Home of: Kati O'Toole

Recording artist Kati O’Toole has always had a love for music and small Montana country, as her new self-released album “On Ashland” exemplifies.

O’Toole was born and raised in Montana, learning the piano at the young age of three and the acoustic guitar when she was 14. She is the daughter of Cindy and Mike O’Toole, long-time Polson teachers who have since moved to Las Vegas to continue their teaching.

After graduating from Polson High School in 2001, O’Toole let the winds of her music guide her to various states.

With nothing more than a guitar around her shoulder, suitcase in hand and an unfading dream in her spirit she boarded a train heading east to attend the Berklee College of Music in Boston. While there she immersed herself in music and earned a bachelor of arts in music production and engineering.

“It was a bit of a culture shock,” O’toole said of her new surroundings in Boston. Eventually she acclimated to the city life, and after receiving her degrees, she was pulled to Los Angeles to gain the footing all aspiring musicians long for.

While in California O’toole worked at various recording studios, including the infamous Village Studios. She did grunt work as the studio runner, getting coffee and doing other errands for artists.

O’toole said that during her long hours of night recording sessions at The Village she was given a front row seat to the realities of the music industry.

“Working there allowed me to make good connections,” O’toole said.

She was picked up by the Robert Francis Band while at the studio, and played the organ and wurlitzer while touring with the band.

O’toole went on to form a close professional relationship with Brad Conrad, an assistant to producer John Alagia. She soon branched away from the Robert Francis Band and began a more detailed focus on her music.

“It’s been a slow and hard process,” she said.

Making her way across the city she recorded wherever inspiration overtook her. Conrad helped her with the first tracks recorded in Los Angeles. O’toole’s background in recording and production allowed her the creative freedom few artists are able to achieve. Her complete understanding of music — continuous learning that began with her mother teaching her music — has taken away most of the barriers aspiring professionals may encounter.

After two years of focus, vigorously pursuing her childhood dreams, she is now back in Montana. She has finished her first album “On Ashland” and is now a producer for an online recording company Studio Pros. There she acts as the link between customers and session players.

The folksy beats found in “On Ashland” can be purchased at the Polson Hallmark store, or Rockin’ Rudy’s. A separate set of recordings that O’toole recorded with producer Brett Allen, at Snowghost Studios in Whitefish, can be viewed for free at www.snowghostmusic.com/katiotoole.

O’toole’s rustic voice is as clear and precise as the lyrics that accompany it. She sings about relationships, finding herself and other relatable issues brought to life by the instruments that match the mellow mood of the album.

Kati O’toole will bring her authentic sound to the Lake Missoula Cellars on April 2. Admission to the performance is $5.