How her expressive musical talents and vibrant energy have cultivated a substantial and dedicated following on social media and Spotify, with Kait Dunton.

Long Shot Leaders with Michael Stein

KAIT DUNTON is an LA-based keyboardist & composer. Her emotive musical expression and joyful energy have garnered her hundreds of thousands of followers on social media and over 40,000 monthly listeners on Spotify. Starting with her first album, Real & Imagined - now a fan favorite with over three million streams - Kait has continued to cultivate her signature sound over many subsequent albums and releases, including her latest single featuring her evocative improvisational style - and nearly 3M views on Instagram: “this one’s for you”. Kait’s new album, Keyboards, is a love letter to the sounds and instruments of ’70s jazz-funk. A celebration of vintage grooves and classic keyboards: the Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzer, Hammond organ, Clavinet and - always - the acoustic piano. Keyboards documents the music Kait was writing and recording last year when her following on Instagram really exploded - now with close to 140,000 followers - and takes inspiration from the music of Stuff (Richard Tee), Herbie Hancock, the Brecker Brothers, Weather Report, Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett and Ahmad Jamal, to name a few. Together with Andrew Synowiec on guitar, Sean Hurley on bass and Jake Reed on drums, Kait and band radiate joyful sonic energy and groove. In addition to composition and performance, Kait is also an active recording artist and educator. Her playing appears extensively on the Mister Rogers movie, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, as well as in The Lego Movie 2, Downsizing, Empire, and ABC’s The Little Mermaid Live! Kait was an early member of Snarky Puppy during their formative years in Texas, appearing on their sophomore record, The World is Getting Smaller. She records often for film, television and other artists, and has taught at the University of North Texas, USC's Thornton School of Music, Musician's Institute, Chaffey College, and most recently at Los Angeles College of Music (LACM) in Pasadena, where she developed their new Piano Performance program and served as the inaugural chair.