Sorrow, Love, and Concern Flow Through Katie James’ Songs of Lost Rivers and Bountiful Mountains

Lily Robinson

This artist profile is one in an ongoing series highlighting the role creative work plays in connecting people with nature and inspiring a culture of stewardship. If you are an artist whose work is inspired by nature and would like to be featured in a future ILCN newsletter, please reach out to lrobinson@lincolninst.edu. We will accept visual fine art, photography, poetry, personal essays, music, and more.

In the Andean mountains of Colombia, one of the most biodiverse nations in the world, lies a small, alternative ecological community called Atlantis. Since the late 1980s it has fostered a community that reconnects people with land, shedding many of the frills of modernity to embrace a back-to-the-earth lifestyle. There, among organic gardens and free-flowing rivers, singer-songwriter and guitarist Katie James grew up and began her journey as a musician. Her songs explore the deep connection she shares with land, place, and culture.  

In her youth, James was entirely immersed in the landscape. “We didn’t just sit and watch nature,” she recalls. “We got into it, onto it, under it; we breathed it, ate it, heard it, and also endured it.” Music was a similarly formative part of her early life. With no electricity on her family’s farm, the soundtracks for celebrations came from live music played by Atlantis community members and neighbors. “My first experiences with music were very direct, lively, colorful, and homely.”

At nine years old, she asked her mother, a violinist, to teach her to play. By 13 she was writing songs and traded her violin for a guitar. From there, she continued to explore her cultural heritage through music to develop a unique sound that mixes traditional styles and speaks to the beauty of countryside, farms, mountains, and rivers, as well the contrast between urban and rural lifestyles.

James’ mixed heritage is reflected in her music. Her family comes from an Anglo-Irish background where they picked up Irish jigs, county, and blues music. Growing up in Colombia, these rhythms intertwined with the traditional folk sounds of the farming communities where she learned to play.

“If you listen to my music, you can clearly hear these influences, though lately, Latin American heritage seems to have captivated most of my musical interests and pursuits,” she said.

The joy and nostalgia James derives from mountains and riverscapes, in particular, features prominently in her music. “I have a lifelong love for mountains. They give me the sense of adventure, of change… They give me the urge to climb and to discover,” she said.

Her song “Me Voy al Monte” (I’m going to the mountains) is both a personal and fan favorite. “It talks about going back to the mountains to cure my heart’s pains. About feeling the moss under my feet and letting my tears flow down with the river,” said James.

The accompanying music video is a window into the ways of life that nurtured James growing up. First, descending through the canopy of a Colombian jungle, dense with life, it settles on James, alone there with her guitar. It then follows her as she digs her hands into the rich soil of an organic garden, harvests exuberant leafy greens, and carries them, barefoot, to her kitchen to cook.

“La Quebrada” (The River) speaks of the risks nature faces because of human-caused climate change and biodiversity loss through the lens of her own experiences. “[It] delves into my cherished memories of swimming and playing in crystalline rivers, only to witness their disappearance upon my return years later,” she said. “Through this song, I echo my profound concern for environmental degradation and the adverse effects of human activity on nature and ecosystems”.  

Over the years, she has changed her expectations for the impact her work can have on others. “As a teenager, I believed I could change the world through my songs. Then, I realized it’s actually presumptuous to position oneself as a Messiah,” she said. Today, she sees her music as a way for people to relate to each other and to take comfort in hearing their own experiences echoed in another’s song.

She said that genuine emotions and stories shared through song are a powerful way to resonate with listeners. “Connecting with our sensitive, inner selves hopefully makes us kinder, more empathetic, and loving human beings.”

More about the artist

Katie James is an Anglo-Irish singer, songwriter, and guitarist who was raised in Colombia, South America. She grew up in a small alternative community in the Andean Mountains, listening to a variety of Irish and European folk music, but also to the traditional rhythms and melodies of her Colombian neighbors. This has strongly influenced her compositions, where she naturally combines these elements into fresh-sounding and deeply felt songs.

Photo: Juan Sebastián Pinilla

Over the last 20 years, Katie has recorded five albums and toured South America, North America, and Europe, performing in Colombia, Mexico, the U.S., Argentina, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Italy, Scotland, and the Netherlands. She is currently on world tour while preparing material for her next album.

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