Impossible Knot by Kate Maki (2025)

During the summer and fall of 2024, Maki travelled back and forth from Sudbury to Ottawa to work with Dave Draves in his backyard, analogue studio where she recorded her first three records in the early 2000s. Little Bullhorn’s familiar, creative environment combined with her longtime friendship with Draves and his family, provided Maki with the comfortable space needed to share her first new material since 2016’s Head In The Sand. With Maki on guitars and Draves on keys, they formed a core band with Peter Von Althen (Kathleen Edwards) on drums, Jon Hynes (Hidden Cameras) on bass, Dale Murray (The Guthries) on pedal steel, guitars, and background vocals, Dan Levecque (Minotaurs) on guitars, and Anne Boulton on background vocals. Celebrated songwriters, Jim Bryson, Ruth Minnikin (The Guthries), and Ryan Levecque (Ox), also make guest appearances. The result is a warm, eclectic collection of “beautiful hurt” as described by Draves, and Maki sounds confident and hopeful despite the heavy subject matter.