Achieving Balance
T heArts
Spotlighting greater Kalamazoo's arts community
Kait Rose's new album reflects her life as mom, artist I
t seems appropriate that singersongwriter Kaitlin Rose Parmenter — whose summer is filled with playing new venues, releasing an album, planning a wedding and preparing for a bucket-list event in the fall — would title her latest album Balance. It is the seventh album of a nearly twodecade career for the musician, who goes by Kait Rose, and is a balance of newer songs and older tunes she has written. “I had written a few new songs and had to decide whether they should be singles or might anchor a whole album,” Rose says of the album she began putting together last September. “What helped me decide was feeling like a lot of older songs that have evolved and grown with me deserved another chance. “I really like it. I’m proud of what’s here,” she says of the outcome. Performing since 16 Growing up in Delton, Rose performed songs from The Little Mermaid at the age of 5. As a teen, she discovered her mother’s guitar in a closet and started teaching herself to play it. “I grew up listening to Carole King, Cat Stevens, the Eagles, thanks to my parents (Patti McNulty and Mike Parmenter), so my ear was tuned in to acoustic players and songwriters,” she says. “I had a lot of inspirations to draw from, and I think of Joni Mitchell when I sit down to play.” Rose will celebrate her 37th birthday on Aug. 21. That’s 21 years after her first public performance, at age 16 at Kraftbrau Brewing, which is now the Old Dog Tavern. “I went down to Kraftbrau for an openmic night with my mom, who asked (the organizers) if I could play,” she says. Rose played an original song as well as Jewel's
Courtsey
BY KATIE HOUSTON
"You Were Meant for Me" and “didn’t really stop playing or performing” all through her teen years. Other than spending three years in the Seattle area after high school, Rose has been happy to call Kalamazoo home. “I love the arts community here,” she says. Even after all these years, I still keep meeting amazing artists and I’m astounded by their talent. This is a special place.” Rose performs primarily in Michigan. This summer she's played at venues that include Frederick Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids, BlissFest in Harbor Springs, and The Acorn in Three Oaks. Among her most popular gigs is a Fleetwood Mac Tribute show, in which she and guest musicians perform that band’s hits. Many of the songs are from its breakout album Rumours, released in 1977, eight years before Rose was born. The tribute show was launched in 2018 at Old Dog Tavern.
“We sold out there two years in a row, so we moved to Bell’s (Eccentric Cafe) in 2021,” Rose says, a show that also sold out. This year two Fleetwood Mac Tribute shows are scheduled at Bell’s in November and will include musicians Jim Beebe, Greg Orr, Ryan Demeniuk, Bob Wallis, Traci Seuss and Aaron Stinson (who make up The Thorns), plus Patti McNulty, Matt Gabriel and Adam Marth. Other opportunities to hear the group’s Fleetwood Mac covers will be available this month in Battle Creek and Paw Paw. 'Bad Mother' and more When Rose is not writing, producing, rehearsing, booking, marketing or performing her music, she teaches guitar for Kalamazoo’s Academy of Rock, parents her three children and serves as a postpartum doula for firsttime moms. Her experiences balancing these roles has informed her music, especially her
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