my story

I believe in the power of words to engage, inspire and capture the imagination. And access to the arts is vital to a good quality of life; enriching, uplifting, provoking and inspiring.

A woman with short brown hair greying at the temples, wearing t-shirt and a navy pinstripe blazer, gazes up to her right with a glint in her eye. — Photo by Dahlia Katz

The blog. Life with more cowbell started out in 2011 as an arts/culture blog, shouting out the good word on the Toronto arts scene with positive, experiential reviews, peppered with artist interviews and broadcast boosts. With a focus on local theatre, as well as music, poetry/spoken word, comedy and visual arts, cowbell flourished as a part-time, unpaid, one-person operation. And, yes, the blog’s title was inspired, in part, by the famous SNL sketch.

Since wrapping up theatre review bookings in February 2020, and moving the blog in a new direction, shout-outs for the Toronto arts scene continue on Cate McKim’s Twitter account, plus Instagram.

For more on the origins of life with more cowbell, check out Phil Rickaby’s interview on Stageworthy Podcast. And here’s an interview I did for Kat Leonard’s blog.

The blogger. Toronto-based multidisciplinary storyteller/writer/arts supporter Cate (aka Cathy) McKim (she/her) studied visual arts at York University and acting at George Brown Theatre School. She works as a content writer at Young W, in addition to freelance copy editing (words with cowbell) and non-union voice-over work.

A published short story and creative non-fiction writer, Cate has also contributed theatre and arts posts to Lipstik Indie Reviews, appears (credited as Cathy) in DJ Paul V’s Born This Way Blog and is a featured contributor in a Glamour Magazine piece about the 2012 launch of the book version Born This Way: Real Stories of Growing Up Gay.

Thanks for checking in!

Cowbell Lane Toronto street sign photo in the right margin by John Oughton.