Cat Power | |
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.jpg) Cat Power in Hamburg, 2013 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Charlyn Marie Marshall |
| Also known as | Chan Marshall Cat Power |
| Born | (1972-01-21)January 21, 1972 (age 53) Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupations | |
| Instruments |
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| Years active | 1992–present |
| Labels | |
| Website | catpowermusic |
Charlyn Marie "Chan"Marshall (/ˈʃɔːn/SHAWN;[3][4] born January 21, 1972),[5] better known by her stage nameCat Power, is an American singer-songwriter. Cat Power was originally the name of her first band, but has become her stage name as a solo artist.
Born inAtlanta, Marshall was raised throughout the southern United States and began performing in local bands in Atlanta in the early 1990s. After opening forLiz Phair in 1993, she worked withSteve Shelley ofSonic Youth and Tim Foljahn of Two Dollar Guitar, with whom she recorded her first two albums,Dear Sir (1995) andMyra Lee (1996), on the same day in 1994. In 1996, she signed withMatador Records, and released a third album of new material with Shelley and Foljahn,What Would the Community Think. Following this, she released the critically acclaimedMoon Pix (1998), recorded with members ofDirty Three, andThe Covers Record (2000), a collection of sparsely arrangedcover songs.
After a brief hiatus she releasedYou Are Free (2003), featuring guest musiciansDave Grohl andEddie Vedder, followed by thesoul-influencedThe Greatest (2006), recorded with numerousMemphis studio musicians. A second album of cover tracks,Jukebox, was released in 2008. In 2012 she released the self-producedSun, which debuted at number 10 onthe Billboard 200, the highest-charting album of her career to date.[6]
Critics have noted the constant evolution of Cat Power's sound, with a mix ofpunk,folk andblues on her earliest albums, and elements of soul and other genres more prevalent in her later material.[7]
Charlyn Marie Marshall was born January 21, 1972, inAtlanta, Georgia, the second child of Charlie Marshall, ablues musician and pianist, and Myra Lee Marshall (née Russell).[8] She has one older sister, Miranda ("Mandy").[9] Her maternal grandfather was ofNative American ancestry.[10] Her parents divorced in 1979[9] and remarried shortly thereafter.[3] Her mother remarried and had a son, Lenny,[11] and the family traveled around often because of her stepfather's profession.[11]
Marshall attended ten different schools throughout the Southern U.S. inGreensboro;Bartlett andMemphis and throughout Georgia andSouth Carolina. At times she was left in the care of her grandmother.[9] She was not allowed to buy records when she was growing up, but she listened to her stepfather's record collection, which included artistsOtis Redding,Creedence Clearwater Revival andthe Rolling Stones,[12] as well as her parents' records, which includedBlack Flag,Sister Sledge, andBarry White.[13] In sixth grade, she adopted the nicknameChan (pronounced "Shawn"), which she would later use professionally.[14] When she was 13, she listened tothe Smiths,the Cure andSiouxsie and the Banshees. She had to save up to buy cassettes and the first one she got was a record bythe Misfits.[15] As a high schooler in Atlanta, she saw shows by punk bands including a Cramps show at which the Flat Duo Jets opened.[16] She has referenced multiple times the influence of Dex Romweber from the Flat Duo Jets,[17] and she bought her first guitar because it looked like his black and white Silvertone.[16] At age 16, Marshall dropped out of high school and became estranged from her mother, having no further contact with her until she was 24.[3]
Religion was a large part of Marshall's upbringing; her father was aJehovah's Witness,[13] though she attendedSouthern Baptist churches with her grandmother, where she began singing while learninghymns.[18][19]
Marshall's first instrument was a 1950sSilvertone guitar,[3] which she taught herself to play.[13] While working in a pizzeria, she began playing music in Atlanta in the late-1980s with Glen Thrasher, Marc Moore, Damon Moore and Fletcher Liegerot, who would get together forjam sessions in a basement.[20] The group were booked for a show and had to come up with a name quickly; after seeing a man wearing aCaterpillartrucker cap that read: "Cat Diesel Power", Marshall choseCat Power as the name of the band.[3][21]
While in Atlanta, Marshall played her first live shows as support to her friends' bands, including Magic Bone andOpal Foxx Quartet.[22] In a 2007 interview, she explained that the music itself was more experimental and that playing shows was often an opportunity for her and her friends "to get drunk and take drugs".[23] A number of her local peers became entrenched inheroin use.[3] After the death of her boyfriend, and the subsequent loss of her best friend toAIDS, Marshall relocated toNew York City in 1992 with Glen Thrasher.[24] A new boyfriend helped her get a job in a restaurant.[25]
Thrasher introduced her to New York'sfree jazz andexperimental music scene.[23] After attending a concert byAnthony Braxton, she gave her first New York show of improvisational music at a warehouse inBrooklyn.[26] One of her shows during this period was as the support act toMan or Astro-man? and consisted of her playing a two-string guitar and singing the word "no" for 15 minutes.[27] Around this time, she met the bandGod Is My Co-Pilot, who assisted with the release of her first single, "Headlights", in a limited run of 500 copies on their Making of Americans label.
