Description

Indie singer-songwriter Chan Marshall somewhat reluctantly began recording under the name Cat Power in the mid-1990s. Often withdrawn and always unapologetically eccentric, Marshall nonetheless managed to win over a steadily growing following, thanks to her distinct, emotive voice and simple yet potent songs. A penchant for erratic live performances only seemed to enhance Marshall's intriguing persona, while her lo-fi, folk-based music itself garnered increasing acclaim, particularly on 1998's MOON PIX and 2003's YOU ARE FREE.

Biography

b. Charlyn Marshall, 1972, Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Cat Power is the recording moniker of New York, USA-based singer-songwriter Charlyn Marshall. After an itinerant childhood in the American south the newly-named Chan Marshall began performing with friends as Cat Power. She relocated to New York where she issued 1993's "Headlights" single on God Is My Co-Pilot's The Making Of Americans label. Sonic Youth's Steve Shelley and Two Dollar Guitar's Tim Foljahn offered to record with her after they saw her opening for Liz Phair. The trio recorded two raw indie rock albums in one day in December 1994, which were subsequently released in October 1995 on Italian label Runt (Dear Sir) and March 1996 on Shelley's Smells Like Records (Myra Lee).
Marshall signed to Matador Records for What Would The Community Think, an album which managed to fashion a more suitable musical backing for her highly personal lyrics. Moon Pix was recorded in Australia with backing provided by Mick Turner and Jim White of the Dirty Three. Turner's subtle guitar work and White's restrained percussion were a marked improvement on the overbearing rock accompaniment that made Cat Power's early records difficult to love. Her vocals demonstrated a new maturity on stand-out tracks such as "Cross Bones Style", "Say" and "He Turns Down", and a superb reading of the traditional "Moonshiner". The follow-up was a sparse solo recording comprising radical reworkings of material such as the Rolling Stones' "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction", Nina Simone's "Wild Is The Wind", and Moby Grape's "Naked, If I Want To". The album also included a completely revamped version of her own "In This Hole", which originally appeared on What Would The Community Think.
Marshall's first album of original material in over five years, You Are Free, was released in February 2003. The following year she was filmed by experimental filmmaker Mark Borthwick for a special CD/DVD package, the focus of which was a two-hour solo performance in the middle of a forest.
DISCOGRAPHY: Dear Sir (Runt 1995)***, Myra Lee (Smells Like 1996)***, What Would The Community Think (Matador 1996)***, Moon Pix (Matador 1998)****, The Covers Record (Matador 2000)****, You Are Free (Matador 2003)***.
VIDEOGRAPHY: Speaking For Trees: A Film By Mark Borthwick (Matador 2004).

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