what I can't do.

You know, there are tech, you know, technical people out there that are way, way talented, you know, that I try to Align myself with.

Well, going back to talking about Montreal, when are you going to be up for a Jimu or a Felix out there in Quebec?

Because next time I go out there, I want to see you up on stage accepting an award.

No, I don't know.

I mean, what I do and what I try to do is not really, you know, for industry recognition.

Hopefully it's for the list, whoever they happen to be.

Well, believe.

Believe it or not, on our show, we do play.

We play.

You're familiar with Rude Luck?

Yes.

And Luke Marvel.

Oh, yeah, yeah.

So he gets play out here.

Kevin Perrott and Rude Luck are actually friends of mine.

Yeah, yeah.

He's doing Notre Dame de Paris and everything, so.

Excellent.

So we.

We give it up for Quebec a little bit.

All right now.

And, you know, we have had all week people calling in the show and emails across the country.

You mind if I ask a few questions from our listeners and people on the net?

Oh, far away.

Okay.

Batik, wanted to know who inspired you to become a musician.

Well, it's a combination of folks, I guess.

I mean, there were a lot of guys in my neighborhood.

I have four brothers on top of it, and everybody seemed to be playing some kind of instrument.

And I was playing piano.

You know, these guys would be outdoors, you know, with their guitars, like, you know, making tons of noise.

And I was in the house practicing piano.

I was like, mom, this is boring.

So actually, my mother bought my first guitar.

And where is home originally?

Go out and, you know, make noise with your brothers.

So that was cool.

So where is home originally?

Originally, Virginia.

Okay.

Yeah.

And Ronald Dyson.

Any relation?

The R and B singer?

I'm told there's a distant second cousin thing happening.

I haven't confirmed it.

Oh, okay.

Okay.

Moving on to a couple other questions.

Carolyn from Philly, she actually is Felicia Collins cousin, and she wanted to know what kind of advertising does one do to sell a CD on the Internet?

Well, there are tons of search engines, and I'm also in touch and doing business through Amazon.com which is, you know, really helping a lot.

And collecting dust is a label in and of itself.

And they're in contact with Rolling Stone online and all the trade magazines are online now.

So it makes it easier for you to send them a notice of what's happening and who's doing what.

And then with MP3, people can actually go to the site, check it out.

There's tons of ways now for as many search engines as they are, there are as many ways to do it, and it's constantly changing every day.

I don't profess to know it all, but I'm trying to do my little bit through the friends that I have that have helped me.

And, you know, if you don't mind, do you want to give out the address for your website?

Oh, www.catdyson.com.

Right.

And she has a lot of great links to all her friends who she's worked with in the music business.

So, you know, sticking together, adding and changing.

And I'm trying to add more and more to that.

I was just with George Clinton.

He's in LA right now, working and we're gonna go in and we jam together over at the House of Blues.

And he just gave me some great pictures.

So look around.

I'm gonna have that on my site and link it to their.

Oh, he's incredible.

I've seen he's come to Connecticut numerous times.

Four hour shows and just slamming.

Yeah, they recorded that show, Westwood One.

I don't know when they're going to broadcast it, but he tells me that they do have plans.

And we just, we just grooved until they turned the lights on and said, okay, get out.

Because actually you were on stage at the.

Where was the last performance?

You were on stage with George.

That was Valentine's Day this year.

Right.

So it was a blast.

Oh, yeah.

How many people on stage?

Was there room?

Oh, my God.

At any time it's got to be at least a dozen.

Oh, yeah.

Well, can we touch base on a few people you work with throughout the years?

Sure.

I mean, your resume, it's not one page.

You just, you have worked with people.

All over the globe.

Cindy Lauper, who, by the way, I don't know if you know this, a couple weeks ago she was the commencement speaker in Bridgeport, Connecticut for a local college.

Wow.

So Cindy and she went over pretty well.

Cindy's got a lot to say.

She knows who she is, she knows what she wants and she knows how she got there.

So that information itself is invaluable.

Sure.

So how did you get hooked up with her tour?

Actually, a friend of mine, Felicia Collins from the Letterman show was working with her and she got the call to do the Letterman show and Cindy was then holding open auditions.