Marshall recorded simultaneously her first two albumsDear Sir andMyra Lee in December 1994 in a small basement studio nearMott Street in New York City, with guitarist Tim Foljahn andSonic Youth drummer Steve Shelley; Marshall and Shelley had initially met after she played a show opening forLiz Phair in 1993.[28][29] A total of 20 songs were recorded in a single day by the trio, all of which were split into two records, making upDear Sir andMyra Lee, released respectively in October 1995 and March 1996.[30] AlthoughDear Sir is considered Marshall's debut album, it is more the length of anEP.
In 1996, Marshall signed toMatador Records[31] and in September released her third album,What Would the Community Think, which she recorded inMemphis, Tennessee, in February 1996.[32] The album was produced by Shelley and again featured Shelley and Foljahn as backing musicians, and spawned a single and music video, "Nude as the News" about the abortion she had at the age of 20.[33][34] Critics cited the album as evidence of her maturation as a singer and songwriter from the "dense and cathartic" material of her first two releases.[33][35]
After the release ofWhat Would the Community Think, Marshall took a trip toSouth Africa, after which she left New York City and moved toPortland, Oregon,[36] where she found temporary employment as a babysitter.[37] In the spring of 1997, Marshall relocated with her then-boyfriend, musicianBill Callahan, to a ruralfarmhouse inProsperity, South Carolina.[38][37] After experiencing ahypnogogic nightmare while alone in the farmhouse,[39] Marshall wrote six new songs that would go on to make up the bulk of her following album,Moon Pix (1998),[40] which she recorded at Sing Sing Studios inMelbourne, Australia, with backing musiciansMick Turner andJim White of the Australian bandDirty Three.[41][42]Moon Pix was well received by critics, and along with an accompanying music video for the song "Cross Bones Style", helped her gain further recognition.[43][44]Rolling Stone would later describe it as her 'breakthrough' record.[45]
In 1999 Marshall performed in a series of shows where she provided musical accompaniment to thesilent movieThe Passion of Joan of Arc.[46] The shows combined original material and covers, some of which would be released on Marshall's fifth album,The Covers Record in 2000. The songs were recorded during two sessions in the summer of 1998 and fall of 1999. Additionally, she performed eleven covers during aPeel session broadcast on June 18, 2000, that included own interpretations ofBob Dylan's "Hard Times in New York Town" andOasis's "Wonderwall".[47] Her contract with Matador for 2000'sThe Covers Album reportedly consisted of aPost-it note signed by herself and the company's founder.[25]
During the early-2000s, Marshall was embraced by the fashion industry for her "neo grunge" look, and seen as a muse by designersMarc Jacobs andNicolas Ghesquière.[48] In 2001 she modeled inNew Yorkmagazine's fall fashion issue and was photographed by her friendsMark Borthwick andKatja Rahlwes, who featured her inPurple magazine alongsideCatherine Deneuve.[48]
In February 2003, Marshall releasedYou Are Free, her first album of original material in five years.[49] The album, which featured guest musicians such asEddie Vedder,Dave Grohl, andWarren Ellis, became the first charting Cat Power album, reaching 105 onthe Billboard 200. A music video directed by Brett Vapnek was released for the song "He War". Marshall toured extensively through 2003 and 2004, playing shows in Europe, Brazil, the U.S. and Australia.[25] During this period, Marshall's live performances had become erratic and unpredictable, and a 2003The New Yorker article suggested: "It is foolhardy to describe a Cat Power event as a concert," citing "rambling confessions" and "[talking] to a friend's baby from the stage."[50] Marshall later attributed this period to a drinking problem.[51] Around the time of the release ofYou Are Free, Marshall purchased a house inSouth Beach, Miami.[26]
In October 2004, Matador released the DVD filmSpeaking for Trees, which featured a continuous, nearly two-hour static shot of Marshall performing with her guitar in a woodland. The set was accompanied by an audio CD containing the 18-minute song "Willie Deadwilder", featuringM. Ward also on guitar.[52]
On January 22, 2006, Marshall released her seventh album,The Greatest, aSouthern soul-influenced album of new material featuring veteran Memphis studio musicians, includingMabon "Teenie" Hodges,Leroy Hodges, David Smith, and Steve Potts.[53] The album debuted at 34 on theBillboard 200 and critics noted its relatively "polished and accessible" sound, predicting it was "going to gain her a lot of new fans."[53]The Greatest met with critical acclaim, and won the 2006Shortlist Music Prize, making Marshall the first woman to win the honor.[54] It was also named the number 6 best album of 2006 byRolling Stone Magazine.[55]
Simultaneously, Marshall collaborated with several other musicians on different projects, includingMick Collins on a recording ofLudwig Rellstab's poem "Auf Dem Strom" for the filmWayne County Ramblin'; a duet with singer-modelKaren Elson on an English cover ofSerge Gainsbourg's "Je t'aime... moi non plus" for the tribute albumMonsieur Gainsbourg Revisited (2007); lead vocals on theEnsemble track "Disown, Delete"; and a reworked version of "Revelations" withYoko Ono for Ono's 2007 albumYes, I'm a Witch.
In the fall of 2006, Marshall became a celebrity spokesperson for a line of jewelry fromChanel, after being seen byKarl Lagerfeld smoking a cigarette outside theMercer Hotel in New York. Lagerfeld chose Cat Power for the soundtrack to his spring 2007 fashion show. He also photographed Marshall for aPurple feature.[56]
In 2007, Marshall contributed songs to the soundtrack ofEthan Hawke's filmThe Hottest State, recording withJesse Harris andTerry Manning, and theAcademy Award-winning filmJuno. The same year, she made her feature film debut acting inMy Blueberry Nights oppositeJude Law, appearing in a small role. She also appeared in the role of a postal worker inDoug Aitken'sMoMA installationSleepwalkers,[57] which followed the nocturnal lives of five city dwellers. Also in 2007, she featured onFaithless' album trackA Kind of Peace.
