Katie Gavin Creates Her Own Trail by Jenay Ross

For bubbly 16-year-old Illinois native Katie Gavin, GRAMMY Camp® wasn’t in her original summer plans. One of her friends was a GRAMMY Camper a few years ago and inspired her to apply. When the deadline to submit camper applications came near, she decided to give it a try.

As a first-year GRAMMY Camper, Gavin fell in love with Camp from the very start. The passionate vibe of the people here has become her favorite part about it, seeing that “everyone is into it.” Being in this inspirational environment filled with kids that hold the same goal as her, she knows this is the place for her. Her own passion lies in songwriting, singing, and playing her acoustic guitar. She has only been playing guitar for about one and a half years, but no one would ever guess it by watching her perform.

At the first open mic night, she was able to go on the small Ground Zero coffee shop stage, with her guitar at hand, and perform her original song, “Falling.” Gavin expressed, “It was the scariest thing,” but once she saw what a hit her song was with the campers, she was glad she got over her fear. Anyone watching her can see the passion on her face and can feel the emotion spewing from her as she sings about her life experiences.

Gavin finds inspiration in almost anything. She chooses to live her life and allows a “trail of garbage” to follow her until she eventually expresses everything through a song. While at camp, Gavin hopes to find a better understanding of where she is headed with her life and looks forward to learning and gaining new connections with people.

Aside from playing on her own or with a musical theater group, she is also interested in writing. She writes for her school’s newspaper and is a part of a student writer show called Lagniappe. If she wasn't in the Singer/Songwriter track, she would choose to be in the Music Journalism track. Although she does love to write, playing music remains her one true love.

Some of her favorite bands include Animal Collective, Grizzly Bear, The Shins, and Dirty Projectors. As she looks up to those bands, she continues to grow and develop as her own person and artist. She isn’t concerned with gaining star status. She doesn’t care about selling out arenas and becoming a huge celebrity, all she wants to do is simply write songs, play, and perform.