So she told me about it and I was in Montreal and I went down and auditioned with her.

Ton of people and made the cut.

That's great.

I've been friends since then and moving along.

Colin James, great, great guitar singer.

He's the best.

That's, you know, everybody's looking for the new Stevie Ray.

I mean, he.

He studied and worked with himself.

He's.

He's the king.

I call him the king of attack guitar.

That guy is like.

He doesn't leave any stone unturned, and I love him and he knows it.

And Rhonda Smith, of course, you're working together with her.

Rhonda Smith, of course you worked together with the artists, mpg.

Actually, I jammed with them over Memorial Day weekend in Vegas.

It was great.

Oh, yeah, we heard about Studio 54.

Yeah, that was fun.

George Johnson was there.

Just a ton of people.

Just fun, you know.

What songs did you jam on?

Oh, songs kind of merged one into the other.

You know, they start out.

One is like Funky Devil, because if you ask me, I couldn't give you a set list because they just, you know, they start out being one song and then it goes into.

So how did actually you and Rhonda get hooked up with the artist?

Actually, through Sheila E. Another good friend who had a tape from the two of us, because we were going to work on writing some stuff for a different project.

And the artist called Sheila and said, I'm looking for female musicians because I'm changing my formation.

And she forwarded our tapes to him.

Right.

And, you know, we went and auditioned and it worked.

And I can remember actually my first time seeing you on stage with the Artist was at Roseland, and during talking loud and saying nothing.

Oh, that was an electric night.

Oh, yeah.

The artist screaming out, dyson, Dyson.

And he brought you out there.

And the band, you could just see you having fun up there.

Oh, it's total groove and it's so organized, even though it's loose.

But everything, you know, the music, every.

Every part that you play has a space to breathe because you can hear everything.

Because he's got it all worked out, right?

He's an absolute genius at that.

And one of our listeners called in earlier tonight, and his name is Jay the Electric Man.

He had a question, actually, because we know when you're playing with the artists, the rehearsals and all the work prior to the concerts is intense, right?

Oh, without a doubt.

But he had a question.

When you're on stage with him, you know, in between the songs, is there a lot of talk in between the songs?

Like cues, instructions?

It depends.

Every night was different.

There's never, never a night where things just run the same.

Right.

You know, there are no dats on that gig.

Right.

We're playing for anybody who thinks there are.

No, they're not.

So I know it's live.

I mean, you came to Connecticut at the Oakdale Theater.

You recall that one back there, the small theater.

Yes.

Yeah.

And anything memorable about that show in particular?

I always love the smaller places because you can feel the people and you feel connected.

Right.

And you can feel the circle of energy that you send out.

And we.

And we know.

We love your playing out there.

A lot of people missing you on stage with mpg.

Hey, you know, I mean.

But when he decides to play, nobody can touch that because the music originated from him.

And I'm so happy for him that he decided to play more, actually.

Oh, yeah.

You know, I mean, it's great when he decides it's time to, you know, just put this guitar on and stretch out, you know, it's his thing, and.

I love it, so.

So there's an open invitation to go back in the studio with him anytime, I guess.

Yeah.

Right.

Yeah.

Well, why don't we dig into, if you have time, more on color commentary, if you don't mind.

Well, like I said, it.

It.

What was basically done is he actually inspired me to just go ahead and just test the waters and put things out.

At that time, the record industry, everything was folding, shaping, changing.

Who knew what label was going to be where?

And I'm like, well, I got a little something to say, so let me try to do it myself.

And with the help of Jan Paulsit, who's been my good friend since I started working with Cindy Laver.

And she believed in me.

She says, hey, I'm doing this thing on the Internet, and, you know, let's just put these songs together and do the best we can and put them out and see what happens.

So it wasn't done with any kind of big intent on, you know, grabbing the major or whatever.

It was done to see, you know, who was out there, what I could do on my own.

Because he made such a point of stressing ownership and the attributes of, you know, being in control of your music and your project.

Because I know so many artists that I've worked with that end up feeling helpless in their art.

Right.

And I didn't want to be one of them.

Yeah.

