Cathy Couture is “Hard To Kill” on Max Ink Radio

Transcript

Cathy Couture is “Hard To Kill” on Max Ink Radio

Max Ink Radio · Sat May 3, 2025

You found Wisconsin's local music authority.

This is MagSync Radio.

We are local music.

Kathy Cotter, she was diagnosed with a stage four cancer

in February of 2023, Jimmy.

Her third bout with the disease and Kathy faced many questions

and one of them was being a lyric and a song she wrote,

what do you do with the time?

While undergoing months of chemotherapy

followed by months of immunotherapy,

she said about the choice to live.

And she wrote songs about her life,

collaborated with friends to bring them to fruition

and now has two incredible albums

and now there's a third coming.

Kathy's remarkable journey inspires many people

and tonight Kathy is here with her friends, Beth Killie

and Jenna Jonas and with bassist Dan Kennedy,

they're known as the bad jacks,

but Dan's not here tonight.

So Kathy, Beth and Jenna, welcome back to MagSync Radio.

Hey, I really glad to be here, rocker.

Excuse me, now this is so funny, it made me cough.

Tell me about the fence jumping dog.

I mean, how do you keep your dog from escaping?

Oh, that's the trick.

I decided to adopt a dog in August

because it was kind of like saying, okay,

I'm not gonna die yet and I've got something to give here

to a dog and it's got something to give to me.

Wow.

So I picked up this amazing puppy at the Amain Society.

His name is Everest and he's about 70 pounds

and he's my big white dog and he's discovered

that he can jump over a certain section of my fence

because he's really stubborn.

Yeah, is it a part border collie or?

Well, great pair of knees and lap mix.

Oh really, and he can jump high.

Oh, he looks like a gazelle.

He just, he just launched, it's so graceful

that he's usually about halfway over before I go,

oh, he shouldn't be doing that.

So I've been trying to figure out what to add to my fence

to make it taller just in that one spot

so he can't jump over it.

Maybe give him a ladder so he doesn't have to jump.

I don't think I want to do that.

Okay.

That's a good idea though, because you love dogs, don't you?

I love dogs, yes.

I do too.

So I put an eight foot section of old picket fence up

and I hit it pointy side up

and then I thought that might not go well.

That would hurt.

So I ended the zip ties and put it upside down.

So if he does go over, he won't hurt himself.

But I'm just trying to figure out something to do

that's gonna not look trashy.

Once the dogs know there's an escape route.

That's right.

They're gonna go for it no matter what.

You gotta figure out something to deter him or something like that.

I know, and he's attached, he likes me.

He doesn't, it's like it just, he has this prey drive.

Yeah, yeah.

You know, he'll see somebody walk in a dog

and he's just like, oh my God, I have to go see that dog.

And it's there right to want to escape.

Well, I would think less of him if he didn't try.

Kathy, tell us about Kathy Couture

before your cancer diagnosis

and how you got your start with music with a ladies rock camp.

Well, I went to a ladies rock camp in December of 22.

Yeah.

And mine blown.

It was so awesome.

I played drums.

And then I sang the calmside projects.

So I sang at last a cover of Atta James.

And I got positive feedback about it.

And I thought, well, maybe I should think about this some more.

So I signed up for some more ladies rock camps.

Wow.

And then that following spring got the diagnosis

and that sort of shifted everything.

Cause I thought, well, I've got this thing I like doing now

that I hadn't had as part of my life before.

I didn't sing it in the car in my commute to my job.

Down in Jamesville.

And it just took off.

I found that when I was around music,

when I was drumming or I was with people

that were making music, I didn't hurt.

Wow.

And that was, that was a big deal.

Cause the Axie Couture wasn't cutting it.

When performing or participating in ladies rock camp,

what was your favorite aspect as far as musically?

What instrument did you really catch on to?

Was it singing or what was it?

Well, geez, I liked all the instruments.

You kind of, there's so much support.

There's so much collaboration.

There's such a sense that you're not going to fail.

You're going to meet people on Friday.

You're going to form a band.

