Life hasn’t always been easy for singer Kat Williams, but she swears she’s “blessed.” She came to Asheville 14 years ago from Buffalo, New York, while helping a friend move to the area. She decided to stay. In the years since, she has become a fixture in the local music scene with performances of an eclectic mix of tunes including nods to R&B, rock, blues, jazz, and gospel. She’s equally comfortable singing a jazz standard, a Led Zeppelin cover, or one of her original songs.

Kat says she came into music by accident. Born to a very young mother and put immediately into the state foster system, Kat was placed with Mary and L.C. Williams, a couple who took in kids “no one else wanted.”

“I was the baby,” says Kat, explaining that she was the 31st child to come into the Williams’ home. She was eventually adopted by the couple. Sadly, Mary, her adopted mom, became ill when Kat was nine years old. Kat says it was her role to take care of Mary.

“I read in Reader’s Digest about endorphins and how they can make people feel better so I wanted to make her laugh,” Kat says of Mary, who was diagnosed with colorectal cancer. For years, Kat performed a show for Mary every Friday. Kat would come up with routines, practice them all week, and then present the shows to her mom, who loved them, of course. “I would imitate singers like Cher. I would sing and be silly and just try to make her laugh and have fun.”

When Kat was 17 and a junior in high school, both Mary and L.C. died. Kat was homeless. “I would just go from one friend’s house to another,” she says. With praise for the public school system, Kat tells how she was cared for by the teachers. “I never spent a holiday alone,” she says. “And they always made sure that I had food and that my bills were paid.”

Kat remembers one teacher buying her a new softball glove and cleats for her softball tryout at Niagara University. “I tried out for every position,” Kat says with a laugh. “I chased after every ball. I gave it everything I had.” In the end, Kat got the scholarship, not necessarily because of her talent on the field but because of her heart and determination.

Those characteristics were instilled in Kat by her mom. “She always said we could grow up and do anything we want, be anything we want,” says Kat. After three years at Niagara, Kat left to work for the Department of Corrections, a job she held for a decade.

With the pluck and grit and soul of an underdog-turned-champion, Kat has since developed a music career that has been interesting to say the least. She plays weddings and private parties all over the United States. She performs some club dates and plays fairly regularly at the Grove Park Inn. Asheville Tourist fans may know her as the go-to singer of the national anthem for opening day in recent years. Speaking of this iconic song, she has sung it for the likes of Gen. Colin Powell and President Bill Clinton. She also opened for Jay Leno on his comedy stop in the area and was a contestant on the television show America’s Got Talent.

Catch Kat in October at the “Paint the Town Pink” event October 6 at Pack Square Park. On October 29, she has an afternoon performance at the Grove Park Inn and follows that evening with a performance at Harrah’s in Cherokee.

Kat loves what she does and follows one simple motto: “I can only give you the best of me.”

For more about this amazing person, visit katwilliamsmusic.