And oftentimes, I mean, in the Paisley Circle, you'll see people kind of just fade away from the scene, and obviously you haven't done that.

And it's really refreshing.

When I came to him, I was working on a telecommentary, so it was Already in progress.

And he knew it and he wanted to work with me on it.

But at the time he was working on Larry Graham, Chaka Khan, the new record for mpg, something else orchestral, right.

There was just enough hours in the day.

Oh, yeah.

And, you know, he expressed to me, he says, well, I want to do a record on you too.

I said, well, when they add another 40 hours to a day, you'll have time, you know, and who knows what the future holds in that way, you know, he's, you know, like I said, definitely been supportive.

And a couple songs, actually my favorite song is, you know, what I like on there.

And I had a question, you know,.

I mean, like I said, it was put out as a calling card.

You know, a lot of people in the industry said, well, you know, continuity.

You know, the executive guys always have something to say about it.

But it was done, you know, as an answer to people who have come to see me live and they like what we do live.

So it's got a little live, a little studio, and little things that are intimate.

Because when I play live, I do all that, which serves to frustrate some record people who, you know, want you to, you know, play 20 songs that all sounded like, right, if I did that, it's like eating broccoli all day long.

I can't do it, can't do it, can't do it.

How about Tadatawan?

I love the philosophy One day at a time.

That's how I live my life.

And that song has a lot of powerful meaning to there.

Well, Tadatawan, I wrote actually for a funeral service of a friend who was a very, very, very spiritual man.

That's John.

Right.

He helped me and a lot of other people, you know, just try to, you know, seek out your spirit, get in touch with it and know it because it serves you and you're in control of it.

And there's no two ways about it.

So he used to tell me that all the time, just take one day at a time and don't worry about anything.

You don't have anything to worry about.

You know, good palazzo in memory of him.

And how about the acronym?

Is that kind of George Clinton influence?

No, actually, that, that, that came from John.

You know, he's always doing stuff like that.

He had a great sense of humor.

Sounds like a real nice guy.

Also, how about his Tears Go By?

It's a Rolling Stone song.

Keith Richards, by the way, lives about 20 minutes from here.

So if he's out there listening, waking up right now, you Know, it's a.

What would.

Why'd you choose?

Was a song that was melancholy for me because her mother passed away, and she, like I said, bought my first guitar.

And when you got certain guitars, they'd give you the little music books.

And it was in the music book, and it was always in a major key.

But when I heard it, it always sounded so sad, even it was in a major key.

So I decided to do it in a minor key in memory of her, because that was one of the first songs I learned that play as a little kid.

And she was so proud that I learned it, you know, so that's from my mouth.

All right.

And Motherless Child.

You want to give a little background on that.

Yeah, that, too.

I figured it was linked up, basically,.

Is, you know, ancestral for, you know, for.

You know, I think that the basis of American music is very much rooted in gospel and blues.

And that's something that I just do, you know, the same way Tiger was when he won his first open, you know, gave a shout out to people who came before him, who made it possible for him to do what he does.

I mean, I had the great pleasure to play with Jessie Mae Hempfeld at a blues conference in Montreal.

And she's just an amazing guitarist.

She actually grew up and learned and saw and actually maybe even played with Robert Johnson.

And this woman just touched me, you know, she just sat down with her guitar and just touched me and said, you know, you have to.

You have to give, you know, recognition to those who've come before you.

She says, oh, my grandfather was a minister, and I used to play the devil's music.

And they used to take me out back and spank me, but I did it anyway.

She also played guitar in the church because they had no piano.

She's from the bayou, right?

Right.

How about, you know, when I listen to your cd, I hear pop staples.

For some reason, any influence, I love him.

Ann Mavis.

She's amazing.

I had a chance to work with her.

I mean, you hear all these things because your parents was to that music or, you know, somebody around you and you're surrounded by all kinds of music.

And I've.

Because I'm an army brat, we kind of travel all around.

So the only thing that connects you really is music.

You know, when you think about it, you know, at least that's the way it's been for me.

So as far as the recording of the new album, you're talking about a fall release, right?

That's what I'm shooting for.

Okay.

Will it be released same record label, via the Internet?

I'm not quite sure.

