About Kathleen

Artist, founder,
and connector.

Kathleen Blackwell is a classically trained pianist, recording artist, songwriter, entrepreneur, and founder whose work connects music, culture, brand-building, and the spirit of Oaxaca.

The Story

A creative
life built
one bold
chapterat a time.

Raised in Texas and shaped by music from an early age, Kathleen studied at the University of Texas before beginning a career that moved through media, entertainment, and entrepreneurship with unusual range and instinct.

At just 21, she was working on the business side of music with Sony Classical. That early industry foundation would later meet her own independent artist path, where she wrote, recorded, and released music under her own name.

She went on to found Saucy-Wear, a designer apron line that reached retailers including Williams-Sonoma, Sur La Table, Neiman Marcus, and FAO Schwarz. She has always been as interested in building worlds as she is in performing inside them.

As an artist, Kathleen released To Be Human and later Knockout, then began the far more ambitious global recording journey that became Project Eléctrico — a body of work shaped by collaborators, travel, and place.

That same journey eventually led her to Oaxaca, where music, people, and mezcal converged into the next chapter of her story: Eléctrico Mezcal, a brand born from the same spirit as the music.

Kathleen does not separate identity, art, and enterprise. She treats them as one continuous creative life.

The Dimensions

One Woman.
Many Worlds.

Kathleen Blackwell
01
La Artista

The Musician

Kathleen is a classically trained pianist, singer-songwriter, and recording artist whose work moves from intimate piano writing to globally collaborative production. Her path includes independent releases, long-form creative development, and the expansive world of Project Eléctrico.

Casa de Mezcales Eléctrico
02
La Fundadora

The Founder

From Saucy-Wear to Eléctrico Mezcal, Kathleen has repeatedly turned intuition into enterprises with distinct point of view. She is drawn to ventures that carry story, craft, and emotional identity rather than products without soul.

Photo Needed
The Pioneer
Needed: Kathleen in a high-contrast, futuristic studio setup. Captures: early crypto, HOLLYISCO, Silicon Beach, Anthropic AI connections, XYZ2Y Ventures angel investing.
Community San Baltazar
04
La Conectora

The Connector

A defining thread in Kathleen's work is connection: people, scenes, collaborators, cities, and cultures that would not otherwise naturally meet. Her work in music and mezcal both grew from genuine relationships, not manufactured positioning.

Photo Needed
The Filmmaker
Needed: Behind-the-scenes from the Festival Oaxaca documentary shoot. This film won Best Documentary, Best Director, Best Editing, and Best Original Music.
Kathleen Blackwell — avant-garde
06
La Visionaria

The Vision

What makes Kathleen distinctive is not one role but the coherence between many of them. Artist. entrepreneur. storyteller. founder. host. traveler. collaborator. The vision is the throughline that allows all of those identities to feel like one person, not many brands.

Her Point Of View

What ties
the worlds
together.

Music. spirit. craft. place. relationship. They are all part of the same story.

Kathleen's career does not make sense if you try to split it into isolated categories. The better way to read it is as a pattern: she follows creative energy into new forms, then builds structures around it without losing the human part.


That is why music and mezcal belong together here. Project Eléctrico was not just a recording project. It became the bridge to people, places, and an ethos that later shaped Eléctrico Mezcal. The spirit came from the music, and both came from the person.


Across everything, the constants are curiosity, independence, emotional intelligence, and a willingness to trust instinct early. That is the logic of the site: Kathleen first, then the worlds she has brought to life through that perspective.

🎵
Music

Independent releases, performance, songwriting, and the global collaboration behind Project Eléctrico all sit at the center of the story.

🥃
Mezcal

Eléctrico Mezcal is not a separate sidebar business. It is another expression of the same artistic and cultural spirit that shaped the music.

💼
Entrepreneurship

From designer aprons to brand development to venture-minded thinking, Kathleen has long operated as a builder as much as a performer.

🌎
Travel

Venice, Oaxaca, Iceland, Cuba, Austin, Los Angeles. Place is not backdrop in this story. It is part of the creative engine.

🎬
Storytelling

The work keeps returning to narrative: songs, essays, visual identity, collaborations, and the larger mythology around Eléctrico.

💎
Style

Kathleen's visual point of view has always mattered, from Saucy-Wear to stage identity to the editorial tone of the brands she builds.

🤝
Relationships

So much of the archive is powered by people: collaborators, mentors, founders, communities, musicians, families, and chance meetings that changed direction.

❤️
Heart

The strongest thread in the material is emotional sincerity. Even the business ventures are driven by feeling, trust, and lived connection.

The Arc

A life
in motion.

1991
Stage Manager, SXSW. Production Intern, Austin City Limits.
San Antonio. UT Austin RTF + Journalism. The beginning of a media life.
1993
Entered the music business through Sony Classical.
An early professional chapter in entertainment that gave her firsthand experience in how the industry actually works.
2004
Founded Saucy-Wear.
A designer apron line that grew into national retail placement and established Kathleen as a founder with strong visual and brand instincts.
2008
Rebuilt after a major personal and business reset.
The end of one chapter became the beginning of a deeper creative one, including new songwriting and a more independent artistic path.
2009
Released To Be Human.
The record helped define Kathleen as a serious recording artist, not just someone adjacent to music culture.
2011
Expanded into entrepreneurial and media ventures.
Projects like HOLLYISCO, XYZ2Y Ventures, and broader business experimentation reflected the same curiosity that shows up in the music.
2014
Project Eléctrico begins to take shape.
Travel, live performance, collaboration, and the song "Eléctrico" established the foundation for the creative universe that would later connect music and mezcal.
2015-2019
Recorded across countries, collaborators, and cultures.
The archive widens here: Venice, Oaxaca, Cuba, Iceland, and a growing body of music stories that made Project Eléctrico feel global in both sound and spirit.
2020-2021
Released major Eléctrico-era stories and songs.
Entries like Mother's Hope, Army of Love, and Atsui show the project evolving into a fuller public narrative.
2021
Brought the mezcal story into focus.
The site begins articulating what had become clear through the journey: Eléctrico Mezcal grew out of the same world that produced the music.
Now
Kathleen stands at the center of the ecosystem.
The person is the hub. The music and the mezcal are not side projects. They are connected expressions of a life built through instinct, craft, and relationship.