In January 2008, Marshall released her second covers album,Jukebox. Recorded with her recently assembled "Dirty Delta Blues Band", which consisted of Judah Bauer from theBlues Explosion,Gregg Foreman ofThe Delta 72, Erik Paparazzi of Lizard Music andJim White ofDirty Three, the album featured the original song "Song to Bobby", Marshall's tribute toBob Dylan, and a reworking of theMoon Pix song "Metal Heart". She also collaborated withBeck and producerDanger Mouse on the albumModern Guilt (2008): She contributed backing vocals to two tracks, "Orphans" and "Walls". The album was released in July of that year.[58]
In September 2008, Marshall and members of the Dirty Delta Blues (Erik Paparazzi and Gregg Foreman) recorded their version ofDavid Bowie's "Space Oddity" for aLincoln car commercial.[59] In 2013, Cat Power's version of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" was used inApple's Christmas commercial "Misunderstood".[60] In December 2008, she releasedDark End of the Street, an EP consisting of songs left over from theJukebox sessions. In 2009, she provided backing vocals onMarianne Faithfull's cover of "Hold On, Hold On" byNeko Case on the 2009 albumEasy Come Easy Go. In 2011, she also featured as guest vocalist on "Tonight You Belong to Me" onEddie Vedder'sUkulele Songs.[61]
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In February 2012, Marshall cancelled a scheduled appearance inTel Aviv, Israel, citing "much confusion" and that she felt "sick in her spirit."[62] She had faced calls to boycott the country over its conflict withPalestine.[63] Two months later, she cancelled her appearance at theCoachella Music Festival, claiming that she "didn't think it was fair to play Coachella while my new album is not yet finished," also hinting that her forthcoming record is "almost done" and will see release later in 2012.[64] Marshall's ninth studio album,Sun, was released in September 2012,[65][66] after releasing the lead single "Ruin" as a free download the previous June. The album features prominentelectronica elements and arrangements, which Marshall incorporated into the "really slow guitar-based songs" she had originally written.[67] In areview published on September 4, 2012, onConsequence of Sound,Sun was praised as a unique album and received a four-star rating. In summation, reviewer Sarah Grant wrote that Marshall's 2012 release is "a passionate pop album of electronic music filtered through a singer-songwriter's soul."[68] The album debuted at a career chart-high of No. 10 on theBillboard 200 chart, selling over 23,000 copies on its opening week.[6]
In July 2015, it was announced that Marshall would be providing narration for the documentaryJanis: Little Girl Blue directed byAmy J. Berg, which revolves around the life ofJanis Joplin and premiered at the 2015Venice Film Festival.[69] On television, Marshall starred onChina, IL, in the hourlong musical special "Magical Pet". Marshall performs three original songs written by creatorBrad Neely.[70]
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On July 28, 2017, Marshall announced on Instagram that her tenth studio album was "ready to go", although she did not disclose its title or expected release date.[71]
On March 20, 2018, it was announced that Marshall would perform aMoon Pix 20th anniversary concert atSydney Opera House, which occurred from May 25 to June 16 and featured album collaboratorsJim White andMick Turner.[72]
