Kaiya Cade Smith Blackburn works in Montreal as a publishing professional and freelance editor. She has worked with Drawn & Quarterly, Goose Lane Editions, Guernica Editions, Metatron Press, Linda Leith Publishing, Black Rose Books, Breakwater Books, and more.
Writing
Kaiya has contributed various analyses of popular music to the field of musicology. She focuses on the gender politics of freak-folk and on the relationship between Black Christianity and musical expression. She is the 2018 McGill Schulich School of Music Dean’s Essay Prize winner.
Music
Kaiya Cade (the stage name of Kaiya Cade Smith Blackburn) has been involved in the music industry since her role as the lead vocalist/guitarist of the indie-folk project CADE. In 2018, the CADE LP was released on Fox Food Records.
Kaiya now works as a film composer creating ethereal sonic landscapes that combine synthetic sound with acoustic instrumentation and vocals. Her pieces have been featured in the Netflix Original Series, “Wanted,” the TMU Film Festival, and Crackdown.
Education
MA Musicology, McGill University
Honours BA with Distinction, English Literature, University of Toronto
“Her music blew us away. It’s simultaneously sophisticated, ethereal and raw with emotion. She calls it ‘misty folk’ ... but we call it top notch.”
— Rob Mowat (Producer, "Fresh Air," CBC Radio One)
