Anyone who knew Kathryn Severing Fox during her time at the Frost School of Music remembers a first-rate classical musician. While earning her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in viola performance, she also taught under-served youth through the school’s MusicReach Program, and played with the Frost School’s top classical ensembles and the Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra. It was her experiences with the latter group that set Fox on the journey to her current identity as an acclaimed Americana singer-songwriter.
“Playing in the Mancini Orchestra backing up all these artists like Gloria Estefan, Bobby McFerrin, Pharrell Williams and Chick Corea put the idea of playing in different fields in my head,” Fox said. “All the opportunities to do other things while getting classical training and appreciating what that can bring to other genres really was life-changing.”
Nowadays, Fox plays solo and as part of the duo Weary Ramblers, an Americana-leaning vocal harmony duo winning acclaim across a variety of styles. Over the past year, she has earned “Musician of the Year” nominations from the Midwest Country Music Awards and International Singer-Songwriters Association. Weary Ramblers have covered a lot of ground this year, too, playing the International Bluegrass Music Association’s World of Bluegrass convention in Tennessee, the Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise through the Caribbean and the Big Blues Bender in Las Vegas.
Fox grew up in a musical family in Wisconsin, where her music teacher parents had her singing as a toddler, playing piano at age 5 and learning viola at age 7 with the Suzuki Method. Fox’s musical training stayed strictly classical, until the Frost School started moving her from viola to violin and eventually fiddle.
“People look at this list of people I played with in college and are amazed," Fox said. "Not only did Frost help me feel comfortable in every genre, it helped me build an insane resume. The courses also made a big difference in recording, pedagogy, orchestra, and the music business. I got the whole roadmap to everything there.”
After getting her bachelor's in 2013 and master’s in 2015, Fox spent several years in Barrage 8, a multi-hyphenate crossover group that played almost every style imaginable. Then she worked as a music teacher at a community college in Iowa. A year later, Fox resolved to get back into performing and walked into an open blues jam at a dive bar in Des Moines – the only woman, and the only player there with a violin.
That was a turning point. She joined country and rock bands as a multi-instrumentalist, playing six shows a week, and also started playing recording sessions. Session work went remote during the pandemic, during which Fox started writing songs herself. Posting her songs online connected Fox with her Weary Ramblers bandmate Chad Elliott. And even though she’s playing roots-leaning fiddle, mandolin and guitar rather than classical viola nowadays, that Frost School training is still in Fox’s toolbox.
“All the work I had to do with arpeggios and different kinds of scales really prepared me for anything,” Fox said. “I feel like I can sing through the instrumentation because of my classical training. Bow technique, phrasing and how to play different melodies are all definitely informed by the classical work I did. It allowed me to feel like I already knew how to shape melodies in other genres and feel them deeply.”
Currently, most of Fox’s live shows are to promote the latest Weary Ramblers album, 2025’s “Driftwood.” Next up will be her second solo album—and maybe someday finding herself onstage at one of the world’s most famous and unique concert venues.
“I’m just following the train of inspiration, wherever it takes me,” she said. “I hope one day it will be Red Rocks. It’s a wild life to live. I love being a rambler.”