You're going to learn an instrument that maybe you already knew,

but you'll learn it in a different way.

Or you'll just grab something you haven't done before

and figure it out with coaching and teaching.

And then you write a song together and you practice it a lot.

And then you play it out on Sunday night.

And it never ceases to amaze me that this happens

and songs come out and get played.

How has the ladies rock camp impacted your life?

Well, it's, it's just made, I think it's been a healing thing.

I think music has been healing.

I think the whole music frequency thing,

there's something to it for me because it, it, um,

it's given me, oh my God, I know I want to cry

on your radio show, rocker.

And that's okay.

You know, it's like life and the layer, I should be vicious

and strong and powerful and talk about all the awesome, great things.

And I've got the music director of ladies,

that girls are standing right here, Beth Killy.

Yes.

You know, who can probably speak to this way more?

Well, I was just wondering like, you know,

how, how you kind of felt now that music you claimed

it was, you know, kind of like healing you

and you feel less pain and, you know, just,

I was just wondering on how that impacted you.

And it seems like it's impacted you quite heavily

since you're, we're going to release your third album.

Yeah, it's kind of become a little bit of an addiction.

It really writing music was not something I ever thought I would do.

Yeah.

And when I started, it was a way of processing the emotions,

the feelings, the, some of the memories,

some of the unresolved things that were in my life.

And so the range of my songs, if you ever sit down

and listen to all three CDs in a row, you'll be like,

man, she's never had a good relationship ever.

Oh, man.

Oh, that's music, right?

Well, let's get to some of my music in the layer here

with Kathy Couture, your first song you have for us tonight.

It's called Storm.

And tell us about this song before you play it.

Okay.

I used to be a psychotherapist before I had to retire

for health reasons.

And so a lot of the people I knew were unhappy

and have had struggles in their life and have overcome.

It's really been an incredible opportunity

to have that kind of career to see the resilience

that people have.

And so when I was standing in my kitchen doing dishes,

the lyrics came to me, you know, and I thought, yeah.

So I took it to Beth.

I said, I think this is going to be a blues song.

And I hope she doesn't mind me sharing this,

but we can't write blues.

We don't know what we're doing.

And we sent a demo tape out to Dan and Jenon.

We got together and Dan came in and said,

I got some ideas.

And he changed some chords and just made it a great song.

Wow.

So I enjoyed it.

And it's been nominated by the mamas

for blues song of the year.

Oh, nice.

Wow.

I was super excited to see that in the finals.

That's my win.

I don't expect to win, but I thought

if I can get in the finals for something,

that'll be awesome.

Hey, it's pretty, you know, it's a great honor.

And it's great to kind of get that recognition

for something you do.

Because, you know, a lot of times,

you just kind of, you know, put your hands together

and bow your head a little bit and keep moving on.

And then all of a sudden he comes and gives you an award.

It's pretty warmly.

Well, and it's a fundraiser for a great organization

that does really good stuff.

You could vote right now for Cathy Couture

at the mamas.org and make sure you pop in five bucks

into the bucket for the kids.

Put musical instruments in their hands.

Hey, we're doing a mini-layer here with Cathy Couture.

Beth Keely here, Jenna Jonas is doing it right now.

It's Max, ain't got civic media.

Let's see.

Oh, what?

Let's see.

I've been homeless.

I've been hungry.

I've been lonely.

I've been without.

And I've learned that you can't keep a good woman down.

No, you can't keep a good woman down.

No, you can't keep a good woman down.

No, you can't keep a good woman down.

Because we rise up like a storm.

I've been held up.

I've been pushed around.

I've been beat, told I wasn't enough.

And I've learned that you can't keep a good woman down.

No, you can't keep a good woman down.

No, you can't keep a good woman down.

No, you can't keep a good woman down.

Because we rise up like a storm.

You see the clouds building the sky.

And you'll hear the distant thunder.

Lightning flashes wind up blowing.

Rain mat pulls you under.

It's elemental, scary, strong.

A consequence for you.

And you might still be standing when it passes on through.