After twenty-two years with Matador, Cat Power left them and signed with Domino records a year later for her 10th studio album,Wanderer, which was released in 2018.[73][74] It was her first to not be released on Matador Records since 1996.[75] According to Marshall, Matador were not happy with the recordings for Wanderer, they wanted her to rerecord it and make it sound more commercial.[76] She released two more singles, "Woman" featuringLana Del Rey on August 15 and a cover ofRihanna's "Stay" on September 18,[77][78] before the album was released on October 5, 2018, throughDomino Recording Company.[79] She embarked on a world tour in promotion of the album in September.[80]
Power embarked on a US arena tour in August 2021 supportingAlanis Morissette andGarbage. She was a last-minute addition to the lineup, after original opening actLiz Phair canceled her appearances.[81] Power contributed four new songs to the soundtrack of the 2021 filmFlag Day.[82] Her eleventh studio album,Covers, was released on January 14, 2022,[83] and was supported by a US tour.[84]
Marshall released her first live album on November 10, 2023,Cat Power Sings Dylan: The 1966 Royal Albert Hall Concert.[85] The album is a recreation of Bob Dylan's1966 concert at Manchester Free Trade Hall, although early bootlegs mislabeled the concert as being recorded at theRoyal Albert Hall.[86] In February 2024, Marshall embarked on a tour in support of the album, in which she will recreate Dylan's 1966 performance at venues across the United States and Europe.[87]
In 2005, Marshall entered a relationship with actorGiovanni Ribisi, and resided with Ribisi and his daughter inLos Angeles.[88] They also had a rental house inMalibu where she had a studio.[88] Following the release ofThe Greatest, Marshall canceled her impending spring 2006 tour,[51][89] and used the hiatus to recover from mental health problems. As part of her recovery, she was admitted to the psychiatric ward atMount Sinai Medical Center & Miami Heart Institute, leaving after a week.[51] Marshall gave a first person account of her breakdown in an interview for the November 2006 issue ofSpin.[19]
In June 2012, it was reported that Marshall had ended her relationship with Ribisi, and the completion of her upcoming record had coincided with their breakup: "I cut my hair off three days [after the breakup], got on a plane to France, and finished the shit."[90] Shortly after the release ofSun, Marshall began having trouble breathing and was hospitalized multiple times, though doctors were unable to diagnose her. "I thought I was dying," she recounted. "They told me they were going to put me in acoma to save my lungs. My friend came to visit and told me I'd made theBillboard Top 10 and all I could think was: 'I don't want to die.'"[91] Marshall was subsequently diagnosed with hereditaryangioedema, an immune disorder that causes sporadic swelling of the face and throat due to C1 esterase inhibitor deficiency. In September 2012, she stated she had been hospitalized owing to the condition over eight times, which led her to cancel her European tour.[92]
In April 2015, Marshall announced that she had recently given birth to a son, but did not name the child's father.[93][94] Since then, she has named James Concannon, an artist, as the child's father on her Instagram account.
