Kate MacLeod’s Mind the Gap Blends Old-Time, Bluegrass & Folk on 'Home-Brewed
I wanted to introduce you to Kate MacLeod's new band, Mind The Gap and their upcoming release, Home-Brewed, which is releasing on August 14th
There’s a lot of Americana music that talks about “roots,” but Home-Brewed actually sounds rooted. While originally from Salt Lake City, Kate MacLeod was living part-time in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, caring for an elderly parent when the seeds of the album took shape. Recorded during a harsh West Virginia winter in a home studio, the debut release from Kate MacLeod’s Mind the Gap feels deeply connected to place, tradition, and community. Drawing from Appalachian Old-Time, Bluegrass, Folk, Celtic, and Early Country influences, the band blends original songwriting with timeless arrangements that feel lived-in rather than recreated. The result is an album rich with warmth, regional character, and the kind of musical chemistry that can only come from musicians sharing a genuine connection to the music and to one another.
Video link for "You've Never Looked So Good To Me Before" (1st single)
This video was awarded by the Songwriters Association of Washington DC
Led by award-winning songwriter and fiddler Kate MacLeod, Mind the Gap features vocalist/guitarist Paul Hammerton, bassist John Bryant, and multi-instrumentalist Matthew Metz. The album includes songs inspired by the Shenandoah Valley, West Virginia backroads, historic landscapes, and the people who inhabit them — all anchored by MacLeod’s songwriting, which has earned recognition from Folk Alliance International, the Appalachian Stringband Festival, and artists including Tim O’Brien and Laurie Lewis. Home-Brewed is both reverent to tradition and refreshingly alive inside it.
Award-winning Neo-Traditional Americana ensemble Kate MacLeod and her band Mind the Gap are set to release Home-Brewed, the group’s first full-length recording, a rich and deeply human collection of songs shaped by long winters, regional landscapes, friendship, and a shared devotion to American roots music.
Based across West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle, Virginia’s Northern Shenandoah Valley, and Maryland, Kate MacLeod’s Mind the Gap blends original songwriting with the spirit of Appalachian Old-Time music, Bluegrass, Early Country, Celtic influences, and Folk traditions. The album captures the warmth and spontaneity of musicians gathering together during the harsh winter of 2025–2026, recording one song at a time in a home studio while snow piled outside the windows.
“That winter was long and unforgiving,” says MacLeod. “We decided to make the best of it by creating music together. The process itself became the inspiration for the title Home-Brewed.”
The recording features MacLeod on fiddle, guitar, and Appalachian lap dulcimer alongside vocalist and guitarist Paul Hammerton, bassist and vocalist John Bryant, and mandolinist, banjoist, and vocalist Matthew Metz. Produced by MacLeod herself, the album was engineered by John Bryant and Dustin DeLage, mixed by Michael James Greene, and mastered by Charlie Pilzer.
Though this marks the first full-length release from Mind the Gap, MacLeod is no newcomer to the Americana and folk landscape. A respected songwriter, fiddler, composer, and educator, she has released nine solo recordings and collaborated on numerous projects throughout her career. Her songs have been recorded by artists across the United States and Europe in Bluegrass, Celtic, and other roots genres. Grammy-winning artist Tim O’Brien produced her acclaimed Blooming recording, while Grammy-winning bluegrass artist Laurie Lewis included one of MacLeod’s songs on a 2024 release.
MacLeod’s accolades include a Best of the West award from the Far-West Division of Folk Alliance International, along with a 2025 Blue Ribbon at the renowned Appalachian String Band Music Festival alongside bandmate Paul Hammerton for an original fiddle tune in the New Tune category. In 2025, the band’s video for “Never Looked So Good to Me Before” also received recognition from the Washington DC Songwriters Association.
Sing Out! Magazine once wrote that MacLeod “channels the spirit of the great Carter Family classics,” and Home-Brewed embraces that lineage while remaining unmistakably its own.
The album opens with “I Will Sing My Heart Out,” written during MacLeod’s artist residency at Pendle Hill Quaker Study, Retreat, and Conference Center in Pennsylvania. Framed by the lyric “because your troubled heart can’t hear my words, I will sing them to you,” the track establishes the emotional and musical foundation of the album through a distinctly early-country arrangement.
Elsewhere, the band pays homage to Bluegrass legend Kenny Baker on “Cross-Eyed Fiddler/Denver Belle,” while “Never Looked So Good to Me Before” reflects the beauty of Virginia’s countryside through warm harmonies and conversational storytelling. “The Moon and Mount Rainier” drifts into a cinematic blend of New-Age, Celtic, and Americana textures, showcasing the band’s expansive musical instincts.
The album’s only cover, “The Green Rolling Hills of West Virginia,” honors the heritage of the region through the songwriting legacy of Utah Phillips. Sung by Paul Hammerton with weathered sincerity, the track embodies the lived-in storytelling traditions at the heart of Appalachian music.
On “Sometimes a Sound,” special guests Meya Collings and guitarist Dylan Schorer join the band, adding vocal depth and intricate instrumental work that reflects the collaborative spirit surrounding the project. Meanwhile, “Good Old Virginia” draws inspiration from Hammerton’s deep connection to the land and his life in a historic station house, while the closing instrumental “The Old Charles Town Pike” musically mirrors the dangerous curves and winding roads of West Virginia’s historic highways.
What makes Home-Brewed stand apart is not polish for polish’s sake, but the honesty embedded in every performance. The record feels lived-in rather than manufactured — a gathering of musicians who understand that American roots music was never built from one genre alone, but from communities, traditions, and shared stories colliding over time.
“My life’s path has led me ever deeper into the roots of the music,” says MacLeod. “But instead of feeling old or tired, I feel like I’m only beginning to understand it. I hope listeners hear life in this music.”
With Home-Brewed, Kate MacLeod’s Mind the Gap delivers an album that feels timeless without sounding trapped in nostalgia — a deeply regional yet universally resonant recording built on craft, chemistry, and genuine musical connection.
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