Kate Wolf (born Kathryn Louise Allen) was an American folk singer and songwriter. Though her career was relatively short, she had a significant impact on the folk music scene. Her best-known compositions include “Here in California”, “Love Still Remains”, “Across the Great Divide”, “Unfinished Life”, “Green Eyes” and “Give Yourself to Love”. She recorded six albums as a solo artist. She was elected to the NAIRD Independent Music Hall of Fame in 1987. Her songs have since been recorded by Nanci Griffith and Emmylou Harris (whose recording of “Love Still Remains” was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1999).
Wolf was born in San Francisco to John Fred Allen (1915-1991) and Ernestine Ruth Allen, née Endicott (1918−1996). She began studying piano at 4 but quit at 16 because of her shyness. During their senior year (1959–60) at Berkeley High School, Kathy Allen and her friend Marian Auerbach (now Shapiro) sang folk songs at the Berkeley High School Talent Shows (1957 and 1960). At age 19 she first met Saul Wolf, an architecture student at UC Berkeley; they married two years later. They had two children, born in 1964 and 1967.
In 1969 she became part of the Big Surmusic community and developed rapidly as a guitarist and songwriter, influenced by such friends as Gil “Jellyroll” Turner and George Schroder. In 1971, she parted from Saul Wolf on good terms and moved to Sonoma County. There she formed her first band, The Wildwood Flower, with Don Coffin, whom she later married.
Her first album, Back Roads, released in 1976 on her own label, Owl Records, was recorded in a living room with the band Wildwood Flower, and was “remarkably well done.” An important mentor, friend and touring companion was Utah Phillips. In 1979, she separated from Don Coffin, and the Wildwood Flower folded, but guitarist and mandolin player Nina Gerber became her accompanist for the rest of her career.
She was married to Terry Fowler from 1982 until her death on December 10, 1986, at age 44, after a long battle with leukaemia. She is buried at a small church cemetery in Goodyears Bar, California. In 1987, the World Folk Music Association established the Kate Wolf Award to honour her memory. “There was a humanity in her singing, a generosity of spirit that never failed to move me. With her, the message was always – always – love. I never met a warmer-hearted person than her – ever.” – Tom Paxton
