About Me

Originally from Ralston, Nebraska, Kathy grew up in a large musical family and was influenced by a variety of music as a young girl. Especially important was listening to her father’s piano renditions of Count Basie and Pine Top Smith, and exploring his collection of 78s. She harmonized with her four sisters on traditional Czech and American folk songs, musical classics, and spirituals.

After moving to the Washington, D.C. area in the late 70s, Kathy met Tom Lyon, her future husband, and they started performing as a duo in area clubs. “Two’s Company” and later the “Kat Lyon Band” toured extensively during the early 1980s. They performed at ski resorts and small clubs around the U.S., traveling in their red VW bus. They also were invited to perform in seven overseas tours for the U.S. Dept. of Defense, traveling worldwide entertaining U.S. military and diplomatic personnel.

In 1986, the couple’s daughter Michelle was born, followed by their son Gregory in 1988. Taking a few years off from professional performance, Kathy and Tom produced several showcase performances in Northern Virginia, including a sold-out concert at the Barns of Wolf Trap. In the early 1990s, Kathy joined the six-piece ensemble “Overjoy” as lead vocalist, partnering with bassist Harold Becton and other top D.C. area musicians for over 10 years.

In the mid-90s, Kathy studied Jazz Vocal Performance with the Elliston Music Studios and became involved with the Fish Middleton Jazz Scholarship Fund and FMJS’s East Coast Jazz Festival. She performed at the Festival many times, in her own showcase concerts, as well as the featured vocalist with the Ricky Loza Latin Jazz Orchestra. Toured with the Ricky Loza Jazz Festival to El Salvador and Guatemala in July 2002, and the tribute tour in July 2003 after Ricky Loza’s untimely passing.

Kathy released her debut CD, “Kathy Lyon Live at the TomKat Nite Club” in 2002. She continued to appear at numerous Washington DC venues with many of the DC area’s top musicians. Her second CD, “Here’s To Life/Live at the East Coast Jazz Festival”, was released in 2006, and was recorded live at what turned out to be the last FMJS Festival (due to the loss of founder Ronnie Wells). In 2017, a CD containing “the best of” her two recordings was released, called “A Song For You.”

After relocating to Navarre, Florida in 2005, she has appeared onstage at numerous Pensacola JazzFests and other Jazz Pensacola events, the Jazz-By-The-Bay Festival in Panama City, the Roswell (New Mexico) Jazz Festival, and at the Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival in Rockville MD (DC area). She continues to be in high demand among the Emerald Coast’s top jazz venues from Mobile to Sarasota. Her plans include adding more regional and national jazz festivals, cruises, and first-class jazz venues to her performing schedule.

In 2019, Kathy released a CD produced by the legendary tenor saxophonist Houston Person. The 12-track CD titled “Nothin’ But Love” features vocals by Kathy, with musicians Houston Person (tenor sax), along with top New York musicians Lafayette Harris Jr. (piano), Peter Hand (guitar), Vince Ector (bass), and Matthew Parrish (drums), and was recorded at Teaneck (NJ) Sound Studios. With the coronavirus pandemic creating a new set of challenges, the decision was made to hold the album’s promotion until 2020, when it was featured on radio programs worldwide.

Kathy’s newest recordings, “Who Knew?” (released in January 2022), followed by “Texas Highway”, (released on May 5 2022) to coincide with Kathy’s visit to Memphis TN for the Blues Foundation Awards and the International Blues Challenge at clubs along Beale Street) were produced at Montrose Studios West in Ruidoso, New Mexico. The collaborative project with guitarist Rich Chorné resulted in both releases. The “Who Knew?” disc highlights several jazz tunes and two blues tunes, with five of Kathy’s original compositions, plus one co-written with Rich Chorné. The “Texas Highway”  collection features seven songs, including four of Kathy’s originals, two of Rich’s originals, and one co-written by Rich and Kathy, Working with producer and engineer Richard Cagle on this new set of songs, the albums showcase both jazz and blues–reflecting Kathy’s passion for both genres.