CBC Galaxie Rising Star Award Winner Peter Katz just released his newest long player First of the Last to Know in Canada on April 6, 2010. The album boasts an impressive host of guest appearances as Academy Award Winner Glen Hansard (The Swell Season, Once), Canadian Folk darlings The Good Lovelies, and steel-town siren Melissa McClelland all contributed. Upon the album's release Peter will be touring the country (dates below).

Working with long-time friend, tour-mate, singer-songwriter and producer Rob Szabo, the two scheduled regular meetings for 4 months, looking at every aspect of Peter's songs. "There were some definite tense moments, but I knew Rob was right and I had to put my ego aside and learn. We worked and worked and worked, just on the bare bones of the songs and of the guitar and vocals, making sure every last word, every note, every groove, every picking pattern, every tempo was exactly where it needed to be. It was an amazing and awful experience," Katz says with a smile.

When it came time to finally record, they set up shop at the gorgeous Barn Window Studio on the escarpment outside Hamilton. "I didn't want to be in a booth and then have to try to add vibe using the computer. I wanted the space to inspire, to have its quirks and unique qualities in the moment. There's no question when I listen to this record, I hear that it was recorded in a big, beautiful barn. I mean, I got to sing while staring out at the night through a huge glass window… You can't get that in a booth."

One aspect of Katz's sound that remains true from his very first demos is his dedication to telling powerful stories. The stunning 'Oliver's Tune' is inspired by a CBC interview with the late Oliver Schroer, a Canadian fiddle player who passed away from Leukemia but decided to play one final concert a month before he died. 'The Fence' is a haunting song that imagines the experience of Matthew Shepard, the Laramie, Wyoming student who was tied to a fence and left to die one night because he was gay. And the soaring, cathartic title track, 'First of the Last to Know,' explores the story of anyone working to emerge as a fully realized human being.

"This is really the first time in my career that I feel like I have a record I can hand over without any caveats. It sounds the way I want it to sound and that means the world to me," says Katz. " It has been so exciting to be overwhelmed with emails from people telling me that they absolutely love the album and that it compliments the live show they saw. That strong connection between the show and the album has been so elusive in the past. Now I actually have to step it up live to compete with my record"