On June 5, 2023, she announced hersobriety via herInstagram account with aselfie and the message "41 days sober. Don't mess with her, she's that girl..."[95]
Marshall's releases as Cat Power have frequently been noted by critics for their somber, blues-influenced instrumentation and melancholy lyrics, leadingLA Weekly to dub her the "queen ofsadcore".[2] Marshall, however, claims that her music is often misinterpreted, and that many of her songs are "not sad, [but] triumphant".[96] She has recounted blues, oldsoul music, British rock 'n' roll, as well as hymns and gospel music as being integral influences on her.[97]
Cat Power's early releases have been described as blending elements of punk, folk, and blues, while her later releases (post-2000) began to incorporate more sophisticated arrangements and production.[98][99][100]The Greatest (2006), Marshall's seventh release, was heavily soul-influenced and incorporatedR&B elements; the Memphis Rhythm Band provided backing instrumentation on the album.[101] Unlike her previous releases, which featured sparse guitar and piano arrangements,The Greatest was described by Marshall biographer Sarah Goodman as her first "full-blown studio record with sophisticated production and senior players backing [Marshall] up".[102]
Marshall's live shows have been known for their unpolished and often erratic nature, with songs beginning and ending abruptly or blending into one another without clear transitions.[103] She has also cut short performances without explanation.[104] On some occasions this has been attributed tostage fright[105] and the influence of alcohol.[106] Marshall spoke openly about suffering from severe bouts of stage fright, specifically in her early career, and admitted that her stage fright stemmed from issues regarding depression,alcoholism, and substance abuse.[107]
By 2006, she had found new collaborators and had stopped drinking.[107] Marshall's performance style became more enthusiastic and professional;[108] a review inSalon[109] noted that she was "delivering onstage", and calledThe Greatest "polished and sweetly upbeat".
A live version of the gospel song "Amazing Grace"—culled from a performance with the Dirty Delta Blues band—was released on the charity compilationDark Was the Night. Released by independent British label 4AD on February 17, 2009, the set benefited theRed Hot Organization, an international charity dedicated to raising funds and awareness for HIV and AIDS. She also appeared in aPETA ad, encouraging people to spay and neuter their pets.[21]
On December 25, 2011, Marshall released a reworking of theWhat Would the Community Think track "King Rides By" for download from her official website, with all proceeds from sales of the track being donated to The Festival of Children Foundation and TheAli Forney Center.[110] A music video directed byGiovanni Ribisi and featuringFilipino boxer and politicianManny Pacquiao was released to promote the song.[111]
In 2014, she played a double benefit show in St. Louis for Ferguson activists, at which shirts by artist James Concannon were sold to also help raise money for jailed activists.[112]
Studio albums
Live albums
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Sleepwalkers (short) | Dancer working as a FedEx Clerk | Credited as Chan Marshall |
| 2007 | My Blueberry Nights | Katya | Credited as Chan Marshall |
| 2009 | American Widow | Singing Woman | Main Role |
| Year | Program | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | China, IL | Kei-ko (talking gorilla) | Animated series episode "Magical Pet" |
Media from Commons
Quotations from Wikiquote
Data from Wikidata| International | |
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| Other | |
