If you're a fan of edgy vocal stylings like Bonnie Raitt and Janis Joplin, harmonica reminiscent of Little Walter and Sonny Terry, then you'll love Manitoba’s Tracy K. An expressive voice, exceptional harmonica playing, and compelling pro-showmanship is how Tracy K has toured festivals and events from Canada to the Caribbean, Manitoba to Memphis. Her energy packed shows deliver catchy originals mixed with toe-tapping blues, jazz and roots covers, as an acoustic duo or with tastefully appointed band members. She’s shared playbills with some of her own heros, the likes of John Sebastian, Koko Taylor, James Cotton, and Ramblin' Jack Elliot. First Runner Up in the Toronto Blues Society’s Talent Search she was also featured at their annual Harmonica Workshop and the distinguished TBS Women's Blues Revue. In full diva glory, Tracy K procured two cabaret concerts with the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra, in a nod to Billie Holiday with "Lady Sings the Blues" 2010, and "Legendary Songs by Legendary Women" in 2015. Over the course of her solo career she has collected nine awards and is Canada’s (potentially, the world's) only award winning female harmonica player.
Known by her legal name Tracy Mastaler, she started her music career in the late 1980s in Toronto, utilizing her outstanding harmony skills in live and studio work. The moniker 'Tracy K' was born out of her spouse's surname, and she embarked on a solo career upon moving back home to Beausejour, Manitoba, with her young family in the 1990s. Tracy K quickly became a regular in demand on the local Jazz and Blues scene, and released her first record of originals, "Welcome to my Fantasy" in 2000. This led to touring and showcasing across Canada and the USA at Blues, Jazz and Folk festivals, theatres, women-in-blues events, and assorted venues. Her songwriting catalogue is home to two commissions for feature films and two International Songwriting Competition Awards.
Thunder Bay, Ontario, became home for Tracy K and her three children in 2004 where she attended college and found work as an Educational Assistant while managing her music career. Tracy K’s career continued in that musically vibrant community where she released a second album in 2007, "Old, New, Borrowed & Blues", a rockin' blues and folk offering, boosting her career into high gear. Meeting local slide and fingerstyle guitarist and songwriter Jamie Steinhoff gave Tracy K a long awaited opportunity to form an acoustic folk blues duo, performing early twentieth century vintage gems and original music. Their album "Canned Heat" was released in 2011 to loads of fantastic five star reviews, blowing the duo's future wide open. Both albums were recorded in Thunder Bay, and resulted in national and international awards and airplay. Tracy K would go on to represent Thunder Bay at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis Tennessee as a band in 2013 and duo in 2014, then returned in 2015 as one of the judges. Impressing her new Southern friends, she was asked to arrange harmonies on a song at Ardent Studios and had fun recording tunes at Sun Studios. In 2015, she was the sole Canadian included on Ruf Records "Blues Harp Women" compilation album, and Mary4Music's "Keeping the Blues Alive: Volume Six".
Moving back home to Beausejour, Manitoba in 2014 as an empty nester, Tracy K followed the trend she calls the seven year itch of recording. She released "What's the Rush?" in 2016, an album that kicked Tracy K's career into high gear yet again. Aptly named, "What's the Rush?" was the catalyst for bringing Tracy K a nomination for Blues Artist of the Year 2018 by the Western Canadian Music Awards, followed by U.S. and Canadian tour dates, including a Home Routes Tour for the duo.Through the pandemic years when live music was detrimentally threatened, Tracy K worked as a scenic artist in the Film Industry and created a home based business repairing all types of objets d'art and sentimental pieces, part of her previous School of Art training and knowledge. As the music industry returned to more live shows post-lockdown, Tracy K keeps moving in the same direction, excited to see the world once again embrace live music.
Yes, there’s still a lot of life-after-life waiting for Tracy K. And she’s still not in a rush to get there.
