"...emotional, heartfelt music that touches the soul..."
With close harmonies, soulful songs, Robert's engaging storytelling, and Katherine’s soaring voice, husband-and-wife folk duo Oakes and Smith creates an ethereal sound not often heard in today’s popular music. Since their start in 2010, the duo has performed in many venues, including The Guthrie Center in Great Barrington, MA; the NJ Folk Project in Morristown, NJ; Infinity Music Hall in Norfolk, CT; FloydFest in Floyd, VA; Andrea Clearfield’s Salon in Philadelphia; The Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health in Stockbridge, MA; and Canyon Ranch in Lenox, MA. They have also released several EPs, singles, and a full-length album. At the heart of this project are the bond of love between Robert and Kate and their shared passion to make meaningful music. Oakes and Smith hope to inspire their listeners and remind them that sincerity and soul are still alive in our world.
New EP! Hide and Seek
Following a songwriting retreat in France last summer with singer/songwriter Joy Askew, the duo was inspired to begin work on a new studio recording, their first since 2016. The four self-produced songs were mixed by Grammy-winning engineer Oz Fritz and are set for a September 2024 release. The EP's title track, Hide and Seek, came to Kate during the retreat, and the group of gathered songwriters helped her sing it for the very first time in a beautiful medieval church nearby. Click here to watch a video of that moment. And for a preview of the first single from the EP, Invisible in Me, click here.
Between the Earth and the Sky
Their 2016 EP, Between the Earth and the Sky, was mixed by Grammy-winning engineer Oz Fritz, produced by Jemal Wade Hines of HuDost, and featured a performance by celebrated Yes vocalist Jon Anderson on the song "Closer to Home." One of the EP's singles, "Never Let the Light Die," was on high rotation on Soul Traveler Radio, and critics gave the collection warm praise. The duo recorded much of the EP in the historic barn of Ashintully Gardens in Tyringham, MA, once the studio of composer John McClennan, whose spirit and beautifully cultivated grounds and gardens lent inspiration to the music.
Evergreen and The School Session
A friendship between the duo and music educator Tim Peck at Pomfret School in Pomfret, CT, led to the production of two of the group's EPs, The School Session (2011) and Evergreen (2015), both of which were recorded at the school with assistance from Mr. Peck and his students. Evergreen also included a performance by guitarist and faculty member Gregoire Pearce. In addition, the duo recorded several of their holiday singles in the chapel on the grounds of Pomfret School. Those recordings were released as part of the duo's holiday EP, The Holy Moment (2018).
First Flight
The duo's debut full-length album, First Flight, was ushered in on a wave of enthusiastic fan support via the group's successful Kickstarter campaign. Upon its release in November 2013, the album, with its lush full-band production and mixing by Grammy-winning engineer Oz Fritz, was warmly received by listeners and critics alike. First Flight represents the duo's leap of faith into the unknown, capturing the excitement and optimism of recording their first album together. As Robert wrote in the album's title track, "I let wings unfold and fill with love leading me on."
Early Days
Both Robert and Kate were born into musical families and started performing at a very young age. Kate, whose grandfather, great aunts and uncles, father and mother all sang, started harmonizing as a teenager with her parents' Connecticut-based choral group. She then went on to perform in concerts and musical theater productions throughout her high school and college years. Kate also combines her love of singing with a passion for visual art. As a kid in the New Jersey suburbs, Robert, whose self-taught grandmother used to bang out old-timey songs on the living room piano, sang and played bass in the family band behind his blues-singing father. Developing a knack for writing his own original songs, Robert went on to self-produce several albums and perform in many New York City-area venues. Robert has also been a writer for as long as he can remember and has published several books.
Both Robert and Kate were drawn to the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts, a place of natural beauty and spiritual power, and ever since their first meeting there during the summer of 2007, they have felt unseen hands drawing them together to create something more than each was doing alone. Since that first meeting, Robert and Kate have been led along a path of collaboration, staying open and saying 'yes' to the possibilities it offered. They tried out the duo act for the first time in 2010 at a performance workshop in New York City led by singer and teacher Joy Askew (Peter Gabriel, Joe Jackson, Laurie Anderson), who was enthusiastic about their sound. Encouraged, they continued arranging existing material for their two voices and also writing new songs together, and the Oakes and Smith duo was born.
Our New EP! Now Out!
Hide and Seek, our new EP, is now out on all music platforms.
Listen and buy now on Bandcamp by clicking the button below!