You know, I'm thinking about definitely on my site and through MP3, I'm going to post some previews and you know, I'm going to just take.

Take the opinions of people who listen to it.

And you know, I think, you know, the people that are listening once, they're going to let me know, oh, yeah, what I need to do.

Because, you know, in the end, execs are taking a chance and it's their jobs.

But people that are listening, you know, you're not making them listen.

They're listening because they wanna.

And if they, you know, I mean.

And in the end, I serve them.

Any musician serves the listener and any musician who doesn't think they serves a listener, they.

They need to stop playing music.

Exactly.

I know that's very strong and I'm sure I will be criticized for it soon after, but you know, we serve the ears of the listener.

Right.

Can I squeeze a few more questions in before maybe we get into a cut off the album?

You still have time or.

Sure.

I got a few more minutes, but I do have to go.

Okay, let's see.

A question from AS wanted to know, what project did you work with Bernie Worrell on?

I worked with Bernie Worrell, actually with David Stewart.

Okay.

David Stewart's project that he worked on from Eurythmics.

Right.

I mean, we cut a lot of stuff.

I don't know what they ended up using, but we did cut a lot of stuff together, doing folk and, you know, a little backing stuff and just.

Bernie's just great.

Yeah, I think he's on Puerto Rico this weekend.

Yeah, you know, just inspirational guys.

Now, how about any other musicians you haven't worked with that you'd like to join in the studio or on stage?

Oh, you don't have enough airtime for that list.

Right.

You don't have enough airtime for that list.

I mean, not less at some point to play with Bonnie Ra.

I mean, you know, she's also a large source of inspiration.

I've had a chance to play B.B.

King's guitar.

That was like amazing for me.

And John McLaughlin let me touch his guitar and, you know, it's unbelievable, you know, unbelievable things.

I've been so blessed and so lucky in my life that if it's over tomorrow, it's all good.

All right, so how about vacation?

You going up to Montreal anytime soon?

Oh, well, I had planned to go up for the jazz festival, but I'm going to be Playing at the Baked Potato in Los Angeles on the 6th of July, which is right smack dab in the middle.

Oh, right in the middle, yeah.

Of Montreal's Jazz Festival.

I saw the interview with you LA.

Music Week the week before the 28th at the Martini Lounge and then the 6th at the Baked Potato, and then the 14th also in Los Angeles at the joint where I did, like, my first gig after my record launch.

And after that I go to Japan for three weeks with Chile and the congregation, basically the Magic Hour Band with a few extra singers.

I lived in Taiwan and, you know, Japan is right next door and they are some serious appreciative music fans out there.

Yeah.

So we're going to go there for three weeks and then we'll be back.

And I'll be back at.

Back at recording and trying to finish up this project that I'm jumping into.

And just stay tuned to the site and you'll be hearing little snips and snaps.

We'll definitely keep up to date.

And I want to open up a page that will be a poll to let me know what people think.

And I'm not afraid.

I mean, I'd rather people that take the time to come to my site, listen, give me their opinion than some guy that doesn't know me, who's afraid of his job and could care less about my music.

That's right.

And just seeing the bottom line, the dollars and not the music.

Exactly.

Yeah, exactly.

So, anyways, I want to thank you, Kat.

I know you're pressed for time.

What's a weekend like in la?

Any concerts tonight going to check out?

Nothing at this moment, but I'm sure there's tons of things going on.

I'm just busy writing, so I'm in a whole nother mode.

I mean, that I'm even out of the house.

A day is rare.

Okay.

I really am appreciative of you taking the time out of your busy schedule.

I'm appreciative for your.

And I thank you again for your.

And your station support and everybody out there who's listening.

Yeah.

I mean, people have been digging the record for months and we just want to get the opportunity to speak with you and hear what's on your mind and what's coming up.

Well, thank you so much.

And we're going to end it.

We're going to get into.

I think I'm going to play my favorite track off the cd.

Excellent.

You know what I like.

And this was recorded up in Montreal, right?

Yes, sir.

Okay.

Cat Dyson, color commentary here it is.

88.5 WVOF in Fairfield, the upper room.

Thank you very much, Kat.

Thank you.