AWARDS:
Western Canadian Music Awards, 2018 Blues Artist of the Year Nominee
International Blues Challenge, Memphis TN, Quarter Finalist, Band 2014
International Blues Challenge, Memphis TN, Quarter Finalist, Duo 2013
International Songwriting Competition – Blues Award 2007
International Songwriting Competition – Performance Award 2007
Ontario Independent Music Award – Best Blues Song 2007
Toronto Blues Society Talent Search – First Runner-Up 2007
Winnipeg Blues.com – Harmonica Player of the Year 2006
Winnipeg Blues.com – Female Vocalist of the Year 2006
Winnipeg Blues.com – Electric Act of the Year – Nomination 2006
SAMPLE OF PAST PERFORMANCES (SELECT LIST):
Whoop & Hollar Festival, Portage La Prairie, MB (2025)
Regina Mid Winter Bluesfest, SK (2025)
Gimli Bluesfest, Gimli, MB (2023, 2025)
Home Routes Tour MB, SK(2018)
Winter Blues Fest, Winnipeg MB(2018)
Fargo Bluesfest, ND (2017)
Blues on the Red, Grand Forks, ND, (2017)
Santiago Shakedown, MN (2017)
Winnipeg BBQ & Bluesfest, MB (2012, 2014, 2016)
Winnipeg Jazz Festiva, MB (1999 - 2005 inclusive)
Saskatchewan Mid-Winter Blues Festival, Regina/Saskatoon,SK (2005, 2008, 2015)
Women’s Blues Fest Minneapolis, MN (2003)
Live from the Rock Music Festival, Red Rock, ON (2003, 2006, 2009, 2012, 2014)
Thunder Bay Blues Festival (2002, 2003, 2005, 2008, 2011, 2013, 2014)
Great Woods Music Festival, Beausejour, MB (1998-2003 inclusive)
Toronto Blues Society's Harmonica Workshop, Toronto, ON (2003)
Toronto Blues Society Women's Blues Revue, Toronto, ON (2002)
Women In Blues International Showcase, Memphis, TN (2013, 2014, 2015)
Fed Ex International Showcase - International Blues Challenge, Memphis, TN (2014)
ALBUM RELEASES:
What’s the Rush (2016)
Canned Heat (2011)
Old, New, Borrowed & Blues (2007)
Welcome to my Fantasy (2000)
COMPILATIONS:
Blues Harp Women – Ruf Records (2015)
Keeping the Blues Alive Vol.6 – Mary4Music (2014)
SINGLES:
Science of Being Distant – CBC Radio One Bandwidth
3 Singles for Prairie Fire Project – Canadian Diabetes Foundation (2003)
Rock This House – licensed to Zernick Von-Sertner Films, L.A. (2002)
QUOTES:
"This lady has more than thirty years of music experience and that is evident. The songs are well-written and well-considered, each of them are little stories. And they are all wrapped in beautiful blues and boogie." - BarnowlBlues, NL, 2016
“…a powerful and rich vocalist and a harmonica player of the highest order… Navigating between folk blues, pure juicy blues and blues that is tinged with pop, Tracy K pulls no punches.” - Zicazine, 2016
"Next to her beautiful voice, she is also a gifted harmonica player. It is easy to understand that Tracy K must have a large and loyal fan base in her home country, with Europe and the rest of the world to follow very soon." - Rudolf’s Music 2016
"This is outdoor-festival music, tailor-made for a big stage and (even) bigger crowd." - Rainey Wetnight, Blues Blast Magazine, 2017
"What’s The Rush? has grit and soul, and is rough around the edges in just the right places. As a singer Tracy K is like Bonnie Raitt and Koko Taylor, and she blows some of the best blues harp this side of Little Walter. Production at Winnipeg’s award winning Bedside Studios by Len Milne is perfect - rowdy, deep and intimate. Throwing this on is like walking into the middle of the best party ever. Stunning." 5+ rating - Gonzo Okanagan Music Reviews, 2016
Canadian "mojo mama" Tracy K has been around the proverbial block; while What’s The Rush? is just her fourth album, it feels like the work of a case-hardened musical veteran. Ms. K gets her personal stories across with style. The engineering by Len Milne at Winnipeg’s Bedside Studios is razor-sharp: it's obvious she and her compadres didn’t rush through these tracks, but instead gave them enough attention to make the grade. - Jeff Monk, Winnipeg Free Press, 2016
"There’s only eight tracks here but I’d rather have quality than a CD stuffed full of filler so this works a treat. She has a very listenable voice and there is an insistent groove to her music that works really well. Also, she can blow a mean mouth harp." - the Rocker UK, 2016
"Her raspy vocals and 'smokey' style of harmonica playing just fascinates, and the accompanying musicians create original musical expression, deeply engraved feelings and an atmosphere of the best traditional blues, and urban blues in general. This completely justifies all the saliva glistening reviews made by numerous music critics." - Soundguardian, Mladen Loncar, 2016