I can bounce back, I can stand up, I can heal, I can start again.

Because I've learned that you can't keep a good woman down.

No, you can't keep a good woman down.

No, you can't keep a good woman down.

No, you can't keep a good woman down.

Because we rise up like a storm.

We rise up like a storm.

I'll rise up like a storm.

Yeah, that's awesome.

Kathy, you could tour live in the layer here on Max Inc. Radio, 844-967-2789.

You could call or text your questions for Kathy right now.

Best way to do that is through the Civic Media app.

Kathy, how is your health right now?

I mean, you've been going, you've been battling this for quite a while now in this moment.

How are you?

Well, I've been really fortunate, Jimmy.

As Racker said, I had chemo, then I had immunotherapy, then the cancer escaped the confines

of immunotherapy.

So I did chemo again, and one of the drugs you could only use for so many times.

So I, at that expired.

So now I do chemo two weeks, off one week, chemo two weeks, off one week, and that is keeping

the cancer stable.

So it's still in my body, but it doesn't hurt, and it's pretty much in one spot.

So we'll keep doing this until, until either I can't tolerate it anymore or it doesn't

work anymore.

And my doctor, who had been on a Caribbean vacation, says, we've got a lot more boats in the

harbor.

I said, don't put me in a leaky dinghy.

Wow.

You know, what is it, obviously, we were discussing earlier that music is a big inspiration, healing

power for you, outside of music.

What else do you take solace in, or do you draw a power from?

I've always been really creative.

I do a lot of things, art, music.

I like to start things in a good way.

So I've got our neighborhood association started, I'm working with emergency management

with the city on doing some sort of preparedness stuff.

I just like getting those kinds of things going, and then I can get them to a point where

they work and I can step back and let other people do the kind of the daily grind of keeping

it going.

The other thing is the music, but part of the music, a big part of the music is the incredible

people in the music scene in this community and the friendships I've developed.

You know, I consider Beth and Jenna to be friends.

I consider Dan to be a friend.

A lot of people have met Dana Perry.

I can't even name them all.

It's just being said, yes, rocker, Terry Barg, Jimmy Kay.

You know, it's just, it, it's just brought a lot of community and collaboration into

my life.

And that's, that's been really helpful.

I'll have in the strong network of people, especially people that mean something to you and

they mean something, or you mean something to us is what I'm saying to, to, for that.

That has to be power for sure.

Let's get back to the supply music here with Kathy Couture presented by the Aaron Weber

group of many wear a layer.

The next song is called Fire Song.

Tell us about the song.

Dana Perry did a five week group with people to explore your relationship with music

called Killing the Rockstar.

And I attended it and it was amazing.

In our last group, we did around a bonfire.

And at the end, we were kind of sitting around talking to each other, seven or eight of us.

We said, wow, we don't want them with this to end.

And one of the hard things about writing music is having, kind of having somebody push

you a little bit sometimes.

And so we said, all right, let's do it again in five weeks and let's have a, let's write

something about fire.

And I was like, all right, I got this.

I'm a bit of an overachiever.

So when we met at the next bonfire, I had written three songs.

And so all three are on, around the third album here, but I've changed their names.

They were originally Fire Song One, Fire Song Two and Fire Song Three.

But this one kept the Fire Song title and they were all inspired in one way or another

by flame, by fire, by transformation.

Let's check it all right now.

Kathy Courtsour, live in the mini-layer on Maxine Credio.

Oh, wow.

That's you.

Oh, wow.

I woke up this morning and I'm feeling high.

Birds like singing and the sun's in the sky.

No worries or troubles about getting by.

The day can change and I attitude to what starts up good can turn bad with no clue.

But I can take that mood and make it new with fire, with fire, with fire.

Fire can cleanse.

Fire can heal.

Fire can heal.

It can transform.

It can transform.

It can change all you feel.

Fire is a sacred place.

Fire is a sacred place.

It can transform.

Fire is a sacred place.

Fire is a sacred place.

Fire can heal.

Fire can heal.

