Splitting Taylor Dallas Vidic’s sound between jazz and Americana, Cat & Mouse embraces both worlds.
~ Courtesy Sarah J. Frost
Cat & Mouse is a two-sided declaration of who Taylor Dallas Vidic is as an artist. Splitting her sound between jazz and Americana, the album embraces both worlds without compromise.
“These songs were written in my 20s, as I fell in and out of love in isolated communities where disappearing isn’t an option,” Vidic says. “You learn to celebrate love for what it was—and to accept when it has to change into something else.”
Born and raised in Juneau, Alaska, Vidic is well-known for the easy charisma she brings on and offstage. Vidic has grown into one of the region’s most dynamic artistic forces.
“Being an Alaskan artist comes with real freedom,” Vidic says. “You have an audience that doesn’t expect you to be just one kind of artist. That’s been one of the greatest gifts of my career – I don’t have to choose a single lane.”
The duality of Cat & Mouse runs deep: two bands, two recording spaces, two genres, and two distinct visual aesthetics. To underscore the concept, Vidic revisits the title track in both musical worlds, shaping it to reflect each side of the album.
Orchestrated by Spencer Edgers, the album’s first half was recorded at Frostline Studios in Anchorage with a dozen Alaska-based musicians. The folk-rock “mouse” side took shape at Sage Arts outside Seattle, Washington, where a different ensemble of Alaskans delivered a complementary but unmistakably separate feel.
“I’ve been playing some of these songs for nearly a decade, so there’s a real scrapbook quality to the album,” she says. “I’m calling old friends and collaborators and saying, ‘You helped get me here – come put your handprint, or a sick solo, on the finished product.’”
She is also a founding member of the Juneau-based Muskeg Collective, a brain trust of singer-songwriters who support one another in the creation of their own distinct work and albums. The record features performances by fellow collective artists Josh Fortenbery and Andrew Heist of The Heists, further underscoring the deeply collaborative heart of the project.
