[Editor’s note: Over the past few years, Chicago songwriter Catherine Krol has performed under the moniker KASIA (“Kaw-sha”). The project has allowed her to tap into her soul, jazz, indie-folk, and even bossa nova influences to create a distinct sound of her own. In November, she released her debut album From KASIA, With Love. It was a true labor of love as she spent two years recording the songs at various Chicago locations, including two apartments, Polish church St. Constant, and local studio Fort Knox.
In the album’s press release, Krol says the album “transparently conveys the desire to love and be loved in return.” She adds “lyrically, the album is an open letter to lovers, friends, and family, touching on themes such as long-distance relationships, unrequited love, and fading romance.”
The album features a talented group of musicians, including Late Nite Laundry’s Ari Lindo on guitar and Brenden Cabrera on keys (and sharing producing, engineering, and mixing credits), Indonesian jazz guitarist Noegroho Darmo, and Chicago folk artist Tariq Shihadah mixing and mastering parts of the record.
Below, Krol pens an essay about the inspiration behind her song “Best Days” and performing the song acoustic for Water Tower Sessions.]
“Best Days” was recorded in September of this year, engineered and filmed by my partner Joey Buttlar. We walked around Humboldt Park in the dusk, scanning for a quiet spot where dogs, children, and couples would be a healthy distance from our microphones. We found a spot right against the lagoon, where we got to enjoy some bird (and duck) watching as we set up. Some of our winged friends even made it to the final take.
I wanted to record “Best Days” in this setting because the natural world is one of my closest points of connection to my family, namely my father, for whom this song was penned. His property is adorned with something like 20 fruit trees, 40 chickens, and a garden large enough to grow 200 tomato plants, corn stalks, cucumbers, and yellow peas. His homestead is his way of connecting back to his own childhood on a farm in southern Poland, where he was born.
I often think about the concept of “the best days of our lives” and how much agency we have to shape the narrative of those most cherished memories. Halcyon days, rosy retrospection, and nostalgia are vivid paints we can apply to the past, but this leaves us with lackluster feelings about the present. This song is a reminder that we control that narrative; life marches on relentlessly, loved ones may leave us, but there will be beauty in every future day.
Best Days recognizes the challenge of maintaining a positive mentality of life, especially for those who have seen the harshest parts of it. I hope it conveys that the best days are here and they are also coming, and helps us be ready to receive them.
-Written by Catherine Krol (with contributions from Joey Buttlar)
Catherine Krol
Contributor
Deeply personal, intimate and revealing, KASIA is the project of Catherine Krol, Polish-American singer-songwriter based in Chicago. Her influences range from jazz, bossa nova, R&B and an early love of melismatic pop divas (Mariah Carey, Christina Aguilera, etc.) KASIA’s debut album 'From KASIA, With Love' was released in November 2024.