Fire is a sacred place.

Fire is a sacred place.

Burning stuff makes a bad day better.

Like hearts and sages.

A note or a letter.

I can control what I hold on to.

I can control what I hold on to.

Fire can crash.

Fire can crash.

Fire can heal.

Fire can heal.

It can transform.

It can transform.

It can change all you feel.

station.

I can control.

I can control.

Very nice.

Kathy Contours live in the lager on máscous roasting.

That's the CD.

Honking to kill.

If you want to call a text.

The civic media app.

All right, Kathy.

Tell us about your band, The Bad Jacks.

I don't know where that comes from.

They're actually a bunch of good people, right?

Oh, my God.

They're incredible.

I mean, Beth Kelly and Jenna Jonas, Dan Kennedy, me.

People say, who's your band?

I said, I don't have a band.

I don't have enough balls to call them my band.

They're amazing musicians.

They're people they get to play with and make music.

And I met Beth through ladies rock camp, of course.

And then we started kind of coming up with maybe.

We should record some of these things I'm writing.

And that's where I knew Jenna from rock camp.

And that's how I met Dan.

And we actually started out, I think.

I started out with Dan with doing a song

at the nursing home in South County.

We did a little concert from my mom.

Wow.

And he was one of the people that agreed to do that with me.

So then we just kind of naturally all four of us fell into this relationship

of making music together.

And for health reasons, I don't play out a lot.

And that's probably good, because these guys are all really, really busy.

Yeah, I wouldn't say.

Now, the bad jacks, where does that name come from?

I'm going to ask Beth about that one, because that one came out of you.

Did it?

Yeah, dude.

I'm this man.

Yeah.

I can't, can neither confirm nor deny that I had anything to do.

I thought maybe it was my, was it the jack up, my guitar?

Was something not working?

I don't even know.

It could have been.

I think it was, let's, you know what?

Let's play in Dan Kennedy.

He's not here to defend himself.

That's perfect.

All right.

He works.

Let me ask you a question.

Yeah.

First of all, welcome back to Maxine Crady.

Oh, thanks for having me.

This is like your hundred and third parents on our zero.

Well, and I feel like finally, I'm coming back to the same place over and over again.

Because I'm also going to move the studio so many times.

I thought you were trying to get rid of me.

We're going to have to start painting.

What, you know, we were talking to Kathy about ladies rockamp

and the effect that the music has had on her life.

What, what is it like for you knowing Kathy and seeing her progression,

her love with music?

Oh, my God.

Can I just tell you everything that Kathy has gotten from ladies rockamp

or for me, we've all gotten back a hundred volts.

She is just a beautiful human.

She's so supportive.

She, a couple of summers ago showed up to a bunch of my shows

wearing an inflatable T-Rex costume.

I mean, the children thought they were, she thought she was part of our band

and that she was just there to spread sunshine.

And it was like, hey, why don't you put some money in my tip chart too while you're here.

So, honestly, there's like so much sunshine.

And I tell you what, walking beside somebody on the journey that Kathy's been on

is so, it puts life in perspective, really.

And I mean, rocker, what you've been through to, it's like, you know what?

All these things that I'm worried about in the world, let's just keep it all in perspective.

And every day is a gift and having people around you that love you and support you,

you know what, you got it made.

Wow.

That has to be, it's powerful just to hear you say that.

I can't imagine your emotions and Kathy, I can't imagine your emotions on that either.

Jenna Jonas, she's making her way over to a microphone.

That one doesn't work.

That one doesn't work.

You don't have to come over here.

Jenna, I want to ask you basically the same question.

You have my problems.

I want to ask you the same question I asked Beth.

I mean, what is that, the experience of working with Kathy been like for you?

Beth put it beautifully.

Perfectly said, we both met her at Ladies Rock Camp.

And we're supposed to be like the inspirational ones, which I guess we are.

But Kathy and Camper's like Kathy told her to inspire me to keep playing music.

And the songs that she writes are just like I listened to fire song last night in my car.

And I'm like, yeah, that can make a bad day better if I just lights up on fire.

Yeah.

Like, yeah, her songs are just bonding arsonists.

Yes.

That's our band name.

That's our band name right there.

We're the spawning arsonists.

Wait, why are you stealing the microphone back?

The burning needs to be in a safe and controlled manner.

Not encouraging arsonism.

Oh, my goodness.

Now, Kathy, you are putting out albums faster than the Beatles.

I mean, you're releasing your third album on May 10th at the high noon saloon in Madison.

It starts at one o'clock, one to three early show.

You know, tell us a little bit about the new album.

This one was fun.

I think, you know, Beth was giving me feedback.

Well, they're all fun.

But, you know, the first one transitions was about, you know, I've got this diagnosis and, you know, this stuff.

I had to kind of process through.

And the second one, amazing, was, you know, this kind of trying to keep things that are bad and make them positive.

And this one was just, I let my sense of humor come through.

So I've got a song on there called Not You're No Good For Me, which is all about candy.

And I'm diabetic.

And I compare men to different kinds of candy.

So, of course, it's a little naughty, but, but I like it.

It's a good song.

You got to send that to us.

In light of all the booty songs, we just heard on air.

I think that, yeah, I think so.

I think so that we can do that.

I'll play it next week for sure.

Awesome.

So I just, I just had more, I was more relaxed this time.

I had more fun this time.

I think, um, I think I'd be coming more confident.

And then there is one song on there that I blame Dan Kennedy for.

Because he challenged me.

He said, you should, you should record all the tracks yourself for a song.

So I did.

Now, where can we find you online?

You know, you asked me that last time and I said, I don't know.

But I have a website now called Catholicator Music at MailChimpSites.com.

It's a little convoluted, but I haven't sprung for the domain name yet.

Um, I have my music on all the streaming services YouTube, all that.

Um, and I have a special email, Catholicator Music at Gmail.com.

We, uh, let's do the next song.

We'll tell it.

We'll have you tell us about the song after you play it.

The song is called Amazing.

Kathy Couture, live in the layer on Maxine Crady.

All right.

Thank you.

One, two, three.

There's so much to bring you down to make you feel sad.

Why is it so easy to believe all that bad?

If someone talked to you the way you talked to yourself,

you'd punch them in the throws, you'd kick below the belt.

In case no one has told you,

you are amazing.

You'll look at all the things you do.

You are amazing.

Think of all that you've been through.

You are amazing.

God accept that it's true.

You are amazing.

You get up in the morning, put your feet on the ground.

Throw on some clothes and get around.

You do the things you have to.

Might even have some fun.

But at the end of the day, there's more to be done.

In case no one has told you,

you are amazing.

Look at all the things you do.

You are amazing.

Think of all that you've been through.

You are amazing.

God accept that it's true.

You are amazing.

AMA, Z, I, N, G.

AMA, Z, I, N, G.

Spill it with us now.

AMA, Z, I, N, G.

We are amazing.

Oh, you and me.

You lift yourself up from the things that bring you down,

wearing a smile more than a frown.

You say it's not a big deal.

You're just working to survive.

But you're being humble about staying alive.

In case no one has told you,

you are amazing.

Look at all the things you do.

You are amazing.

Think of all that you've been through.

You are amazing.

God accept that it's true.

You are amazing.

You are amazing.

Look at all the things you do.

You are amazing.

Think of all that you've been through.

You are amazing.

God accept that it's true.

You are amazing.

Amazing.

You're awesome, Kathy.

Thank you so much for coming in.

Beth Keeley, great to see you again.

Same to you, Jenna Jonas.

Once again, get the new album.

What's the website, Kathy?

We're gonna talk about the music at MailChimp's.

No, that MailChimpSites.com, that's it.

Thank you so much.

Hey, we got a double dip of subatomic.

James Nichols is gonna be in next hour for Live In A Lair.

Maxinc on Civic Media.

We are Local Music.

Shop local, eat local, listen local.

This is Maxinc Radio.

We are Local Music.

0:00